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http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/43/50/SpaceJournal_1957-Summer_LowResolution.pdf
1213a4b8a297ab9378c6e5ec9338cc6a
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Serials Collection
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Serials Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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<i>Space Journal</i>, vol. 1, no. 1., Summer 1957.
Creator
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Rocket City Astronomical Association
Space Enterprises, Inc.
Source
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Serials Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
Date
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1957
Language
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en
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Periodicals
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spacejournal_1957_summer
Temporal Coverage
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1950-1959
Subject
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Astronautics
Observatories
Propulsion systems
Redstone missile
Satellites
Space flight to Mars
Oberth, Hermann, 1894-1989
Description
An account of the resource
This issue of <i>Space Journal</i> includes articles written by Fred L. Whipple, Hermann Oberth, and Ernst Stuhlinger, as well as a foreword by Wernher von Braun. The issue also includes drawings for an observatory to be built at the top of Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville, Alabama. Produced by the Rocket City Astronomical Association (now known as the Von Braun Astronomical Society), <i>Space Journal</i> was published in Huntsville from 1957 to 1959. This digitized copy was generously provided by Jeff Bennett at the Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS).
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This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
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http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/43/60/spc_schl_007_058a.pdf
5fc365b722840fa417d4dd33bab2f6e5
PDF Text
Text
SPRING 19S8
50.¢'
• FATHER OF ROCKETRY
Rolph I . Je nnings
• LIFE ON OTHER STARS
Dr. Ernst 5tuhlinge r
• THE REMARKABLE 'X' CRAFT
fre d e ri(k I. Ordway III
• ROCKET MAIL TO THE MOON
Dr. Harold W . Ritchey
�~
ENG..);
Exp loring
New
Concepts
Of
Precision
Design,
..
/UUJMUHl.-
EERING ,
IN C.
Engin eering And
Manufacture Of:
AUTOMATION, SERVOS,
MACHINES,
SPECIAL
GAGES, MACHINING
MISSILE COMPONENTS,
AND FABRICATING.
2300 CLIFTON ROAD
NASHVILLE, TENNESS EE
TEL. BR 7·0566
..
�r
spa ce journal content s
Vol. I, No.2
Spring 1958
de~i gn
p ~ tented
FRONT: L"yout and
mooring
by H ll rry Ltlnge. Sketch is space 5hip
by Dr. Robert H. Godd,trd. Photo of
Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger's ion space ships orbiting around Mars
is from Walt Disney's "Mars and Beyond."
BACK:
Oil painting by Le e Moore illustrates die m a r~er dissipa _
tio n upon impact of first rocket to reach Moon.
BOARD Of CONSULTANTS
Df. W or nner "on B,~ un
P r, Ern, t St uh lin ge r
Prof. Her monn Ob. ,th
HI ITOR_iN_CHIEF
4
SPACE JOURNAL ____ So Spencer Isbell
I
STRIDE INTO SPACE ________________ The New York Times
8. Sp enco r l , b. 1I
EDITORIAL STAff
___ _____ ____ ____ R"'lph E. Je nn ings
Rolph E. J onning '
MM~q . rg Editor
James L. D~ n i . I •. Jr.
A"oc i&t o Edi tor
Milch. 1I R. Sh. rp e, Jr.
A"oc;&te Eddor
David L. Ch,i,t en' en
A"i,loot Editor
21
__ ___ _ ___ __ Dr. Ernd St uhlin g er
______ Or. Ha ro ld W . Ritchey
THE REM A RKAB LE 'X ' CRAFT ________ Fre deri ck I. Ordway III
G RAPHICS STAff
Lee R. Moore, Jr.
___ _____ _ ___ _ ___ __ __ sp",ce pre view
___ __ ___ _ _______________ space cadoons
___ __ __ _____ _ ___________ __ _ _____ reaction
Dir.ctor
H .re ld E. Price
G r .p~·c,
Loyou t Oi,,,olo,
H."y H .-K. Lon go
Ad Diredor
E. . .. 1t H. Ro b. ,ho n
Phot09r5phy DirecTor
35
BEYOND THIS STAR __ ____ _________ ___ J a mes l. Da niels, Jr.
BUS INE SS STAFF
Yew,,11 Lybrond
Jomo. P. GMdMr
Geor90 A Ferre ll
GENERA L MAN AG ER
R,<h.,d T. H•• ~y
PUIIUSHER
St., e y
~_
~o , n.
Jr ,
SPECIAL CRt DIT S
Of.
Photo~ .. p~, ono mot.".1 10' · ·F.t~ .. 01 Rook.h,"
COPY"9hted ono "ere I"n',o.d b. M".
E"he. C. Godd •• d· mo'. r;.1 fo' "Mo" .,d ~y<>"d" .. e'. f"",,t-od by Con Podoroon: ··Oul·O,,"
Spoc. ·· <",'oon' ... ~r. c,U'ed by Con f~d . ""n 0.<1 O.;,V L.,go: . ,1100', 0';on fo' "$'r:de in'.
S".~o· -, b, Gordon W; lI h:le "0 leo Moo,. : ."1""";0" '". "'Lde 0 ' 0''", St.,," .'. by
Iho", o, ,pe,oO' o"d He;" 0 . ,de,ell. : -llu,". "'" 10' 'R<x~.' Moi' '0 ,~. Moon" i, b, Lee
"'00'. ' .,0 ,11 " ,1'."0"' fo, "Boyo"o I~" St. , "' .,. b, Ho", H _K, L. n~ •. Pho'09roph, OI od i "
' M." ' ,,o 8eyo,d" .'. cop"i9h,.d by W.lt O'"ey p,odo""""'.
CON TRIBUTORS
R<»~ M_ Motto" )e'l HamiU",. "'oll~ Doe Scott. M oo~ ) e"""~' , " I, i, Ho".,d.
Go'don D. WIII,'I. . ",I, . E. ~ om. ,_ eo. Ped.",on. Horol" EMon ,
SUBSCR IPTION INfO RMATIO N
Un ;lod S·ol., ond Coo.d. $2 p'"
v'o ' . Fo.ei~n $3 per ' ' ' ' . ~I"'e ""d . U
9~ , N•• ,,,,II •. TO"""M .
PUBLISHING INfORM ATION
SP"CE Jo"ool i, p,bl',hed q"ortdv by Spooo E, ·.,p·:,.,. Inc :, P: 0 , a", 9~. No,,·
" d l. T.,,",,ee '0' SP"Cf Jo,,".1. 1.< .. A Mop,oli! 0'9"""" '0" 01 'n. Rode'
Cily' ",-,ooo", i<o l """,,;.';0' , H o" """.' "I.b.m •. All molor;.1 copV';~".o b,
~~"ce Jo" ••1 Inc ~ ep,,,d"<I;on of ""y "'''''0" " .I~oul """0 ' po""'" on ., pm·
n;b;,.d _ ~,io'eJ '" U. S_ " . Space E"e",,, •• , 10<. , (;eo'jO J. 1.10" " P'e.,oe""
SIM'e r F, Horn J r. V,Pre •. : R:e'.'o l. H e.~v , V· , ••. ; Thom., Sent.I., .
Secre-.,,, M."" I $"",,,,.,, T, .. , _: L E. Nordho ld, hod W,i~M. D;,.<I"" .
ED ITOR IAL I N fO RMAll,)!>!
"" "'OOUIO'-P," ",",I b. IV,,'''':''o. 000 "bmitted ;0 d,o li<. te "ith t.'"to po,lo~o ;j tho •• ,e '0 b. '"'" '"eo , Soou,ity <I. or._,,;:e fo, . 11 Mo'o,i.1 "b""neo " tho
,.""", ib;IiIV 01 the ._,hot . S.,d . 11 ",o",e.,p," 10 Spooe Jo",'ol , P. O . Bo, 82.
H",,,,, ill •. AI.bom • .
"bsc,:ptio", '0 SPACE Jo",oo l, 1o,
journa l
K~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _space
_ _ _ _ _ __ _ _
�(OITORIAL
g
\'Iit~
spa ce j ournal
By B. Spencer I sbell
.ditor
P UTNIKS a nd now our own Explorer ha\"e changed a 101 of things b)' opening the
eyes of Ihe p ublic to t he bct lllal space tra ' <c] has become :1 re:llil)'. As ),ou might
guess, the impact of 5.1tellite launching s upo n this fledgling publication has lx.'1!n ,·ery
favorable. One ne ws comtllenn<lor SHItN. " It (SpUllI ik) has shot treme ndous Ihr ust inlO
whal sla rlt.'"<l Oul as AmeriC:L·S fi rst, fa lteri ng space magazine called SPACE JOllrnal-dcdi.
GIlt.'<:! to publicizing fa CHIal discussions of interphLnetary m l,·e]."
S
The St.'Cond edilion of SPA CE J Ollrn(l1 was prepared prior 10 thc birth of Explo re r;
and , therefore, il was iml>ossibie 10 exploit Ihe \"aSI amount of new information for inclosure in this edi lion, Tht"!re is liule doubt that Explorer will h:l\e its effe.:;:t on expandi ng
the horizon for
SPAC I~
Jour n:.!.
Volume I, No. I broughl many ··lellers to the C(litor·'; (I few arc published in {his ed ition's Re action Department. Amo ng other things. some tellers requcsted predictions of
what thc future will bring in Ihe realm of space ltavel, explanations of rclativistic agi ng,
a nd repon s on whal progress has been made toward de,·elopi ng an '"electro-Sta"itic" propulsion s),slem for space ships.
Forthcoming issues will include articles which will atte m pt 10 satisfy these requests.
The next issue will includc ~.n :lr(icJe on what we have al re"dy learned (rom Explo rer.
\~ith due respect for our more imlgina ti,·e readers, we wero;: mo rc impresscd-and
should add , quite concerned- by the volume of mail rcceiv(.""(1 from our younger (a ns. AI·
mOSt illva ri ~. bly the)' wanted detailed information th:.t would help them to bu ild t heir ow n
rockets ( usually proposed as :. basemem project ), These young people "pvc"r resourceful,
if11 ngimLl ive, and capable of SOIlLC startli ng acco mplishments. Thc)' will be our neXI ge neration of scienlists and e ngi neers.
\X'hile t heir quest for knowledge and experience is certainly laudable, the dangcr to
life and p roperty in herent in amateur rocke t building and fi ring ohen creates a highly
undesi.l:able situatio n. This d ~L ngcr is recognized by the professional engineer :ond scientist. as well as the org:l!l i ~:lt i ons actively c ng~l gl'"<l in rocket and missile work. Dr. E<!w:lrd
H. Sey mo ur, Director of l{cse:.rch at It eaction " ·I otors, Inc., has prcpared a SF.eei a] !cner to
young scient ists. \'\fe feel Ih:1I il may help an evcr- increas ing n umber of youngste rs who a rc
interested in und ertaki ng o;:xperimems of th is type.
2
sp",ce iournal
�r
TO T H E AMATEUR ROCKET BUI LDER
W e were happy to ' <.'eein' your recent [clter. a nd 10 Jearn of your plan' for
a n cxpu imcmal rocket.
T he rocket engine is an intriguing dC"icc, and working
On ils develop m ent Can be an
inle r~5'inS
manufacturers. we arc
encouraged
3I w3)"
and ,,,.idying I'roje<:l.
(0
As r ocket engine
sec young people become c nl hus;as!;,
about this area of ani"ily, for i, is you ng men like you who will be Ihe e ngineers
a nd scientists of to m o r row and bdping .0 maiola in progress in this vital field .
Alt hough the approach 10 a n experimental \",i1 such as yOIl oudi ned a p pea rs
re aso nable, we have found .h a. it is n ol po.,ible for U5 10 determine t he fea sihility, Or c"en mOre importan t. the sa fet), of such ;' unit wi.hout more informa·
lion.
All cxpc;rimcnta l work must be reviewed carcfullr to determine how cal"h
pic~e
is to be built, and what trpc of operating procedure is to be u \.ed.
use 'he Sa me approach in our work.
\'ife
Each new d c, isn is carcfulLr ch ecked ,
" nd teStS arc ru n with cucfully planned an d supervised procedures.
Almost all rocket engine test ing, esp(>ciallr new designs, is done behind explosion_proof.
a re
s.~fely
re inforced COnaete
barricades,
separatcd from the uoit undcr ,cst.
training and c05tl)"
~q ui p m ent,
this ro "
wh~r~
a ll Ol",rating
T o t he am a teur, w;thou,
of
rl:s~arch
pl:rronnd
ext~nsi"e
is extremely hazardou s.
For your own sa fl:!)" as wcll as till: safNy of ot hcrs. we Cannot emphasize tOO
st ron);"ly the dangers inhcrcnt in this typc of work.
Ox ),!;en and propane, for
instance, contain more enNgy p<! r I>ound than dox'S TNT, J( it h appens to be
rdcasc<l explosi"ely instead of in normal bu r ning, considerahle danlage and
injury can OCCur.
am so rry we Can nOt give yOu a mOre dire<:t answer to yonr qucs! ion,
but experience h as shown u s that i. is no< p ossible to do th is without being r ight
on ,he sJ>Ot e"ery day, and th e importance of avoiding injury and damagl: is so
);"rea t that we fecI . ha t this must be our p olicy.
I would urge ,hat )'ou diseu" rour planned work w ith your high school
se;ence
t each~r,
"nd
inve~'i~ate .It~
possiltili.y of form ing an amateur r ocket cl ub.
It is far beuer to .ha re wi.h o thers the joyS and h a rd ships,
f~ilures,
(and incidentallr, th e
~xpen",s)
of work on such an
th ~
Successes ,.nd
<:xcitin~
l"oj"'t.
