Abstract
Over the last 70 years, humanity has continued to push the boundaries of exploration in outer space. While this initial race for space began in an antagonistic fashion between superpowers, over time, space exploration has become a collaborative effort among nations and an industry unto itself. The globalized economy, coupled with satellite research and communications stations, has encouraged nearly half of Earth’s nations to create space agencies. Collaboration between teams, from within an agency or through joint missions, brings together not only experts in their field but also diverse backgrounds and cultures. For this research, we utilize a comparative case study approach on four NASA spaceflight missions, seeking themes of collaboration and leadership, and discuss the outcome of these missions.