When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon in 1969, they not only made a "leap for all mankind," they also conducted several scientific experiments. One of them, to measure solar wind, was from a Swiss university. By inviting foreign participation in that historic moon mission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) signaled "a commitment to international relations that has become an extraordinarily important instrument for American diplomacy," says John Krige.

In a new book funded by NASA and due to be published in 2010, Krige and his team will showcase fifty years of international partnerships that demonstrates the diplomatic linkages, prestige, and influence achieved through America's space program. Krige, a professor in the Ivan Allen College's School of History, Technology, and Society, was selected by NASA in 2007 to author the study.

Krige has presented his research on space history at major NASA conferences, including one celebrating the agency's 50th anniversary last year. His project for NASA extends Georgia Tech's partnership and contribution to the U.S. space program which is most prominent through research and the more than a dozen astronauts who graduated from the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering.

A History of NASA's International Relations will elucidate the intersection between scientific and technological collaboration and U.S. diplomatic relations, through highlights chosen from the more than 2,000 projects on which NASA has engaged with partners around the globe including major technical projects with Western Europe (Krige's specialty), Russia/USSR, India, Japan, and Brazil.

"This book will take readers beyond human space flight and help them understand how major technical projects such as the space station have consolidated diplomatic linkages with, for example, Russia. Can you imagine the impact if we extended such generosity in space collaboration to, say, Iran?"

Krige is joined in the work by PhD candidates Angel Long and Ashok Maharaj. The project makes extensive use of archival material in the NASA History Office, the U.S. State Department, various Presidential Libraries, the private collections of some NASA administrators, and other international organizations. It is supplemented by more than 30 oral history interviews with key historical actors that will be transcribed and placed in the NASA Historical Archives.