Th e, e are a number o f such sroups throughout th e country, m any o f th em
affiliated wi th th e Ame rican Astronautical
Fed~ra .ion,
a "ational organization
dedica.ed 10 th e coll",. ion "nd di.,."minmion of inform'lti on and th e promotion
of space flight, or with t he Ame r;can
R oc k~t Soci~ty.
W h~ther
ro n form s nch a
gro up or nOt, an)' fu.ure wo rk you d o shou ld be u n der the guidance of a
rC'lponsibIe adult such as your s.:ience
teach~r,
Should you d <><:ide to follow . he i,,,crest you h a,'c already shown in this
field, and we ce rlain l}' hope ro u d o, you will be coming into an
ex~iting
pro·
fessio n at th e m OSt d"""a,ic ,iml:. T hroushout the co u rse of history. man h as
always bc<: n intrigued b y exp loration of t his blan k e. of air that surrounds u s.
lII"ny o f his attem p ts to pie rce it. including Some o f those c urrem lr in progress,
h a "e '",en pla gued wi th failure. Nonetheless, he has p<!rsi;ud w ith a wi ll to SUC·
ceed that has put wi thin our srasp the means to accomplish hi s m ost fascinating
drea m-fl ight into outer space.
Dr. Edward H . ~~'mour
Director o f Research
R eaction lII otors, Inc.
3
space journal
-"---------------------------------------------------------
�S PACE
PHILOSOPH Y
stri de into space
R ep ri n t ed F rom The New York T imes
A
J.R EADY NOW it is clear that O Ctober 4, 1957 will go dow n imperishably in the annals o f humanity as th e date
o n which o ne of mail's fi llest a<:hievements
was acco m pl ished,
That which WOlS so
recent ly a subject only for theoret ical speculatio n or sciellce fi ctioll h;ls now become
re;IIi!},: a ma n ,made sp ace s.:ue!!it e now revoh'cs, for a time, around o u r globe. \x/ ilh
t hat feat h um anit y has mke n a gi:m t stride
toward space. The dream of the greatest
minds amo ng mllny past generat io ns is now
well on the way to ward becoming reality.
The sphcre which now revolves in t he
he avens ;.bo\,c us is t he guarlllllce that m an
ca n soon brc:ok comple tely the fetlers of
grav ity which have hitherto bound life to
thi s tiny planet. The long road to the
stars is now open .
It was the Soviet scie nti sts lind lechnidans who bui lt :Lnd laun<:h(.-d this concrete
sy m bol of mall's com ing lihcrlltion from
th e forces which have hitherto bou nd him
to earth . To them m ust go the congratula _
tions of all humanity. This is a feat of
which lIll mankind Call be proud . The
$oviet cit i..-;ens w ho accomplish(,-d it set the
peak on a huge tower w hi ch h,Ld bee n
raised by men of ma ny nlllions in t he decades and cenruries earlier. Newl'On and
Ke p ler, Galileo and Cope rni cus. Tsiolkov_
sky, God dard and Obcrth, al! these and
many others m;ode their contributio ns to
buildillg the edifice of knowledge which
made possible th is superlati ve Olchievelllent_
Every great ;ochievcment o f modern wehnology o pe ns up two rollds before humanity. One is the road of hope and pro m ise,
a road made possible if m en of a ll n atiOIlS
li nd all beliefs will work IOgether for the
good of humanit}'. The o t he r is the rOlld
of despair and di saster, the rOlld which is
4
space journal
followed if t he great ach ie"ements of un ive rsa l scie nce arc used for the purposes of
aggression , death and destruction,
So it is w ith the space siltelli{e. The
rocket m OlOrs wh ich se n t it inlO the upper
atmosp here can be harnessed for a great
cooperative h um an assault on the barriers
of diswnce whic h still sepa ra te us from
c,'en o ur nearest neighbors in space. Or
they can be incorporatc<1 inw in tercontinental ballistic missiles deliveri ng hydrogen bombs upon defcnscles.s milliOIlS. It
is fo r a ll ma nki nd ('0 <Iecide which of these
tWO roads shall be mken. And the fantastically rapid lCmpo of modern scienti fiC
a nd technical advance perm its no dawdli ng
over reaching the dec ision.
�..
DEDI CATI ON
lathe r 01 rocketry
B y R alph E. J enn i ngs
(ED ITOR 'S "';OTE: Th., aUlhor i, indebted
to Esther C. Goddard for making available 10
him p;clures and ;nforn,,,I;on " 'hieh han nen,.
before been published. In a lener .0 Mr . Jenning'- Mrs. Goddard ,Ia.ed : ' 1 am delighled Ihal
rou plo,,, 10 dediC'llle Ih", $oCCond i,we 10 m}' La.e
hU5band and hi, work on rockets." SPACE
Journa l lakes prioe in presenling ' 0 ;IS r",aucu
,om" hilherlo "np"blisheo on,,,er;.L concerning
.he life ami work of a g,,,,at Am",ican sdenl;sl. )
he ao;:quired h is M.A. and Ph. l). Aher l WO
years as a resea rch fellow at P rinceton Uni,·e rsit)'. he went 10 Clark Unh·crsi l)' where
he was 5ucccssi"ely lin instructor. assista nt
p rofessor. and professor of physics.
While at Clark. Dr. Godd ard set down
some recol1eo;:tions w hkh began: "Owing
to t he widespread intcrest whic h is certain
to a r ise ItHer regardi ng space navig:l{io n, o r
T
il E Fm ST t:LlG HT of :1 liqu id oxygen-gasoline rocket w~s obtai ned on
Marc h 5, 1926, in Auburn , Mass., and was
reponed 10 the Smi lhsonian Institution May
5. 1926... . The rocket lraveh.'<1 a distance
of 184 fccr in 2.5 seconds, as timed by SlOp
watc h, making the speed along the traje<:tor)' abouI 60 miles per hour." Thus wrote
Robert Hutchings Goddard in his second
Smithsonian repot!. " Liquid-Propellant
Rocket De,·elopmenl." \X/ hat seemed 10 be
an insignificant evenl aCtuall)' marked the
binh of a new era. For when Robert Godda rd's rocket lra,eled 184 fec i. the distance
was a step fo r ward in sc"en-Ieague boots b),
Ma n in h is long str uggle up from darkness
toward maSter), of his c n,·ironmenl.
In t hc words of Har ry F. Guggenheim,
presidellt of the Guggenheim Foundat ion,
Dr. Godd:lrd "was iusI as surcl)' the fa ther
of modern rocketS as the \V r ight Brothers
were of t he airplane." H e was o;:erw in ly the
greatest experime ntal pioneer in this subjecl- nOt (I mere d (lbbling inventor, but
one w ho unde rstood t he pr inciples involved and was capilble also of developing
the nec(.'Ssar), t heor ies, as was to be expco;:ted
from a man with his suco;:essful academic
career.
Bo rn o n October 5, 1882, in \X' ora'ster,
Mass., young Goddard attended school in
Doston and then entered \\'I'o ro;:eSle r Polytechnic Institute, obtaining a B.S. degree
in 1908. He was a ph)'sics instrunor at
\'(lo rceSter until 1911, d uring which period
COPY I!lGIIT IlY ),IRS.
1I01l ~:RT
II. GOOOAltO
Dr. Roherl H. Goddard lIlakillg adjustmellts at tbe upper elld oftbe rockel com·
busrioll chulIlber. ArOll1lt1 tbe cbamber
are slIIa/l coils oj copper tubillg for "aporizillg liqllid lIitrogell ill order to "rodllce
pressure for the Juel tallits alliJ Jor opera/·
illl{ cOlltro/s. PUIII/JS were used Jor Ille
/iqllM Jlle/s. Pbolograpbel/ ill 1940.
5
space iournal
�record of suggestions..•• T he suggestions
wcre very dh'c rsified, and concerned the
possibility of using the magnetic field of
the eanh; sllCOting ' nllteria l to a 'spacc
ship' by means of elcclric, and other , guns;
an airplane opera ted lit high speed by lhe
repu lsion of charged particles; :Irtificiall y
stimu lated rodio-activil),; artificial atoms of
g reat energy, consist ing of mov ing posili\'e
nnd negative charges; p ropulsion in space
by repu lsioll of charged panicles; reaction
agai nst dis p lacement Currents in space; re·
sltmds
frame before tbe world's first flight 01 a
liquitl-propclltlill rocket 011 i\larch 16,
1926.
interpl nnemry studies, it seems wonhwhile
to nOte t he developme nt of the writer's
ideas a nd experiments upon the su bject .
.
Dr. Goddard neve r published these notes.
\,(I h:1I he published principally we re his
p:ltcnlS and twO repons to the Smit hsonian
Institution, the product of yea rs of independent and methodical experimenta tion.
''<'hat he did not p ub lish were h is spec u lations on sp:lce flight-Ix.'Cuusc he thoug ht
more of them, not less o f them. At o ne
point, he fil ed these spt.'Cui;ltions a way in
a fr iend'S S:lfe and ma rked (hem: "To be
op'ened on l)' by an o p timise"
They are now being opened, in the
cou rse of prep:lring Dr, Goddard's biogr:l_
phy. Mrs. Godda rd is engaged in editi ng
h is expcrimem:il nOtes for publication.
Scie n tistS and laymen alike wi ll be interested in Dr. Goddar<i's resume of some of
these speculations whic h he set down between 1904 ami 1908 wh ile he was an undergraduate nt 'X/orccstcr. " I bought a
n umbe r of green-cown.-d notebooks," he
w ro te, "and started to make a systemat ic
6
space journal
thelter III Jhe If/tlrtt Farm, Aubllrll, i\ltlJS.
PholoC",ph ttlRe,t 0 11 Jllly /7, 1929,
pulsion o f high ly healed materi:d particles
at the focus of parl~ bolic mirro rs; Ihe lise
of solar energy, by light de\·iccs. on u 's pace
sh ip;' th e idea of the mu hiple charge rocket ; the usc of liquid p rope llants; a nd several
other plans." A su mmary of 26 methods was
w r inen on December 28, 1909.
Like other men of vision who have made
" a lllable contributions to fund ame ntal and
his im portant wo rk were lill ie known Juring his lifetime. In Ihe cou rse of h is pioneering im 'csligations, I)r. Goddard achieved
m any "fi rSts" in rocket research, anyo ne
of which would be sufficien t 10 assu re him
a permane n t phlcc in the history of mo<lern
science and eng i n(.~ ri ng.
�7. He deveLo]X-J thc mathern,nica! theory
of rocket propuLsion and flight .
8. H e fi rst proved. both mathemat icaLLy
a nd by actual test, that a rocket will work
in a vacuum.
\'('hen the United St(ltes entercd the fi rst
\'('orld \'('ar, Dr. Goddard volunteered his
services and was given the task of exploring
the military possibilities of roc kets. He
succeeded in developing a trajectory rocket
which (ued intermine[J{ly, tllc charges be·
ing injected imo the comhUSl ion chamber
by a method simi lar to tha t of tbe repeating
r ifle. H e also devcJo]X-J sewral types of
projectile rockets intended to be fired from
a launching tube held in the hands ,IOU
steadied by twO short legs--much like the
bazooka of \'('orld \'\!ar U.
Dr. Godd,ml ill bh laborato r), at Clark
UlIiI·ersity witb tbe rocket tested 011 May 4,
1926. Tbis rocket h tbe second "//Iodel 0/ a
iifJllid-propeU'1II1 rocket first f/OWII 011
Ma rc/) 16, 1926,
Amo ng the principal oncs arc the following :
1. He developed the basic idea of the
bazooka in 1918 during \'('orld \'('ar 1. The
weapon was nor uscd until \,\'orld \'('ar H.
2. He developed a rocket motor using
liquid fuels and uscd it in a liquid· fuel
propelled rocket in L926.
3. H e was Ihc first to shoot a rocket faster
tha n the speed of sound.
4.. H e developed a gyro5Copic steering apparatus for rockets ten years before it was
developed in Europe.
5. He was thc first to use vanes in the
blast of the rocke t motor for steering rockets.
6. H e patented the idea of "step-rockets."
These weapons were demonstrated quite
successfully at Aberdeen P ro,·ing Grounds
00 Novembe r 10, 1918, before represcnt~'·
ti ves of the ~lrmed services. However, the
armist ice on the foLLowing d:,y pllt an end
to the war and also to immediate interest
in these weapons .
.i.\"lany a great man owes much of his success to the loyaLty, devotion, and eacourage·
ment of a woman who is vitally interested
in his career. These qua lities were brought
into Dr. G oddard·s life by Esther Kisk
whom he married in 1924. She took an
acri,'e ioterl'st in his experiments and served
as the official photographl'r of his tests.
Dr. Goddard's resea rch and exper iments
during (he oext twO decades were summa rized in twO papers, "A Metho<l of Reaching
E"Heme Altitudes" and ·' Liquid-Propella n t
Rocket Development." These tWO famous
reports d id much to estabL ish on a world·
A rocket tested 011 Jill)' 10, 1927. Note tbe
similarit), of arrallgemel/l to Jbe V ol.
7
space journal
.
�w ide basis the sc:entific and engineering
w lues in rocket nnd jet propulsion research.
