This text takes a historian's view of the space age and places the major achievements of the space age, such as Apollo, in the context of concurrent political and social developments. It juxtaposes the Soviet space programme versus the US programme, providing insights into the space race. It explains why the two most powerful nations in the world became embroiled in a very costly and politically charged race for space. The book shows how the vast expenditures for space development over the last four decades have left only modest achievements and put the future of NASA in question. It goes on to propose that NASA can find a valid and valuable future in the market for unmanned space craft for commercial use.