KLERKX, Greg 1963-

PERSONAL: Born 1963.

ADDRESSES: Home—San Francisco, CA, and London, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Pantheon, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10014.

CAREER: Writer. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, Mountain View, CA, former director of development.

WRITINGS:

Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age, Pantheon (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: A former director of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, Greg Klerkx has long dreamed of going where no one has gone before, and he once hoped that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would lead the way. In Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age, Klerkx expresses his growing disenchantment with the U.S. space program and the bureaucracy that oversees it.

Like many young boys growing up in the 1960s, Klerkx dreamed of growing up to be an astronaut. In the prologue to Lost in Space, the author explains his dismay at discovering that a friend's six-year-old son—a little boy with a strong interest in space and galactic discovery—would rather work with computers than be an astronaut when he grows up. "The book that follows is an inquiry into why this 21st-century boy does not share the dream of spaceflight Klerkx has nurtured for decades. The conclusion (and pretty much the starting point, as well) is that NASA killed the dream," explained Manchester Guardian contributor Oliver Morton. Instead of capitalizing on its success in landing a man on the moon by building moon bases and launching manned flights to Mars, NASA turned inward, protecting its bureaucratic interests and overselling its achievements, as Klerkx sees it. The author points out that while the space shuttle has been described as a "reusable" spacecraft, it has to be rebuilt completely after every flight, yet the agency clings to it out of habit and self-interest. "Gazing at the stars from the muck of pork barrel politics isn't exactly edifying," noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor, "but Klerkx's blunt indictment provides a bracing new perspective." Rather than reinvigorating the agency, as some have sought, Klerkx calls for the wholesale privatization of space flight and discusses a number of companies that are seeking to fill the void.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Atlanta Journal, February 29, 2004, Mike Revzin, "Space Flight Meets Entrenched Bureaucracy," p. M4.

Booklist, December 1, 2003, Gilbert Taylor, review of Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age, p. 641.

Guardian (Manchester, England), May 29, 2004, Oliver Morton, "Prepare for Blastoff."

Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2003, review of Lost in Space, p. 1351.

Library Journal, December, 2003, Nancy R. Curtis, review of Lost in Space, p. 157.

Los Angeles Times, February 4, 2004, Jonathan Shipley, "Dream of Boldly Going Is Now Going Nowhere," p. E12.

New Statesman, March 15, 2004, Bryan Appleyard, "Bring on the Nerds," p. 51.

Publishers Weekly, November 17, 2003, review of Lost in Space, p. 54.

Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2004, Ronald Bailey, "The Monopoly that Blocks the Way to Mars," p.D7.

online

UniverseToday.com, http://www.universetoday.com/ (March 30, 2004), Mark Mortimer, interview with Klerkx.*