Dr. Goddard even made some tests to fi nd
OUt how much powder would be required
to make a Rash visible at a dista nce of 2!4
m iles, lind from this he c:.lcu lated thllt II
rocke t weighing about 3 \4 Ions would be
requ ired to carry sufficient Rash powde r to
make a visible fl ash o n the moon. He went
o n to make fhe further r.It he r vague state·
ment (G odd ard's imlics): "Th is pla n of
sendin g a Illass of flas h powder to the su r·
f:"c o f the moon, althoug h a maner of
ru m;\, gencnd interest, is not of o b vious
sciemi fi c importance, There are, howeve r,
tICI'eio/wHlm s 01 Jhe gelle l'nl lIIe/botl under
t/i1cuSlioll, wbicb ;1I1'o h 'e n IIlIlIIber of im·
portallt fealllres 1I0t herei.. mcntioned,
whic h cou ld lead to results of m uch scien·
t ific in teren. T hese developme nts invoh'e
nlany experimenta l d ifficulties, to be S\Ire;
b ut th e)' depend upo n noth ing tha t is really
im l>ossible." It may be arri"ed at by con·
jL'Cwre that the unspecified de"elopments
might be tIl ken to include manned inter.
p\ane("olr), It;H·C!.
Dr. Goddl. rd 's precocious talents and prophetic w ri tings are analogous (0 those of
Leonardo da Vinci whose original and dar·
ing theories might we ll ha"e revolutio ni zed
the thollght of h is day had they been ex·
tracted earlier from his "oluminous manu·
scripts, whic h remai ned unpublis hed until
recent ti mes. Dr. Goddard 's proposal to
explode :. load of flash J>owuer o n the moon
set o ff a Roman Holiday nmong newspaper
men. The idea of it blinding man·ma<\e flash
on the Illoon c:'ptureu t he imagina t ion of
the public, And (0 compou nd the excite·
ment, Ih is was nOt tho! in5:Ule proposal of
th e stCreotYI'L-d l':lflUloid scientist of comic
strip lore who slirround<.-d hi mself in his
slu m attic w it h bubbling caldrons of green
mist. It was the ide:. of a d isciplined,
p sp;:holog ically well.adjusted teache r of
ph ysicS. It wns the p roposal of a man who
rocket ;11 t be sbop a' R oswell, Neill ,\ lex;co, 011 f eb",ar) 6, 1940. i /lfscd ,"'!liPS
jor fllels alld II'US approximalel)' 1Z feet IOllg,
8
space journal
�r
AmeriC"J. n magaz ines on an ar licle which
presu med to suggesl Ihllt ato m ic energy
would onc d ay propel II rocket into inlerplanetar), space. One edilor rep lied: " The
speculation is imeresling, but the impossi.
bility of e,'e r doing it is so cen a in th at it
is nOI p rac tically useful. You have writlen
well a nd clearl y, but nOI helpfu ll y to science
as I SC(! il..
I relUrll the p aper wi th
thanks:'
Specul at ion on whether our ge ne rat ion
will li"e to see the p redictions of Robert
Hutchings Godd nrJ become real ized fans
is not of pa ramount concern. Bllt whet her
(here is 10 be li n llggressivc con tinu ation
of fund amental research in n climate of
tolera nce is the concern of eve r)' li"ing
Ame rica n. It is imperative Ihnt such a climate incl ude aid, encouragement, and prop·
er recog nilio n for men like Goddard who
in spite of tC1:hnical d ifficullies, disbelief,
and ri dicu le persist wi th dogged reso lu tion
u nt il they rea lize the ir a ims. The true fu lfillmem of our hopes for a p<'IIceful a nd
beuer world lies in the (ru it of the ir labors.
Tbe begimling oJ a fligbt 011 March 17,
/938. Th e IIi/mch;II!; lou'er shows a calapull arrill/gell/em,
had eMlled his Ph.D. in his ow n flcld and
who us a commissioned office r had improved
sisnal rockclS for the Navy. 10 addition, Dr.
Godd nr<I's work had the blessings of the
Srnithso ni:w Institution.
A few months :ther Dr. Goddard had been
elecled 10 t he BOil Td of Directors of the
Amc riClm Rocke l Society, he died on AugllSI
10, 1945. " The life·wo r k of Goddard," wrote
th e di rcclOrs. "both as a scientist and a
man, will always remain a brillian! inspira.
t io n 10 those who are privileged to carry
o n his e ndeavors, and 10 enr}' other bold
explorer on the frontiers of science. In lime
10 come, h is name will be SC I among the
foremos t of American Icchnical pioneers."
Fifty )'clln ago, in Ja nuary, 1907, Goddard
as II SlUde nt lit Worcester Tech received
rejcclion lette rs from Ihree highl y esleemed
9
space journal
.
�SPAtf.
AMALYSIS
lif' on oth,r stars
B y Ern s l Stuhlinger
di,.ctor, , . ,u,ch projuh ollie.
.,my b.lli,!;c, millil •• ~.ncy
(Editor. ,.ot~: This is ,he firs. inn.llmenl of
• Ihree·part arlide. The Olhe. ' ....0 parIS ....·ill
follow in l ubsequenl iss ue, of 51'ACE Journal).
N l:ORMER TIMES there was no q uestion about life on other stars. The com·
mon belief followed a literal interpretation
of the teachings of the Dible. Our earth was
though I 10 be the center of the uni\'e rse, the
only place inhabited by Ih'ing beings. At
Ihe lime of creation all the plants and aninlaiJ had come into exislence as they arc
now, acco rding to ODe well-conceivcd master
plan. No change occurred-no development,
I
Figll'tJ 1. Relative sizes 0/ Ihe plalJeIl al letJlI
10
space journa l
no expansion. The nalura l K iences, 100
much in their infancy, a nd 100 stricli)' limilcd to a selcclcd few, did nOl provide enough
cogen! evidence to the conlrary to make a
mooificadon of this com mon belief necessary.
Some few hundred years ago, the h uman
mind entered into a new phase of itS evolution. It developed an inquisiti\'e curiosity
10 know morc about the worid. Tooay our
earth is no longer accepted as the perfect
masterpiece of one six-day creation. It is
recognized as a small planet among billions
f,011l
fbe e(.frtb.
�PLUTO, . -1
• MOO N, . '0,27
•
MERCURY I
•
r - 0.39
MAR S, . -0.52
•
VE NUS, .. 0.97
•
EARTH •• -!.O
NEPTUNE •• >3.9
URANUS , r - 4,0
Pigure 2. Relati ve shes of the plal/ets.
and bi ll ions of Stars in a boundless universe.
E\"olution, not perfection, setS the grandiose
stage on which we are the actors and the
Spcct:ltots as well. We came to realize that
the human mind has the capability of learning and, to a certain degree, of unde rsrand·
ing how this world came into being, how
it is built, and how it de\'elops. To Ihe
\'isible world a rou nd us which was accessi ble to our forefathers, modern scientists
h;n 'e pdded ncw wo rlds: the world of the
tHoms, ;md the world of the stars. \Xle ha\e
fOUlul tlmt there :Ire universal h.w5 of natu rc
va lid equally in th ese three worlds which
help us to unde rstand their interrelations
and some of thei r mystcries. The natural
sciences today offer uS the foundation for
a concept of the world which is nor o n ly
more correct, but also much grcater, a ~d far
lIlore magnificent, th om any concept our
forefathers could de\"elop in their tilnes.
Life o n other stars ? It would have been
a profanity in medieval times 10 believe
that it might ha"e existed. Today this q uestion is one of the 11100t challenging problems
of science. There is hardl y onc grea t scho lM
who d ocs not g ive it his attention, and many
of t hem arc rew;Lrdcd br brill iant new ideas.
The remarkable fact is that e\'ery branch of
natu ral science bears upon t his problemastro nomy. physic~, chemistry, biology, geology, meteorology, and all the others. Once
we have the answer, its impact will be felt
C\'en b r sciences as sublime as philosophy
and theology.
The questioo of whether life exisUi outside
th e bounds of ollr earth cannOt be answered
by a plain yes or 00 tod ay. If the answer
should be positive, it may well be th at ""c
will have it as soon as a manned sutellite
around the earth offers a platfor m fo r observations. \'\' 1' certainly will know when
our (ust imerplane wry space ship takes us
to t.hrs; and this nmy pmsibl)' happen be·
fore the cnd of our centurr.
It is anot her thing if we ask what the
prubability is that life ex ists on other celes·
tial bodics. \Xle know the external cond itions lI nder w h ich life was ab le to de\"e lop
and subsist on earth. Wc know much abou t
th e environmental conditions which prel'ail
on other planets in our solar sy5teOi. and
cven on other fi xed stars. Comparing the
necessary conditions lor life with the exist-
II
sp~ce journal
�II
ing conditio ns o n stars, we can conclude
wit h a h igh degree of probability whe t he r
lifc shoul<1 be cxpeclCd (here, a nd into
what forms it may have dc,·eloped.
This way of reasoning may seem rather
bold. Howe,-cr , count less obscn~.l { i o n s o n
t his ciln h have shown Ihm w henever the
conditions for a certai n dc\C~ l opll1c[)[ a rc
favo rable, natu re docs nOt hcs italc 10 sian
this dc\·clopmcnt. Scientists arc confident
that this Tille, so ohen confirmed on eaflh,
may St ill be applied when the dC\'clopmclH
is IIml of living organisms, a nd w hen t he
place is nOt confined 10 this c:Lr\ h.
Our original questio n about t he e xistence
of life outside the ea r th, t he refore, reduces
10 the question of cnvironmcoml condi·
tions on other Slars and of nlXessary condi .
lions (or the development of life. These
q uestions clI n be answered to a considerable
degree uxl:.y, pa rt ially from d irect observa.
tions :lIId experi ments, part ial ly fro m extra·
pollH ions and log ica l de<;luc l ions.
Althoug h we usually Ih ink of planets only
when we discuss Ihe chances of finding life
o n other celestial bodies, 1I't' sholdd II0t
ol'ulook Iht' pOJSibility 0/ lift (Itf'tlQPillg
Illso 011 Iht "("uk" COlI/fioU CIII of a dOl/ble
jlllr, whe re lig ht and hea l wou ld be avail·
able fro m Ihc "bri ght" com ponen t. In t he
p rese m anicle we reSl r icl our considerations
10 p laner.like bodies whic h are much small·
er than the central Slar t hat gives t hem light
and hear,
\X'e will div ide our sub ject fro m he re
on into Th ree pans; T he as tro nomical as·
FigJlre 4. T he Crab NebJlla, a Ieflof'er of "
mPeNIQI'a e,.plQsiQIl i,1 /054 A.D .
pc<:ts, t he physica l cond itio ns, and the
biolog ical problem, The present article
will dea l wit h the astronomical aspt.'(:15 o f
life on othcr stars.
\X' hen we Ihink of life o n orher celestial
bod ies, we are incl ined 10 associate its
I>ossible exislence wit h c nv i.ron melllal con·
dilions as we havc t hem on o ur earth. T he
average lemperattlfe should nOI be: al>o\'e
60 C to 80 C, and not m uch below the
freezi ng point of water; the re should be
a n atmosphe re wi l h at lcast somc oxygen
or carbon d iox ide; Ihere shou ld be wate r;
nnd Ihere should be occasional sunshine,
or nn eq\livalellt smrsh ine. As we will sec
hLter, these cond itions ilfe mandatory.
T hat such an accumu latio n of condi lions
lIlay well occur in planetnry s),StemS is
proven by our own enrth. T he question is
thclI: \X' hal is Ihe probability thai a pl:lnemr)' s),stcm like thc solar fam ily occurs
among the fi xed Stars? De fore answe r ing
th is q ues tion, we take a sho rt look at t he
Structu re and the history of t he solar sys·
tern, of our galaxy, and of th c stellar uni·
"erse,
Jiigure 3, Relati,'e
tlis/at/eel
o/Ibe platlets / rolll ,be
Hili .
�One of the mOSt impressive fe:lIures of
t he solar syuem is the smallness of its componentS as compared to t heir distances. If
we should build a model of the sun and ilS
planets, a nd if we chose a sphere of three
inches in diameter, for example. an orange
for the su n , the planets would have the
following diametcrs and distances: Mercury,
0.01 inches u 10 feet; Venus. 0.026 inches
at 20 fcc t; earth, 0.027 inches at 27 fee t;
!\lars, 0.015 inches at 40 feet; j upite r, 0.3
inches at 135 fcct; Saturn, 0.25 inches at
255 feet; Ura n us, 0.12 inches at 525 ft.'Ct;
Neptune, 0.12 inc hes at 810 feet; Pl uto,
wit h as )·et unknow n diameter, at 1,060
feet (Figs. I, 2 and 3.) In the same
mode l, the nearest fixed star would h:1\'e
a dista nce o f 1,000 m iles fro m the sun, and
the e nd of our ga laxy would be 20 million
miles away. Besides the nine planets, we
find a belt of ma ny small astero ids berwecn
the orbits of Mars and j upite r; about 1,500
of them ha\'c been ide ntified. The mass of
the sun comprises about 99.8% of the tota l
mass of the solar system; the planets only
I:;gllrtl , . Th, big sp;rlll1leblllll ;" AmlroflleJIl.
0.2% . On the o ther hand, the combined
angu lar momentum of the planelS is about
98%., and that o f t he su n 2%. of the total
angular momentum of the system. The
sun consists of o,'er 90% hydrogen; heavy
clements arc rare. On the earth, heavy
c lements arc much more abu nd ant. The
composition of the planetS, disregarding
thei r atmospheres, is "ery probably similar
10 that of the e;lrth.
