Acknowledgements
As every doctoral candidate does, or should, I would like to thank my dissertation committee chairman, Dr. Frans von der Dunk, for his guidance and advice, and reference librarian Kris Lauber for her celerity and tenacity. Jun Okushi’s donation of his computer made it possible for me to work on this dissertation according to my own schedule, day or night, regardless of location, as did my mother’s generosity in purchasing new computer equipment. Additionally, I am grateful for my mother’s unwavering faith in me throughout my life, especially during the years when I doubted myself. I also give thanks the Sione P. Tongilava family for giving us shelter in their parents’ home, as well as to Sitaleki Fainga’a and his family for their constant friendship and support of strangers in their land. The conclusions reached in Chapter 10 of this work would have been erroneous without the help of Jonathan McDowell, who pointed out the assumptions inherent in the various catalogues of space objects.
Dr. Marilyn Dudley-Flores, with whom I have co-authored many articles on space human factors, space policy, and astrosociology, was an exhaustive discussant of this dissertation. Her example of scholarship inspired me to return to school and to join her on the path of knowledge. It would have been an honor and a privilege to stand beside her as an academic equal as we continued to work together, but sadly this was not to be. After several months’ visit to the United States, during which I received my doctorate, I returned to our home in the Kingdom of Tonga to find Marilyn asleep; she passed away only a few hours later.