This website is an educational endeavor to preserve and make available primary sources about the astronaut families of the Moonshot Era. emerges out of my research project on early astronaut families.
The website expands on a research project that brings together my own history as an early-era “astronaut kid” with my professional expertise as a sociologist and educator.
“What was it like to walk on the moon?” The question overlooks the tremendous efforts of hundreds of thousands to accomplish the lunar landings. There is much complexity to the reality of this scientific achievement as well as to the human endeavors that got us to the moon in the 1960s, and this project endeavors to peel back another layer of this history.
Before the 1950s, “astronauts” existed only in science fiction. The Moonshot era saw the emergence of a new profession — the “astronaut” — and with it, unique family dynamics shaped by the demands of spaceflight and media portrayals. Suddenly, they were real workers in a new profession with distinct social and family dynamics. How was this new role defined? How did it shape family life? How were astronaut families portrayed in the media and how did they actually live? How did their involvement in the Moonshot era influence their future lives?
Several decades later, questions about these narratives persist, even though much has been written about the science of the U.S. space missions, their historical significance, and the individual stories of the astronauts who participated.
What fascinates me most as a sociologist is the experiences of those who were central to the astronauts’ lives yet peripheral in public vision and memory: the astronauts’ families. While the Apollo missions were extraordinary scientific achievements, they were also deeply embedded in the social world of their time, which contributed to the possibility of these missions. The space age was not just about technology; it was about people, families, and communities navigating new realities. In reconnecting with childhood friends, other astronaut children, I was struck by the influence the Moonshot era had, and continues to have, on our families and our lives’ trajectories.
This project examines how our families navigated the pressures of understanding a new, dangerous profession; how we were represented in the media and how our lives differed from these media representations; and how our families and lives were shaped by our involvement in the early space era. I specifically focus on the experiences of NASA Astronaut Group 3 (1963), a cohort integral to the success of the Gemini and Apollo programs.
My sources include archival collections, primarily my parents’ collection — the David R. Scott and Anne Lurton Scott Papers [link to digital collections page], held at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University. I am also conducting oral history interviews [link to oral history page] with astronaut wives and children to draw a more comprehensive picture of life in the Moonshot era.
FAQs
Who is this for?
Anyone interested in the social history of the space era, astronaut families, and the intersection of science and society.
Is this website free?
Yes. The website is entirely free and intended for public education and historical preservation.
Is this a commercial project?
No. This research is non-profit. There is no monetization—no ads, no sales, no fundraising.