The la rge angular mOlllentum o f the
p lanelS is a very strong p roof agains t the
assumption that the planets were in former
times a part of the su n, or e\'cn that the
sun and Ihe planet5 werc formed in onc
p rocess out of a big diffusc nebula. A more
satisfactory expla natio n is possiblc only if
anothe r star, in add ilion 10 the su n, is assumcd to havc participated in the plane.
togcnic process. Theories by Chamberl in
and Moulton, a nd in n very advanced and
refined form by jeans, succeeded in describing many of thc detailed features of
the solar syStems by assuming the closc approach of anOlher Stur. Gravitational
�I
forccs WQuld p rod uce huge tidal wa,"es
a nd would c ,"en pull large amounts of mat·
rer out of the $u n , in the form of
II
giga n tic
" /illlnlcOI." This lila ment would finall y
break up unde r ils own gravitation aod
form a number of separate bodies wbich
finally would mo'"c around the sun in plane.
{'.try
orbits.
Their
angu lar
m oment um
would ha\"e been provided by t he passing
Slar.
The
s;\ffiC
p la net-fo rming
process
would a lso accoun t for the moons of lhe
pl:Lncls. One conspicuous faer remains
1I1lcxpinincd by this lhcory~thc fast rota·
lio n of some of the pl:mcls. I n order to
make this rot ation unde rsta ndable, J effreys
supposes a
"gm~ i ng
collision " between a
StH r and the sun, instead of n dose approach.
Frictio nal forces, in addition to g ravita.
tional forces, oou[(1 then accounr for the
rotlu;omll motions o f Ihe planet.
\'(' ilh t his assumplion, the obsen'ed rOtlllion and the total maS5 o f the planeu can
be explained s.,t isfactor ily. Howe\'cr, the
lurge :mgula r momelllum o f the planeu
then remains a myStery.
A new idea was introduced by R u~ 1I
a nd de\'elop<.od further by Lynleton. They
pointed out tlmt many of the Stars, almost
one-half of them, a re twin nars, revolving
arou nd each other at d istances w hich may
count fro m aOOm a third of a light year
down to less tha n the diameter of o ne of
them. POI:lri S, ollr north sta r, is k nown to
be II (I'lintupl et; CaSto r is e\'cn composed
of six indi vidual Sta rs, all orbiting Mound
ellc h other. R usse ll ass\lllled Ihat our sun
hlLd a [win, 100, 0.1 about the dist;mce of
the major planets. This twin was hi T and
snmshc,d to pieces by anot her star. Some
of the frag ments re mained in solar orbits;
they a rc our planets now.
This theory is able to explain Ihe rota·
lio n. Ihe angula r momenrUlll, t he distances,
a nd many o ther features of the planets. lis
sho rtcoming is the eXlremeiy sm;11I prob.
a bility for a direct hit between stau. To
help th is situation, Hoyle made the sug·
14
space journal
geslion that t he tw in Star may nOt hn\'e
been h it by another sta r, but may ha\'e
go ne through the naturJI cycle of its e\'olution, w hic h terminatc<l in a C:lIaclysmic
explosion. The hea\')' pieces of this ex·
plosion were hurled fa r Out inro sJY.Ice; a
huge cloud o f gases a nd dust remained in
the sola r gra\'itado na l fiel d , but with the
angular Illo men tu m which was left over
from the twin sta r. This gas and d ust cloud
first spread OU I arou nd the sun in a riog.
shaped disk, but later il contracted into
discrcte blobs becausc of eddy currents and
gravilllliona l inst1lbililies. Most of the
mass contained in (he g(IS nnd dust cloud
was finally concenlrnted in the ninc planets.
This th,--'Ory of planetary origin is part
of a comp rehensive "New Cosmology" by
H oyle and L),ltletOn. Allhough it is by
no means free of conlro\ersies, it offers very
intriguing desc ri pl ions o f the life cycles of
5(,ITS, of their energy hal;lIIce, and of the ir
compositio ns. T he explosion of the sun's
twin sta r, in the light of this theor)", would
be a "supernO\'a," the laSI phase of o ne
specific grou p of SUles called supergiants.
Three supernovae were observed within
our ga laxy in historic t imes: the firs t was
seen in 1054 by the Chinesc; rhe second in
l 572 by T ycho Brahe; :I nd the third in 1604
by Keppler. The firSI 5u pe rnO'~1 left a
gllscous mass, the well·k nown Crab Nebula
( Fig. 4), which has heen ex panding dur ing
the paS t 9DO rears with a peri phcral velocity
of abou t GOO miles per second.
Supernova explosions arc kno wn from
other galax ies. Their outburst of light is
so treme ndous t hai they ca n be observed
from the earth. Althou1,;h the final development sta1,;e of a supergi(lnt which
leads to a supernova mo.)" weB extend o\"er
millions of )Cars, the explosion itself I:1St5
only fo r a few da}s. T he frequency of
supernova explosions, according to I),'ade
a nd Zwicky, is about once in "DO or 500
rea rs per gal:lxy, a fi1,;\ue wh ic h agrees well
with rhe three supern ovae ohscT\'ed wit hin
OtiC ga laxy during the last 900 yea rs.
�H oyle's theory is well Cllpablc of explain.
ing many of the outstanding features of our
planetary SYSlem. It e\'en explains why
we find an abundance of heav)' e lemenu on
tile planetS, but not on the sun; heavy
nuclei a rc fo rmed in energy-consuming
nuclear processes during the collapsing
phase of a superg iant, shortly before its explosion. During this same phase it is likely
t hat a supergiant emits electromagnetic
waves which are obsen-cd by redia astron·
omers on earth. The last phase of the
entire process, the cont raction of the gas
lind duST cloud into diSl; retC planets, has
heen studied in great det:lil by von \'(feiz_
saecker. );xpanding Ihe law5 of fluid dyna mics to an aSlConomical scale, and Ill'plying them to the specia l case of II gas
and dUSt cloud around the sun, he could
derive many of the speci:11 properties which
we observe in t he plane tary s)'stem.
It cannot be said today whether this concept of planelogenesis comes close to the
truth. H owever. it ~ms to lead to less
controversies than older theories, and we
may well IIdopt it unti l bener theodes are
available. The probllbilities (or all the individual steps of {his planemry history can
be est ima ted from observations and mathe·
matical deduct ions; we finally can calculate
how of len a planetary SYS{ClII may ha\'e
,Ie,-eloped within our galaxy since its beg in ning.
Th is article is fa r tOO short to give an indiOltion of the demils of the various
theories or of rhe methods of o bsen'ation
and reasoning which a rc applie<1 by aStrOnomers to o bmin n u merical resultS. The
rollow ing !l umbers a nd f'gure$ are there_
fore only transmitted as (acts without
fu rther arguments.
Pigllrtl 6. A Sla r 'cloud' ill SagilJarills. This is onl) II lIl;'llll e porlion of the slars ,.isible i'J
Olle glllax)'. lVi/bill Ibe ellrtb's range of absen'lltioll Ibere lire abOli1 100 mil/;oll ga/a:des.
Each glllllX)' ilia), colliain 100,000 se//- slI#tlillillg plal/ets.
15
space iournal
�Our galaxy has an age of aboul " billion
years. \Vi(h one SU I>c rnova explosion e"cry
400 years, about 10 million supern ovaI.' must
have exploded (luring our gabxy's life
span. Eve ry second o ne of (hem may havc
hee n one component of a twin star, giving
risc to a c irculllstell:ar gllS and dust doml,
and subscquemly to a family of planets.
E\'en if it may be tOO oplimislic to assume
Ihal each of the resulting 5 million planetary syStemS COlllains at leasl one planet
wilh condilions favorable fo r Ihe developmem of life, it is cen ainly not un realist ic
to expect that onc planetary fumily out of
50 includes a mcmber o n whic h condi tions
similar to those on our c,tnh prevailed at
o ne time o r anOther. Tbis lIIeUIlS (bllt we
sbollid eX/Jeff tbal Ii/' ill Jome form may
bal'e det ·eloped. dllrillg tbe laJt 4 billiD"
)earS, f)l1 ubolll 100,000 ,IiUert'''' pial/tis
wilbitt Ollr gala:.:y.
O ur own !;lllalCy show the structure of a
spi ral nebula. Its size and shape resembles
"ery closely one of its neMeSt neighbors in
spnce. the benutiful spirn l ne b ula in Andronu.xI(1 ( Fig. 5). w h ich is "only" 1,500.000
light rears away. The diameter of our own
galaxy is about 60,000 light years. It conmins belween 10 and 100 billion Slars.
Comp;oring (his treme ndous number of
stars within our galaxy with Ihe 100,000
planets which may possibly bear life, we
must conclude that lifc is, on a n absolute
scale, a fre<.luCIlI e"ent within Ihe galaxy.
Re\;olively speaking. however. it is elC(reme-
I'ig ure 7. A rllISler 0/ galaxies ill tbe CorOIl(l
110realh. A lllbtl il/distillct b/otciJes ill Ibis
(Ibotogr(lpb, uboll~ '0, are galaxies app rox;.
11/lIlel)' Ibe size of Ollr OW".
16
space journal
Iy rare. Only one in about a million stars
is privileged (0 send its warm ing sunshine
out to a satellite o n which livi ng organisms
dc,·elop.
Our most powerful telescope o n Mount
Palorll(lT IS able to discern ynlaxies as far
out as one bill ion light reMS. \Vithin rhis
obscT\'ation range there are about 100 million yalaxies ( Fig. 6 and 7). I:ach of them
may (;ontain lOO,<XlO life-sustllining planets,
lI·hirh leads /IS /0 a to/al 0/ tell thousalld
billioll plallets, witbi" totllly'J obJfrr.·"ble
mlil'erse, ubicb IIllly be il/b(lbited b)' liI·il/g
beillgs. The toml n umber of stars in Ihis
vo lume is te n billion billions.
It is well to remember that this yiga ntic
n umber is numerically eq ual to (he n umber
of mo lecules within one cubic centimeter
of air.
H ow long will life continue to prosper on
our earth? The heal bala nce of the eMlh
depe nlls almost em ire!y on the su n. Solar
heat is cons(;lntly produced by the fusion
of hy{lrogen nuclei into helium nuclei.
This hcat production will go o n with :I
slowly increasing rate for :lbom 50 billion
yea rs. \X' hile the hydrogen supply is g radu_
ally consumed, the sLln will slowly heat
up and, at the sa.me time, swell to a
diameter about as brge as the orbit of
,\I:lrs. From then on the S\lIl will stan to
sh ri nk. II w ill not expl<xle like :I supergi:mt, but ,"cry gradually cool off. At the
end, (he sun will be a black dwurf. Lnng
before t h:lI, life on any of t he sobr " hltlelS
will Im"e become impossible Ix.-causc of Ihe
he:ll increase during the hydrogen-helium
con\'ersion. BUI (here is a good chance
that life w ill persiSI on eart h for se"eral
billions of rears-as far liS t he sun is concerned.
In (he neX I edil ion of SPACE J ournul
wc w ill (liKUSS the "ar),;ng p hysica l conditions whic h arc found on a pla nc.! in (he
coursc of its life cycle, and we will sec: in
pllTt icular w helher the earth is prepa red
to su pport life for some more billions of
years.
�SPACE
PROJECTION
ro ck, t mail to the moon
What should the stamp cost, based on current propulsion technology?
B y Dr . H . W .
Rit chey
lech~ic81
dirodor
Ihio~o l chemic81 corpO'8 l ion
red, lona divi.io"
M
OST AS P ECfS of space travel oave
been covered extensively in a great
volume of literature that has appeared on
t ois subject over the laSt few years. The
problems of propulsion and control have
received a treme ndous amount of attention.
Other problems relating to the survival of
the h um an being in space and his psychological and physical reactions to wide variations in g ravitational fields have also received considerable attention.
Perhaps t he one greatest problem now
impeding progress is that of the subconscious inhibitions buried in toe minds of
those technologists now «'pable of effecti ng
space travel. This problem may be solved
for future gencwtioos by the publicity now
being released in the semi-tech nical publications and on television. The yo unger generation, now in the for mative swge, h'n'e
seen animated cartoons and other demonsn;.tions of the feasibility of space travel
to the extent that they now look upo n it
as an accomplished fact. On the other
hand, our present generation of scientists,
even those who arc able to prove logically
by eng inee ring calculations t hat space
travel can be accomplished, have been so
subjectively inhibited by their early condi t ion ing that most of t hem still regatd
it as impossible in some segment of their
mind bur ied deeply in subconscious. Only
wi t hin the last few years has it been respectable in sciemific circles to discuss seriously the feasibi li ty of space trave l.
The actual fact exists that we arc now
capable of sending an objcct outside the
influence of the e~rth's gravitational field
and, therefore, with an adeq\l~te system of
guidance could send this objcct almost anywhere in {he solar system. The design
chMacteristics of a rocket system capable of
propelling an object outside the earth's
gravitational field are so weB understood
that it is possible to make reasonably accurate calculations of (he cOSt of such a
propulsion system. Such a propu lsion
system could carry rocket-mail letters to the
moon or to a planet, ~nd we are then able
to estimate to a fair degree of accuracy the
cost of a rocket·mai! stamp needed to send
a rocket·m~il !eHef to ourer space.
The problems inherent in the necessary
prop ulsio n sySl'em have already been solved
by progress in the field of so!id-propellant
rocketry. In the so!id-p ropellant rocker
engine, the propeJlant is properly mixed
and " injected" into the combustion cham-
17
space iournal
�bet at the manufacturing plant.
II
A com-
posi te type of sol.id p ropellant can be
processed a5 a slurry in the m an ufacturing
p lant lI od OUI directly in to the pressu re
veuel. A typical engine of this type is
shown abo.·c.
