James Edward Oberg (born 1944) (often known as Jim Oberg) is an American space journalist and historian, regarded as an expert on the Russian space program.

After service in the US Air Force, he joined NASA in 1975, where he worked until 1997 at Johnson Space Center on the Space Shuttle program. He worked in the Mission Control Center for several Space Shuttle missions from STS-1 on, specialising in orbital rendezvous techniques. This culminated in planning the orbit for the STS-88 mission, the first International Space Station assembly flight.

During the 1990s, he was involved in NASA studies of the Soviet space program, with particular emphasis on safety aspects; these had often been covered up or downplayed, and with the advent of the ISS and the Shuttle-Mir programs, NASA was keen to study them as much as possible. He privately published several books on the Soviet (and later Russian) programs, and became one of the few Western specialists on Russian space history. He speaks English, French, and Russian and has used his language skills and a friendly demeanor to gain access to the heart of the Russian and European space establishments. (As a result, he has often been called to testify before the US Congress on the Russian space program.)

In 1990s Oberg authored Space power theory, sponsored by United States military as a part of an official campaign in changing perceptions of space warfare, specifically deployment and use of weapons in outer space, and its political implications. "In Oberg's view, space is not an extension of air warfare but is unique in itself".

As a journalist, he writes for several regular publications, mostly online; he was previously space correspondent for UPI, ABC and currently MSNBC, often in an on-air role. He is a Fellow of the skeptical organization CSICOP and a consultant to its magazine Skeptical Inquirer. In 1991, PBS transformed his book Red Star In Orbit into a documentary series. HBO has optioned Red Star in Orbit for some future made-for-TV miniseries. At about the same time Oberg launched a six-year battle for official recognition of Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. (1935–1967) as a United States astronaut; United States Air Force officially recognized Lawrence in January 1997.

He was commissioned by NASA to write a rebuttal of Apollo moon landing hoax accusations. NASA later dropped the project; however, Oberg has said that he still intends to pursue it.

Publications

• New Earths (1981) ISBN 0-452-00623-6 ISBN 0-8117-1007-6
• Red Star In Orbit (1981) ISBN 0-394-51429-7
• Mission to Mars (1982) ISBN 0-8117-0432-7 ISBN 0-452-00655-4
• UFO's and Outer Space Mysteries (1982) ISBN 0-89865-102-6
• The New Race for Space (1984) ISBN 0-8117-2177-9
• Pioneering Space (1986) ISBN 0-07-048034-6
• Uncovering Soviet Disasters (1988) ISBN 0-394-56095-7
• Space Power Theory (1999) (written for the U.S. Air Force Space Command; published online)
• Star-Crossed Orbits: Inside the US/Russian Space Alliance (2002) ISBN 0-07-137425-6

References

1. Catscan 14: "Memories of the Space Age", Bruce Sterling: "Oberg is a recognized Soviet Space expert, somtime NOVA host on PBS, special consultant to the Sotheby's auction house for Soviet space memorabilia, and the author of the definitive tome RED STAR IN ORBIT (Random House 1981)."
2. In Space Today: Testimony of James Oberg
3. Lessons of the ‘Fake Moon Flight’ Myth, James Oberg, Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 2003, pp 23, 30

External links

• Profile at jamesoberg.com