The charge burns o n all the exposed inside
su rface of a speciaUy·s haped propel.l ant
cavi ty. Since bu rning occurs from the
inside outward, the flame docs not contact
the walls of the pressure vessel until near
the c nd of t he b urning period. If a proper
fue l bind er is used. the charge can be
bonded 10 the walls of th e p ressure vessel
lind pc nnilics i n we ig ht (I re pa id for support
of the propellant. Although the performance characteristics of present rockets cannOl be disclosed, calculati ons urili:dng obvious assum p tions concerning propellant
de nsit ies and de nsities of the high-stren g th
st rucmrol matcria ls can be used to show
that it should be rc lat ivcly easy to make a
SOlid-propellant rocket engine in wh ich
86"AI of the gross weight would be propel1:1111. Si ncc both this ratio and Ihe propellam sp<.'Cific impu lse are related 10 combust ion c hamber pressure, it is assumed
that this ratio can be at tained wit h a propellam u hibiting a 5ea-Ie\'el impulse wit h
an optimum nozzle of 195 Ib-s«/Ib. H
such u rocket is designed 10 operate somew here ncar opti m um in the ,'cry low-pressure co ndilions e)Cisting at h igh ald tude,
this speci fic im pu lse figure will r ise to a
"alue of about 230.
M:Hl y muJciswge. solid·propellan t rocket
ve h icles IHlve been fired and the ca pabi lities
of staging and of high.altitude ignition
lw,'c already been dcmo nstrated in such
missiles as t he Loc k heed X 17 ;Hld the
multismge, solid-propellant test vehicles
fired by NACA. For the purpose of estimating thc f1lke·off weight ill an "escape
"elocily" missile, the stage load rotio of 1:4
has been assu med; in other words, each
rocket cnginc weighs four times all the
load that it carrics. ThC5e performance
valucs and design criteri a arc thc n used
in the following equation for rocket mo' tion;
18
space journal
,
v
~
V
~
I ••
~
•
-
W,
-
W,
~
I." x g x 2. 303 log
W,
W,
velocity. ft/sec
propella nt specific impulse,
Ib-sec/ lb
g ra"italio nal accelcration, 32.2
It /sec?
initia l we ig ht of syste m
fi na l wc ig ht of system
Thc calculated velocity, unco rrccted for
drag and gravitational efT~t, is shown in
T ab lc L This ve locity is the n COrtt'Cted
for drag :tod gravitati omll effect b y su bfracting an o\'cr:tll gross " loss" figurc, convcned 10 equi valenl vclocity loss.
It has becn assumcd that eac h rocket stage
is a fa ithful linear scalc rcp roduction, in
w h ich case t he fo llowing sclle re lat ions hips
obtain:
Burning lime of Rockel B = scale facto r
times burning lime of Rocket A
T hr u~ t of Rockct B _
:scalc raClor
5quared timcs thrust of Rocket A
Gross wcighl of Rocket B = scale factor
cubed times g ross wc ight of Rocket A
Using thc5e rclationsh ips it is easy to
esti mate the time of burning and obtain a
corrcction for the so-C'J.llcd "8" losses of
,·e lacity. This corrt'C ti on is also shown in
T able T. II is morc difficult to arriyc al
:to accu ratc corr~ti on for at mosp he r ic d rag,
eSf>Cci:llly sint"C dcs ign of the specific aero·
dynam ic con figu rat io n is beyond th c scope
of this article. Based on c)Cpcricncc, how·
e\'cr, it wou ld seem reasonnble and adc(l\I(\CC
to incorporate a corrC(;tion of 2,000 it/s«
as the loss to be incurred by atmospheric
drag for the smaller, "h igh_g" rockct, and
1,400 ft/sec for fhe larger rackct. T hus, as
Table I illustrates, it is possible 10 attaiD
escape vclocities wilh a one-pound payload
using a missilc hlt\'ing II lotal take-off
weight of less than 3.200 pounds.
It is also beyond the scof>c of this article
to estimate thc productio n cosu of such a
m issilc ; however, expericnce w it h relatively
small numbers of rockets made in research-
�I
TA BLE I
M A il ROC KET TO TH E MOO N - SPECIFICATI ONS
"oG'
......
"
~ .,
.. ,..
'''''"f
.... "lA.,
~"
" "0
.
H',.,'"
.... H . .. '
, ,,'"
,.,g.",, ' ,
. ......,
' • '0
'
1
f
(
. RETRO
~ ... nO"'D
< IT
0
Wl1HO UT
...
"",
'0'"''
II ...
~OC ( H
W ,TH
5
5
,
0 .85
230
8dOO
1 ~8dOO I
2.0
,
25
20
0 .85
230
8400
8400
,.<
,
125
100
0.85
230
8400
8400
59
2
'"
SOO
0 .85
230
6400
8400
10.0
1
3125
2500
0.8 6
no
7200
8400
17.1
AVDW
15, 625
12,500
0.86
7200
29.2
195
195
40 , 80 0
40,800
lOSS
1,400
2,000
D' AG 1055
2,000
1,400
37,400
37 ,4 00
lOlA'
•..
""
,
--~
without " ,e t, o -,ode'"'
aml-Jc>'clopmCnt qu a nti ti es wou1d indicate
th at 20 such syStemS could be :.ssembled ill
a total cost not exceeding 5 10.00 per pollnd
of missile weight, amou nting (0 $}2,000 1:>cr
vehide.
Cer tain olher problems wOllld natllnrl]y
exist if such a project were to be attempted.
r or e xample, there is hardly m:ed to se nd
a roc ket-m a il letter (0 the moon unless
someone were there to receive it. This
problem is norrllally not related to the COSt
of t he smmp. l(Od, therefore , the cost of
placing a recipient in Ihe rig ht location has
nOI been included.
T here is also the problem of either hil ting the mrgc. object with i' free-flight
ballistic missile or providing some type of
wilh ",e lro -rocke t" '
termi nal guidance. Since the moon subtends a "isual angle of aooU! [0 mils, it
shollid not be tOO difficult a task to la unch
a rocket in the right dircction and with
sufficient velocity to hit the moon on a frecflight ballistic trajectory,
T he recipient POSt office on the moon,
of course, IllUSt bear the COSf of fmding
the rocket at thc impact poinl a nd recover·
ing it. Here we get into a nebulous area
where it might ver y well be argued th a t the
COSt of finding and recove ring a rocket
wou1d far exceed the COSt of the vehicle itself. [n fact, the expe nse of remi ng one of
the cOIH"cmional l;wnching sites for [aunching the >-e hicle might very well (all LnlO
the sa me category. l.et·s assume, howeve r,
19
space
journal
�tlmt it rc(!uircs inve~trllem of two man-da ys
time li nd $2,000 in amortization of C<juipment in order to Iliunch the rocket_ So far
as recovery is concerned at the other end of
the !Inc, ir hardly seems reasonable to per_
mit the rockel to impm;:t on the moon's
surface with the incre mental "elocity
C<ju ivalem to free-fa ll in the moon's g ra,-i.
rnrional field p!U$ what ,'e!odty is left at
the "tu rn -over" ]loOi m , In other words, in
order to pte,'ent th e rocket from being completely dcsltop:d o n impaCl, it would be
neccssary to ,:a nee! out about 8,500 ft/see
accu lll ulau.'(1 vClodty shortly before impact. Th is would be done by \.sing the
last stage as a " Tetro-rock et" and by adding
on a new firsl stage weighing fOUT times
the 3.125 poullth appe:. ring in T able I.
This adds a n addil iona l 12.500 pounds to
our rake-off weighl a nd :.ddilio na l $1 25,000
to thc COSI.
The pay!o:ld will be a one-pound object
consisting of a steel shell, a properly constirutcd dre marker. li nd the mail will be
micro-filmc<1 on 16n1l11 film. Eac h Hamp
will allow the scnder twO pages of correspondence which would be tr:Ltlslllitled in
the form of twO micro·fillll frames, Since
vo lnt ility of the dye Illarkcr would be a
matter of eXlreme importance. the dye
marker will consist of carbon black and a
small e"plosi,-e chnrge, the tom l of which
we ighs four ounces and which will be at·
rlmged to explode on impHct SO that the
impact point will be mnr kc<l by the black
powder,
The steel shell comaining t his load will
weigh two ounces. The burned-out ' retrorocket" itself will act as a buffer agai nst
impact damage, and it is e"pec(ed that the
steel shell conraining ten ounces of 16mm
micro-fi lmed corresponde nce would $uT\' ive
a n illlpact at sc,'era] hu ndred feet per second . The COSI of recove ry and delivery at
the receiving end will , in accortl:tnce wit h
U. S. Postal policy, be subsidi zed by the
U. S. Governme nt , and, Iherefore, these
COSts (lfe not includc<1.
T he len ounces of micro·film w ill contai n
12,800 16mm frames, and will r('(luire
6,400 l>O$tage stHmps 10 send 6,400 leuers.
A summary tabulation of the COSt of mail
service is as fo llows:
$125,000.00
Addcd Siag e
32,000.00
Other roc kels
2,000.00
Amort iza tion launchi ng
e(lu ipment
250.00
Two mun-days (consult·
am rate)
159,250.00 -:- 6,400
525.00 pe r
stamp
Di vidi ng by Ihe number o f letters th nt
m ay be mlllsmiued, this leaves U$ a COSt of
25.00 for rockel-mail stamps to the moon.
the
20
space journal
mOOll.
�L
SP.t,Cf.
FLIGHT
remarkable x-craft
By Fr e d e ri ck I. O rdway, III
"'n.p. e •• dent
9 ue •• 1 •• Ironeulic. co.poretion
T
H E UN ITED STATES h as seen R uss ia
slowly dose the wide ak- power gap
that once se parate(1 the twO nat ions. Mil itary experts 1I0W agree that in many areas
lhe Soviets arc <Iuantinlti\"e l)' ahead of us,
and as far as quality goes they a rc catching
up rap idl y.
To offset any c hattenge to our ae ri al
supremacy, the Un ited StalCS has embarked
011 an ambitious experimental research air·
eraft program th:lt, it is hoped, witt insu re
the mailllena ncc of leadership in superior
q ua lity a irpla nes and missiles in the years
to come.
i\hny of th e exotic spaceships of th e
scie nce-fiction world we re prefixed by th e
letter X; tod ay many of the astO n ishing rese:lrch missiles and pl:lnes being developed
by American tcchnology have the same in·
trod uctory Iclter. The X-series is our pre"iew of tomorrow's aeria l wcaponr)'.
The idea for seui ng up a researc h series
of :Ii rcraft bcgan d uring the course of
\': 'orld \\7 ar It , bu t work was no t t)Cgun
seriullsly until the end of hostilities in
19'15 . T he Air Force, Navy, and National
Ad visory Conuninee
for
Aerona utics
Bell X-I
Bell X-III
(NACA ) coocei"ed of, aod ha"e conti n ued
development o n, an ad " anced series of re·
seMch vehietes.
t)(:t:lils, from few to rather complete, arc
available on more t han a do~en X -craft.
\X' e fi nd that thcre arc three t)'pes of veh i·
clcs that ha\'e been gi"en the X.designation:
(I) manned rocket ai rpl anes, (2) manned
turbojel airplanes, and (3) unmllnned missiles. Ra ther than tfy to look at them
in n ume r iC'.!.1 order (X- I, X ·2, X·3, X·4, etc.)
it should be more in teresti ng to th ink of
them by caICgory. Since the most exci tin g
frontie rs of flight 'Ire usu:tll y :tssocialcu
wi th man :LS well as speed a nd altitude,
leI us look at what has been (lone with our
pilOted rocket airplanes.
The l.icll X·I was the first a irplanc in
the world (Q reach supersonic speeds in
Ic,-ei fl ighl, crossing whut W:lS known as
Ihe "sound barrier" in October of 19-1"7.
T his WIIS an c "c nt of tremendous il1lpor.
ra nee to the aero nautical sciences, :md was
accomplished by designi ng and fl)' ing :l
rocket.prOI)C!led ;,i rplane th a t was ~ Imost
lilenl ll)' a m:lnn(.-d m issile. The pl:Lne was
lJeff X-Ib
/jell X·2
21
space journal
�driven by a powerful Reaction Motors
GOOQ·pound t hrust rocker e ngine operating
on liquid oxygen a nd alcohol. It p rov ided
milir;u·y a nd induslrial aeronau tical reo
searche rs with invaluable data about t be
t hen.virtual1y.unknown reg ions o f high.
speed flight, a nd d ata derh'ed from rhe
program were fed into late r combat air·
p lane des ign.
A modification o f the early model was
the X·IA. five feet longer thall its prede.
cessor. After thorough teHing in 1952
and 1953, this I:.rget plane amazed t he
wo r ld by tt;lve!! ing ,I( 2V2 t imes the speed
of sound, or 1,650 miles per hour, in Dc·
cemlJcr of 1953. In another flight it
reacht.'d :1 record altinuJe of 90,000 feet,
whic h liter:,lIy brought ma n to the fron·
tiers of sl).lce. \'I:' hile the X·I cou ld only
sUSI:dn PQwered flight for 2V2 minutes,
the X·tA could e n joy four minutes of full
power since it ca rried considerab ly more
fue l.
An X·1 11 was bui lt and speciall y instru'
mented for resc<Ltch on high speed frictio n
he:lling. As the myMeries of the sound
harrier were dispelled, thosc of the " thermal
barrier" wNe explored. All of thesc X·I
ai rp lanes were nornlally air·l,. unched from
specially adapted bomber.t)·pc four.engine
airpln nes. Th is ('nil bled the X.plant'li to
util i:,.e their precio us fuel on ly for the re·
scarch purposes (or which they were de·
signl.'d. without wa~ting ill. )' for take·off
and cli mb to Hlti t ude. The planes can and
Imve. howc,'er, wkcn off from the g round
under Iheir own powcr.
It is imercsting to know that the X·IA
:md D plu nes weigh about 16,000 pounds
and arc crammed with 1,000 pounds of in.
strulllentation to record the variety of tests
that the pian(.'s \U1dergo at the outer reaches
of the tLlmosphere and at extreme ,·elocities.
NOt al[ ai rplanes of the X·I series were
successful. X·I Numbe r 3 was destroyed
during a fuel opcralion, a modified X·IA
exploded in 1955, and a model D of the
series also WaJ destroyed.
It is "'1.'11 know n that air in motion
possesses kinetic energy. Now if we de·
22
space iournal
cide to b ri ng to a halt rapidly.movi ng air,
the e ne rgy contained in it 1I1L1St be con·
ye rted soUlehow, a nd we find that we end
up with heat and pressure energy. A simple
equation tel ls aeronautical.design engineers
and ilerodynamidsts what the tCIllpt:'taturc
rise will bc of :m object encountering a
rllpidly.mov ing air Slfealll. As ai rplanes
and missiles roar t hrough the utmosphcre at
e\·er.;nc re:,sing speeds mo re and mo re
,"elocity energy is convc rted in to hcat.
\'\Ihlle some o f this heat is cond ucted
through wh:1! is called t he boundary layer
and w h ile, especially at extreme altitude,
some is radiated out the air frame , much
has to be absorbed .
Specially prepared timniu m, stainless
steels. ilnd ceramics are used to prOlOCt the
aircraft from th is heut. Moreover, each
craf! hilS a cerrain heat capaCit )'; bur " ircraft
designers kn ew that sooner o r lau~ r re·
frigeration syStems would ha,·c to be in.
corporated if man anJ materiHls were to
sut\·i,·e the "thermal barrier."
It is ohvio us th:1! the denscr the atmos.
phere the more acme the heat p roblem beCOUles. To study the thermal phenomenon
propedy, greal speeds a nd high.altitude
mpability arc necessary. If we were to fly
tOO low a t tOO high a velocit)" we would
burn up like a meteor. Man ht.s found
trmt if he w,mts to go substantiall y funer
than he d oes today he mUSt gCt be)'ond the
thick anllos pheric blnnket ilnd into the
rnrefled upper le,·cls.
Till.' X·2, :mOfher Hell- Air PorceNAC.t\ rocket rescMc h nirplane, w:.~ spe·
c ifica ll y designed to explore this thermal
barrier. In J ul), of lasl yea r il had reached
a top speed of thrcc limes the speed of
sound or ahout 2,200 miles pcr hour. To
get th is eX1C1I periormllilce a Curliss-\\ltight
liquid.propellilnl rock"t engine. de"eloping
15,000 pounds of thrust, w .•s u!ICd. Perhaps
e,"e n more astounding than the 5p'-'Cd produced was the record altitude flight of
126,000 fCCt , o r nearl)' 21 miles straight up.
The powerful rocket engine a llowed
d am 10 be gained of airplane l)('rformance
at hig h angles of :Llmck. When spee<ls
�I
of .Mach 2 to 3 are reached, the temperature of the skin may r ise from 250 0 P to
650 ' F at high alt itudes. Designers have
therefore fitted the X-2 with t'emperature·
resistant glass and a heat-insubted cabin
to provide protection for the pilot. Furthermore, special alto),s were used in critical
parts of the plane. In else of airpbme
malfunction, the elbin could be ejected and
parachute· lowered to an ah itude where
the pilot could separate and complete the
(lcscent with his own parach \lte.
One of the X -2's exploded a nd was intcmionall), jettisoned fro m its mothe r
launching aircraft in May 1953. The last
X -2 crashed because of stability prohlems,
killing the pilot, Capt. M. Apt. So the X·2
progr;lm is officiall)' over.
T o carr)' on the work st:Lrted b)' the X- I
and X-2 ;lirplanes (as well :.s the rocketpowl.'red Nav)' D-5S8-2. not a part of the
X.program), one o th er manned rocke t craft
is being developed, dle X·lS. The Bel!
X _I E witt be used for .Mach 2 research
until these new pl;lnes are ready. Its (ust
flight occurred in June of this )'ear.
Details are shaping up about the North
American X-IS , which is sponsored by the
Air Force, N avy and NACA. it will in\·estigate the unknow n velocity regions at
five, six, or more times the velocity of
sound, and il" will p robe 100 miles above the
su r f;,ce of our planet. IFe ellll almost COI/.shier the X-15 as II IIMlmed stUlcesbi/J, alUl
it will t1rob"bly be Ibis progressioll Olltwards illl)eiocit}, Iwd "di:Jt"'lce Irolll tbe
eartb" that will bring /IS to lull·fledged
IIUII/lled spflCe fligbt .
\'(Ie S'IW that the old X-I planes produced
6,000 pou nds of thrust, white the X-2 built
up 2 V2 times that; as much power as put
Out by a typical Navy cruiser. T he X-IS's
rocket engine, to be built by Reaction Motors of New Jersey, will release 60,000
pounds of thrust, :lnd will fire from 1 to 3
minutes.
Despite this enormous amount of power,
despite the fact that the a irplane is designed
to explore areas where no man has yet been,
and despite the fact that frictio n heat generated may rise 10 ISOO Df to 2500° F, the
plane is considered quite safe. Depe ndi ng on
the c ircumsta nces, the p ilot, in case of a mishap, will have a 90 to 100 per cent survival
chanl·e. The airph10e has been carefu!!y
designed from th e human enginee r ing poi nt
of vicw, with :,erome<!ical scientists of the
Air Force ;1Od Navy cooperating closely
w ith the manufacturer. It will be heavil)'
inst r umented to record conditions of ree n try from sp.Ke into (he earth's aUllos,
p here, heating, st;lbility ,It high speeds and
a1cimJes, and comro!' The X_IS wi!! be
the first, {fUe hypersonic boosted glider.
The initial flight test is expected in 1958.
Although less spectacular, high I)' import'lm work is bei ng, ;'nd has been , accomplished by rurboiet-powered research
a irc raft such as the X-3, x·4, X-S, X-l3,
X-1 4 and X-lS. A!! manned , these planes
have probed a v<Lriety of aero nautical unknowns, :md results are rapidly :lnd effi·
ciently being "ploughed back" into industry.
DOllglas X-J
�The X-3 h as often b<.-en referred to as
the " Flying Pencil" ix'Causc of its long
(nearly 67 feet), thin shape. Powered by
tWO ' Xlestinghousc jets. it produces 14,000
pounds of th r ust and land s at a brisk 215
miles per hour. The wing loading (a term
dcnoti ng thc gross we ight of the airpla ne
divided by thc a rea prcsented by its wings)
is somc 200 pounds for cach square foot, a
"ery unusua l figure.
This m i(l·w ing airplane carries 1,200
pounds of research instru mcntation a nd a
rcf r igen ltion system for cool ing the cockpit and instrumen ts. An imcresting fact
is th:or it uses somc of its fuel to circulate
in the nose arca fo r cooling. The a irpla ne
was desi gned to tCSt out slIStll;lIed, \'ery
high speed flight. and was a joint A ir Force,
N:lvy and NACA projecl. Much of the
craft was madc of lilanilllll.
Meanwhile, the X- 5 is :! plane featuring
a var iable sweep wing; that is, t he backward 51(.nl of the w ings can be :tdjustcd
durillg flight . W h ilc landing and taki ng·
off the sweep is about 20 degrl'e5, and in
fli g ht it can be positioned b:lck to ~ degrees. The w ing·sctting mechanism is
coupled 10 an a pparatus th aI immediately
compensates for the shift in the center
of g ravity of the IO,OOO-I'ouod ai rpl ane as
the wi ngs arc changed. T he usc of sweptback wings bOlh delays and red uces transonic elTects, but the exact degree of swccp
is often a problem. AsSO(:;ated widl 5W(,'CP,
howe"er, is a number of <Iiffie"!ti,, such
as t he thickening of Ihe so·callcd hound:lry
In)'c r ncar the tips. flow \'clocitics along t he
wing, necessity of large anglcs of aWlCk at
high lift. and d ynamic stabi lit y. Thc X·5
was designed to im·cstigare the aerod)·namic
cfTecu of swccpback and change of sweepback . Two airplanes ha"e crashed in thc
leu program.
'Xle now turn ((I anot hc r type of turbojetpowered research airpl:.ne known :IS the
V'\'OL {meaning Verlica l T (l kc'off (' n<l
Landing ) , represented by the X·I3, X .1 4,
and X·lS. All t hree planes ha"e come into
Norlbrop X-4
T he Northrop X -4 :H1J Bell X-5 rep resent a d ilTe re nt sort of airp lanc in that they
arc not prim:! rily designed for speed and
altitudc testing. Thc x -4 is charactcrized
by a tailless configuration wilh swept wings,
being pattcrned after thc well-known "fly_
ing wing" design. Ele\'ons on the Iraili ng
edge of the wing act us uilerons and ele,'ators. It is u SllIa ll plane, weighing only
7,000 pounds (11\d measuri ng less th:1II 27
fccI long. Much valuable in formation has
been gained on sUl b il ity ,md {light charucteristics from th is a irplane in rhe subsonic speed region.
Bell X-5
24
space jou rnal
,
;
�the news vcry recently, and all three ofTer
different approaches 10 the same end.
The X- 13 is pop u lar ly knowo as the
Verl i jcf, and its a pproach 10 vertica l takeoff is very d i rcc~: SCI the plane in a l u il-
downward, nose-upward positio n, a nd lake
otT. It is launched from a trailer bed
which is hydraulically r:l ised infO the ven iCli position .
•
The plane hangs from a
hook on a stretched albIc, and when ready
10 fly build s up power from its Ro lls.Royce
A von e ngine ulltil thc thr ust (,,,",eros Ihe
weight of t hc :lirplanc. In Apr il the first
" mulSit ion" flight was made when t he plane
,·cTli(.-ally look nIT, "conve n ed" 10 the horizontal position. flew at a rcspccra bl)' high
speed, agai n con vened and nmd c a ve rt ical
la n<l ing.
A jet reactio n
CIl,l[Tot
system is
A SUI'(,rson ic VTOL lighter has reporl(,'(!'
Iy been des igncd based on the X · 13 which,
it is claimed, could climb to 15,000 ft'Ct d ur o
ing the ti me II cOIH'cmional fighter is be·
coming airborn e. Th is and o ther VTO l.s
w ill probably re\'0Iutioni7.c the concept of
aerial warfare in tha t no ebborate (a nd
vu lnerable) land ing fields and carriers will
be necessary. Gi.·e the VTOI. a littlc sp;\ce
in the b;\ck )';\rd lind thllt is all it :lsks.
The sh rouds of mili!;,ry sccreg' have o nly
been lifted from the Uell X·14 which
might be call(,'([ a hori 7.0ntal VT OL. lis
two Armstrong·Siddeley ASV. S Vipcr jet
engines produce hot disch:lrge gases wh ich
are di.·erred downward du r ing take-off 10
p ush the a irpiline upw:trds. The total
JUSt
e mployed during periods of rising, lower.
ing o r JUSt ho."ering; the pi lot del1ectS the
jet exhaust by thrOllle control. Onl y 24
fect long. the plane has Jirecti onall)·-controlled bleed jets on the wingrips, and exceltern performance character istics (good
climb. m"neu\'Cr"bility, etc.). The Air
I;o r«:, Na\·y. and N ACA have "II su p ported
th e program at one stage or anmher, al·
though Ihe Ai r Force supports the
as such.
x·n
IJell X·14
thruSI is 3.500 pou nds. As the plane rises,
the exhauu gases arc di rected by special
vanes more and more rearward and hor i·
zonml fl ig ht can commence. Three com·
p ressed ai r jets arc used to comrol a!litude
when the plane hovers. The pl:'ne has
a lready completed preliminary f1 ig hl lests
both co n\'emionall y and unde r VTO I. con·
ditions.
RY"'I Verlijet X·13
T he fina l X·VTO t plane lIbout wh ich we
know sollll'lh ing i5 H iller Helicopters' lilt·
wing X . IS, which feature s four turboprop
engines, with twO COunter-rotating propel.
lers. This approach [0 Ihe VTO t a.rt
relies o n tilti ng Ihe w ings fro m the hori·
zo nlal 10 t he vert ica.l posi tio n and allow ing
25
space journal
�the ClIrboprops to literally screw the plane
up into (he air. Small turbojets in {he tail
provide comrol dur ing hovering operatio ns.
This p lane will pro b;tbly be used to nans-
I.
port troopS anJ supplies
to
and from arcas
through thc atmosphere into sp:lce (a pproximately 200 miles) then tilt and , with
m otors still fi r ing, emcr the earth's atmosphere at fiftccn times the spccJ of sou nd.
All this is done to test re ·entT), proble m s
where no airfields arc av:,iJablc. J{ eportS
arc tim! it (:UIl rno \'c along rather rapidly.
H iller X-J8
Wre now come TO the third a nd hml\
category in our su r vey of the X-sedcs, Uflm a nn('d missiles, the X-7, X - tO "oJ X-17.
Lock/)«etl X-7
[Oleh is powered by " different type of
engine; each has ils own specific rC5Cilfc h
purpose. Lockheed has twO, the X-7 al1<1
X·17, and North Arncriclo one, the X -IO.
A 11 :ITe c"lled {cst veh ides.
The X-7 is powe red by two ramjet cogines, being what is called a (CSt bed for
the type of powe r pl;ont that propels the
Boman: intercepter missile. The missile
has heen under development a nd test fOT
approximatel y ten ),ears and will continue
at leaS[ one more. It is usu:lll)' air-launched
and boosted by :l rocket e ngine to accelerate
the missile to the point where (he ramjets,
whic h need ra m :lir 10 sustain their opemlion, C:ln take over.
Unlike most missiles, X·7 is not expendable, and Gm be parachute. recovered for
continued use and evaluation. It ohen
lands nose fu st on a nose spike. Dat;L arc
tra nsmitted to the surfacc by a radio telcmc u y system.
The X-17 is a more a m bitious rocket,
being a three-st"ge affair, 40 feet long.
Normally, the roc ket will take off and fly
26
space iOlKnal
and the vit;d nose-cone aspect of the forthcoming intercontinental ilnd intermediaterange b .. llistic missi les. On one flight,
whcn the tilt ing mechanism did not function, the missile flcw to an altitude of more
t han 600 miles a nd a r,mge of more than
700 m iles. During flights in April and
July speeds of 9,000 miles per hour were
reported and later confirmed.
.i\fore than 20 of thc G·wn . solid.propelled
rockets havc been fired from the Air Force
M issile Test Center, most with good results. \Vhi le the findings TO d ate have bccn
i,pplieJ by thc Air Forl'e to its Atlas, T itan
and Thor b"I!istic missile projects, the
Navy may coorinue to fly the X - 17 as a
test vchicle for its submari ne-based Polaris
l R.BM .
\Vhere"s the X·7 and X-17 use ramjc[s
and rockets resp<.-ct i\'ely, the X·lO is provided with twO wrbojet engines. It is a
test vehicle fo r the rt.-cent!y-cancelled Navaho XS M-64A imercontine ntal-range cruise
�l..ockheed X·1 7
Nortb AlIIericlIIl Nambo X-IO
\
m issile, nnd it is e mployed 10 check out
nerodynnmic problems, electronic co mpo nents, :md gu idance features. Flight testing of the X·tO has been successfully CO Ill pleted according 10 the A ir !'orce. It has a
lnnding gear nnd ca n be reco vered after
fli ght fo r re-use, offering a great savin g in
money. Na"aho, the end product, was to
ha\'c bee n I>owc roo b)' Tam jets and boostoo
by three 120.000'pound li(IU id rockeu.
ila"ing brieR)' lookoo at t hese spectllcular
X-crnh , we mn)' ask : "" 'l?hat next? 'Vhat
w ill happe n 10 to 15 yea rs hence?" Th e
Air Force has IIlreally predicted lIIt1l11lt!d
rocket tI;rcrlljt flJillg tit um times t he speeli
oj SQI/lld u'i/hill tI~is lime perimi. If the
X ·15 re~c hcs 100 milcs, a laler X·plane,
which may then be calletl a spaceship, may
re:tc h 500 m iles, 1.000 miles, or more. T he
I>op u iur dist inc t ion bctwo:."en airplanes and
missiles 1Il1ly fude as the y blend imo tomor·
row' s space "chides. !I1ilitary
pial/lien
lire alread), Ihillkiug oj Ih e possibility 01
II'ars jOl/ghl ill the s/,(f(e slI rro mulilig tbe
e"rlb 11111/ ils Jlilllospberic bl'lIIkel.
,\ t th e $,'I me t ime our cruis<', interceptor,
:lIld ball isti c mi ssi le prog r~ ms w il! become
highly sophisticated. 'Ind again, if peace
conti nues, techniques c\'oh'oo could lead
to rockct nnd ramjet·propelled commercial
air liners ('d rr)' ing passengers at thou s.'I nds
of miles per hou r at the Olller fr inges of
the uimosphe re fi nd, of course, spaceships.
Tbere seems lillie doubt Ibtlt b~llisli~ mis·
siles <llId rOcitel ~irpllllles u ·HI be lII~ted
IlIIII del'eloped ;1110 lIIalllled r ebides IbaJ
will 0118 lilly re'lch t be 1110011.
27
space journal
�SPACE P RE V I E W
" mar s and beyond "
N DECEMBER 4th of last year, view·
ers of ABC·T V's " Disneyland" hour
watched the third of \\1all Disney's T omor.
row/and space ser ies unfold, MarI and Be)mJd,
in the 48'millllte documentary
"so:;:iencc·factual" fo rmal, sur passes its tWO
O
excellent predecessors, ,\ 11111 ill Space and
Ala" (lOul tbe M oo'i.
Now being re leased in T cchnicolor for
IhClllrical dist r ibu ti on, Ma rJ a"d Beyond
rcprescnu the culmi natio n of IWO rears'
research, w riting and artistic en<lcavor br
D r. ErllSI StuhlillKer, a /ea(ling scielltist ill t be rocket IIlId !SliMed lIIissile fieM (/e fl ,) ami
D r. "" ember /10 11 /Jral/II, rQcket ellgillee r (right), cOllfer Q II a sCIl/e mode/ of Ih e IIt omic·
electric splice sbi/! Ihal wOII/(1 make 1,01$ib/e Ib e I OllK trip 10 MarI ill tbis scelle frolll
IVlIlJ D ist/ey's j\I / IRS IIml BEYO N D.
28
space journal
----------------------------------------~i
�I
a dO;j;cn Disne y specialists, under the n'r·
s:u ile direction of W ard K imb.111. The film
aS$Li15 the enormous subject of life o n other
worlds, firST by a ca n oo n sequence tr.lcing
ma n's cosmic specu lalio lls througho ut his·
lory, then by a sober ,·iew of comcmporary
scientific hypothesis and conjcnutc.
E"olution of the solar system and life, the
conditions of m an a nd hi s environment, and
t he condi ti ons he may expect on other
,,1:1110::1$ IIfC conside rations wh ich form the
I11I1;n th read leadin g us to the rC(1 planet
liS the only other habitable sphere with in
Ollr solar f:ullily. After a dramat ic pc r usal of
(aCI5 lind spccu i:ltiol1 on Mats a nd its m ys·
ecries, co nducted by towcll Obscrval'O ry 's
Dr. Earl C. Sliphcr,
II
Its {/escelll slowed by a (Irag rhllte, a
Martiml Imutillg rmlt Ilears tbe m r/l1ce of
Mtlrs,
method of space
!light new 10 t he gcneral public is p re.
sc n{c<I: the io n propubion system devised
b)' Or. Er nS( S t u hling~r .
In a simulated trip to the fo urth planet.
the atomic-e lcctric spaceshi p and irs orbit
are broug ht om in a nimated ill ustra tion
which captu rcs the imagination. The ac·
curate presenrution. carcfu l allcm ion to de·
rail, and concise narratio n cstablish Dr.
Stuhli nge r's ha rd ware as a revolutionary but
.sound means of ext raterrest ri,,1 navigation.
In tclcscoping the }'ear·and ·a·half "oyagc
into :1 few minutcs on the screen, lll ar$ alld
lJe)oml achic ,'cs th e dream li ke re:llity of a
Chcslcy Bo nc5tcl1 pa iming brought to lifc.
Crew members 0/ a M art;a" ship obsert'e
a lefet'hiOIl srree'l the progress 0/ Ihe
lille 0/ the other ships hi tbe fir$l exped;.
tio" 10 the plauel ,\Iurs,
0/1
Thc olllswnding virtue of this motion
picw re is pe rh aps its success in prese ming a
difficu lt s\,bjccl to $0 w ide an audience.
"I";me, in a rev iew of u n usual praise. points
oul , "The)' d id not confuse thc popu lar
wit h Ihe vu lgar, avoided th e error of talk ·
ing down to t he viewer."
SPACE J ou rn al recommends ,ll4rs alld
He)o/Ill to all aStrona\us who want to in·
troduce th eir ne ighbou to the age of space.
I;or those who saw it on television, you will
be surprised ar the added dimension afford ed
by a l:lege scree n and the superb colo r for
which it was designed.
Crew memhers ;11 bottle suits mOI'e Ihe
rorkel fa"di"K rrafl aU'a), from Ibe Martiall
ship a"d il/lo positiol/ prior 10 attemptillg
Ihe hazardous 600 mile drop 10 the M artiall
SIIr/aCtl.
29
space journal
�SPACE CARTOON S
out-our space
"Good heaIJem, tlfe
Ibe 1110011.'''
}'Qtl
CQillC to build it to
"Uh_ob •••"
J.I-l£
~Dv£nTU1~:£\
30
space iournal
�RIE O\ CTlOI
VO X pDpuli
(EDITOR'S NOTS: The ~m edition of SPACE
Jnurnal broughc che following reactions from
r..,.ders. ) ""
, , , You may not remember . hi5 little SlOry.
Professor Obcr.h, because it is so typical of
you that it might ha\'e happened many
times, hut it is as fresh in my memory as
if it had occurred yesterday,
It was early in 19·'13 at PeenemeunJe, the
Ge rman rocket developme nt center on the
banks of the Baltic Sea. \'(Ie test·f.red one
of the first V2 rockets, and bec'.IIlSC the art
of rocketry wns still in its infancy in those
J t,ys. there was no "pad safety" to hold us
hack from the launch ing site, When a
missi le was fired, we stood under some pine
trees not more than 300 feet away from ,he
firing plalio r m. and we were happy to feel
the dust and ,s,"l nd. and e\'en the fringe of
•
the hot biaSI, right in Oll r faces. T he V2
missile wen! off fine dun Jay, anJ our eyes
followed it until it had d isappeared in the
deep· b lue Baltic sky.
When I turne(1 my eyes earthward agai n,
saw your filce close 10 me. I h:.J never
seen you before, but immediately recognized
you from pholOgraphs. YOII gazed at a
disrnnt point somewhere in the sky, but
not at all in t he direct ion in whic h the
hig rockel had jusl disappeared, I felt very
happ y to stand so close to such an extraordi.
nary man and perhaps 10 listen 10 what he
miglll say, n ut you did not care to ta lk.
After a long silence, I finally said, " It must
I
.--.-,.~=---=
.. _-_.------._--.-
-
.
---
31
space journal
�certai nl y be a most gratifying experience
for you, Professor Oberth, to see how beautifull y you r ea rly dreams and concepts of
large rockets hll,"e now come to life." But
}'ou ne ither answered nor changed your
ex pression. I was convinced tbat I had said
so me thing "ery stupid, if not offensive.
Afte r a long ti me, you slowly turned you r
head , and you ke pt turning unt il you looked
fa r ouc in the opposite dircction . After
anothe r long pause, you talked, selecti ng
rour words as carefully :Lnd slowly as only
a dee p .probing thinker does: " 1 have the
greatest ad miration fo r the engineers und
Il'chnicians who buil t this rocket. But be·
yond th at, it does nm lILean IILILch. \'\Ie havc
known before that a rocket w ill work
within and beyo nd che atmosphere. This
rocket is only the first litt le step toward a
much grea ter project: the exploration of
ou ter space. Out th ere, there arc still so
lIl uny thi ngs whic h we do not know and
which a re perhaps far beyond our im"ginat ion . The re exploration is w hat really
counts. \'{Ie must not fo rget this goal in the
en th usiasm cha t a mere technical success
may g ive U5."
After th is. you contin ued to look sile ndy
into the depth of space which was far
away from your eres but so ve ry close to
you r heart.
H urll$vi lle, Al a.
Ernst Stuhl inger
Dear Editor,
Vol. I, N o .1 , was handed to me fo r comment. . . . . I have just fi nisll(xl read ing it
from co,'cr to cove r, somet hing I very rarely
fllld time to do with any journ a l. P lease
enter my su bscription, effective with the
fir S! issue if possi ble. I fear you have (!Stab·
lished slU;: h a hi g h level o f :lChievemcnr
with t his first issue tha t yo u will not be ab le
to sustai n ie, but the I>cst of I,,(:k 10 ),OLL in
t his ende:l,·o r.
In(:id ent aUy, regarding Dr. von Braun's
contribution ( React ion, p. 39) in which he
all r ib\L te5 rhe " Becau$C it is t here" remar k
to Sir Edmund H illary; I ha,"e not checked
any refe rences on t his but wasn't th is rc-
32
space
iournal
mark actually mad e by eiche r Ma llory or
In·inc quite a few yea rs befo rc !-lillary's
t imc?
Yours sincere ly.
Capt. Edwi n R . Arc hi b."lld USAF
Holloma n AF8, N ew Mexico
Dear Edito r,
I hne JUSt read )'ou r magalci ne SPACE
Journ al, and I like it very muc h. Howe,'c r ,
I wish to !,oint OUi an error in the React io n Depa rtment. In his first paragraph, Dr.
VOIl 8raun refers 10 th e answe r " l3ecLuse
it is there" to the questi on o f wh y anyone
shou ld want 10 climb Mt. Eve rest. I-Iowe"er,
this a nswer was not give n by Sir Edm und
l'l illar)', but by George leigh-Mallory, who
dis."lppeared on Mr. E"erest in 1924. On this,
his third attempt 10 co nquer Mt. J~ ,"eres[,
he and h is companion, Andrew Irvine, were
hLst see n by N . E. Odell, hig h up the mountain. I'm sure that Sir Edm und was moti.
vated by the d r ive to which Dr. vo n I3ra un
refe rs, but hc d id not make the remark
:lllrib uted 10 him.
Yours truly.
Euge ne Edelstein
New York, N . Y.
R ~gd~rI A rfbibnld ami f!.d~ls/~ill <Ire correel ill snj'itlg Ib,,1 Ibe sl<lletllellt I/'ns firs l
lII<1de by George Leigh-Alallar,. Dr. 11011
Brallli is <llso corren ;1/ <lUribll/;llg tbe reo
1II<1t1t to Sir Edmlmd. Itl tb t! fi/111 fiocllllle"t·
;lIg tb e eXf!Cllit;o" , Sir EdllI/lml /lJed tbe
pbrnse, g;Ii;lIg Le;gb-Mallory crefiil, alld
said tbat be /lias 1IIolil'''/{u/ b)' tbe sallie
reaso ll. Elli/or.
Dear Edi tor,
I w ant a one·year su bscription to SPACE
Jo urna l. Start me wit h the winter issue ..
Eadl iss ue of SPA CE J our nal COSIS SO
cents :LIld it is published quarte rl y. \Xlhy
docs it COSt $2. 2S for a one-yea r su bscri ptio n ? \Xl hy the ext ra 25 cents?
Yo urs trlLl y.
Leo Bigos
III Ibe rllSb /0 gel Ihe first issue 0111, a
good mall)' 1!J;'lgs bettll/lt! eOllfusednmOllg tbem tbt! priet! on tbe fO~'t!r of tbe
�I
scrolld prillll"g oJ the first ediliOIl. 'rhe
(OrTecl price per co/') is 50 cellI!; )early
Jlfbscriptioll prire;s 2.00. GrQwj,lg paillJ
of " Jledglillg publirlllioll were also tbe
callst! 0/ tbis de/a)e,1 steo"d cJilioll. The
ubeJule ;s /l OIlJ Slabiliud. &iitor.
Dcar I:ditor,
I :un enrolled in a Icacher training pro·
'.
•
gram at the local un;.crs ity and
study ing the dcvc lopnU'nI of a
~Lm
UlI;t
now
in the
upper clemen wr y leve l. W'ilh the cmpl13sis
placed on man and science in the world
IOday, we ha,·c choSl' n the Study 01 Ainu
as the theme of our initial unit dcvcJo p'
mCIH; its relation to his en vironment; its
effects [II difTerem altitud es ;",<1 depths; and
the co m pcnsnlio ns Ihal a rc n«C55:.r)' to
enable him 10 :';0 beyond the stratosphere
(:111<1 into space. if (:n:r).
Do you hl"'C any pamphlets or in form:uion tlml we could have in relation to our
IOpic? A bibliography and a lin of sources
of inform:uion would also help grcatly.
Ewa, Oahu. l!:awaii
i\laSo"lko K iyabu
A Iisl is 0'1 Ibe ",ay. &iilor.
Dcar Editor,
You·,·(' starled a publ ication which is
mosl welcome. an([ J ca n'l co ncei"e of "
beller group 10 hand le it. The SPACE Jou r.
nal ce nainl y n~doo 10 coulHcract some of
Ihe poo rl y wcineo "space a rticles" now appea ring in al m OSI e"ery newspaper and
m ag:11,ine o n Ihe newssta nds.
BUI my first reaction, when [ saw your
firSI issue al Ihe local m agazine shop, was
disgust. II's nOt bad enough that we're
behind the Russiuns on Ihis thing. I thought
- now here's another sensa tio n-ha ppy p ub.
lisher It yillg to ma ke a fasl buck on it. .. ,
So I bo t hered to pick up your fust issue
ami g lance down the list of contributo rs
on Ihe co,'er. \V'ell, il looked rat her good
-50 then. finally. I searchoo ins ide for the
small print telling who did publish this
magazine. /\nd I bought it.
Consequently, my first suggestion would
be thai )'ou incorporate 50me of that small
print somewhe re on Ihe front co\'er, giving
due cred it 10 the Rocket Cit y Astronomical
Association of H untsv ille. Alabama,
Secondly, I wou ld suggest thnt you ski p
Ihe pocU)' . • • . But th e mOSt serious re'1ueSt I ha,'c 10 m ake is th at ),ou omit any
science fiction. at least until the magazine
reaches a sufficient size to spare a few pages
on a sho rt slOry, InStead. I would much
rather ha\'~ some good biographical studies
of such men as Newton. Copernicus, and
I:ermi, as well as GOOd:lrd and lowell---Qr
eyen H. G, \'(' e lls or Daedalus, . , .
Chic:'so, ll1 inois
Joe Gibson
Tballks for tbe ideas, Joe. A"d (IS a slart.
ree tbe currem issl/e for a., <I,lide 011 Prof.
Go(l(ltml. Editor,
OeM Ed ilor,
I htuc read 5C\'cral arlicles in you r first
issue of SPACE Jou rn:ll, aod find myself
particularly intrigued widl D r, Yon Braun's
"Where Arc We Going?" nnd Mr. W hi p_
p l ~'s " \'(/ hy Conquer Space." I find that the
inspiration expressed by these could use
some backing in S P ACE Journal in OIher
forms than Icehoi",11 articles. . . . .
I call 10 mind particularly Ihe appeal 10
youth, And I can So"ly from my own ex.
perience that m)' present interest in astron_
omy has its founda tion s not o nl y in the
popular books 50 readily a\'a ilable on thc
subject , but 11 150 in li n aCli\'c participation
in some astro nomical experiment, I am sure
Ihat lmd I nOI observed an eclipse of the
moon in 19.f3 o r 1944, or lookl..x) at the
sky w ilh bi nocu lars lind 1:lIcr II telescope
(ho m em:,deJ. I would not have show n much
ell1husiasm fo r Ihe HatS, For m~ny peo p le
Ihe reading of books a nd art icles is ad·
c(pHl!e. bllt I fecI Ihol expericnci ng t he fecI
of looking through a Iclescope on a cold
night o r developing t he f,cst negrll i\'e of an
attempted moo n pholOgmph odds an
essentia l ingredient 10 th e flourishi ng of an
interest,
Somehow. I fee l t hat suc h an ingredient
should be pllt into SPACE Journal. As an
eX:lfllple YOll migl\l sup pl y information on
the frl..'quencies and noture o f the signals
10 be used by the \,:l riO U5 satellites' lransmitters 50 Ih:1I amaleurs with Iimiled equipmelll can cnjo), so me of this "acti ve p."lrtic ipation," That the R ussian Sputni k had
o ne signa l 50 com'enientl)' 10000led in the
33
space journal
�spectrum as to be available to inexpensive
short w,lve receivers was well suited {O
this. The satellite (.·ould be easily heard and,
for example, its pulse rate established
(counti ng pulses) and its signal strength
could be graphed. And thnugh no useful
d ata may be recorded in sllch a fashion,
what is there lost, if this helps boost someone's interest in the conquest of space?
I do not particu larly have in mind that
another Moonwatch be established. J USt
something that can put the amateu r in
direct connlct w ith the activities, nOt
through reading alone, but by "accive partic ipation .. · ' ,>,hat would be lost?
Ikrkeley, Calif.
',>,ill iam E. K unkel
Absolutely 'lotbing would be (mt, alld it
is O/le of tbc aims of tbe SPACE jOf/rnal
to stimulatc ;11$1 S/lcb illtercst amollg <I//latcurs. Ir1e pla'i to do i/lSt that ill fortbcomitlg isSllCI. Editor.
Dear Editor,
It is with considera b le enthusiasm that I
discovcr<.>d )'our journal, not in the sedate
and musty atmosphere of the public Jibr:try
of Los Angeles, but deep in the skidrow
section of Main Street. There in a bookstall famous for its girl)' magazines, foreign
car publications, art smdies, and pin-ups,
my ere fe11 on your exciting effort to interpret SP,KC [(....·hnology for the world.
Particul"rl), of interest arc the philosophical remarks or intellectual justification
for your acrivity. This I believe is importa n t for Americ;l11s, as we do not often u ndersmnd anything w h kh is devoid of economic motive. Thus far there has been no
mcntion of oil wells, uranium deposits, or
d iamond mines on Mars..
Just the pure
possibility of discovery. I approve of this.
The technical side of th is is of i[]{erest to
me as I h,l\'c a sm;111 part in the technics of
space travel: 1 work for a company Ih,1.[
manufaClllres vihrorrons, the vibral"ing wire
type of tra nsducer wh ich me:tsures pressures
with t;reat ,1(CUr;lCy ...
t et me compliment yOllr staff on its
rarc huma n appro;,ch to one of the greatest
teChnological efforts of all time. Dr. von
34
space journal
Braun, for a European, has considerable
insight into the th inkint; of Texas. Ev ident_
ly they, roo, have been co ndiIione<l by
"space" limitations,
Y ours sincerely,
V. E. Jenkins
Tusti n, Calif.
Los Allge/es, it appears, possesJeI OIIC of tbc
more (/iscrimifltllillg skidrows ill 'he Call/Itry. SPACE 10m·//al, it also "PPCIITI, elljoj's
evel1 a widcr audie/lcc tball we bad at first
supposcd. Il7bilc tbc fint issllc contained 110
"mel/tiOll of oil wells, "'·allium tICIJ05il$, or
ditmlO"d mines on ,\I"rs," succeedi"g issues
will illclude <lrticles 011 all pbases of tbe
1I1IlII)' facel$ of sl,ace e.v/JloratiOIl. . illellitl·
ing thc col/Jmerci,,1 possibilities of estabJisbiug illtlllstr)' 011 Mars, if such be feasible.
SPACE 10url/al is collcef/zed with alll'rob_
lems alit! I,o ssibilities illvoll'cd ill space
travel, alltl i" tbe futurc it willlJrillt (1Tlieles
accordillgly. Editor.
TH E ROC K ET CIT Y AS·
TRONOi\I ICA L ASSOCIATION
re-elected four officers and three
board mcmbers to their posts for
1958. Re·elected were:
Dr.
' ,>,eruher von Braun, who on
January 29 received the Space
Flight Plaque of the American
As tronomica l Society, presiden t ;
Mr. Conrad Swanson, vice president; Mr. Geort;c Farrell, secretary; all<I M r. Quincy Love, treas·
u rer.
Also re-elected as board membe rs of the association were Mr.
',>,ilhelm Angele, M r. B. Spencer
Isbell, and i\l r. Gerhard H eller.
Assoc iate board members elected
wete i\I iss Susanne H iltc n and
" I f. H artmut Schillint; to fill the
positions vacaled by M.r. Gerd
Schilling and M.r, Gerald SwanSOil.
�I
SP ACE
FIC T IO H
beyond th is star
B y James l . Daniels, J r.
B
RAO PIU;SSED T HE BurrON be-
side the buoyant cushion on whic h
he lay. The seamless fabric CO"cr ing slid
down from h is body and J isappcan.'<1 into
t he footboa r<1. He stretched to loosen h is
dormam muscles. So rhis was t he laska of
the attempt. I..aska, day; he was eyen \Ising
their wonls now. So flu, !iO far-from
th:ll blue-green Earth wi th ils you ng gree n
hills and azure sky. wilh irs sun_warm days
and rhi nestone ni ghts. More than six
months now, earth time, he had been here
0 11 this dead moon so far from Earth.
Now, if the csc-.. pe ancmpt worked, he
must go back with the disappointing an·
s .....ers-the few that he had. The only
reward for the whole long· heralded expedition was the p roof of (he Animate P rogression theory the Palomar Group had championed so long. The regimcntation, the
5lagn:1n1 Sffile of humanitr herc, the whole
cr:unpot.-d and smffy, tomb-like existence
of a dead·soule<1 pcople in these Domes on
Ihis :jirless ic), world-C"en with its ever·
lasting nuwmation , it was nil so dead, like
these undecorated metal walls around him.
•
Bnld rolle<! up w sit on the side of the
bed. T hc warnlth of h is feet wuehing the
cool floor ~ICltlarl.."{1 the silent weathertron
somewhcre in the cemer of the building.
Th!! elose air sti rr!!d and freshened in th e
room.
Across the narrow room the blank door
in the wall b)' the View-scree n broke silen tl r open. The liquid blonde girl who
entered came toward hi m, smiling-flowed
as if wil hout feet under her g listening Jegelinging skin. K ay-ba r! She alone could
make him think of the folly of the a llempt.
H e held out his (lrms for her. She g lided
into them.
"You sleep so long,
was warm (l Ito.
Ill)'
One."
Her voice
"Am I suc h (I fool to go?" Urad held
her out from h im. I ler face s,'"ldde ned.
" Is the lime so soon, Urad?"
T he answe r hurt within h im. " I suppose
knew th:1I you would know, Ka y.bar, b ut
couldn't (ell yo,,:' 1·le stood lip, Sl id ing
her hnnds from his nrms, and turned away.
The skylight had folded back, nnd the
perpetual sodiulll light caSt pale re llow on
the "~dlls of the room. Up beyo nd the
mile-high cry stal dome the awful sputtering g iant, J upiter. W(lS almost direnl)' over·
head. " 1 gue5S no 10"er in rour cons of
history, 1I0r in the shorr t ime of man on
earth, e ,'er faced a part ing an)' differently.
How does a m:1II tell his woma n, ' I am going- amI wi t hout )'ou.' l:wfI when he is
going to leln'c her. not jllSt hundreds of
mi les or thollsu nds, bm millions, behi nd
him."
" I, like your I::. rth·poe u ' love rs, would
sa)', 'T ake me with )'ou.''' She touched
his should.:;r gent ly, Her breath was warm
ugl. inst his back. I-Ie clasped the 11(lIIds she
folded around h is waist. "But I will not so
(lsk. I know thllt YOLl ha\'e ro, da rling; that
it is not for you r p«Jplc or m ine; not for
rour world or millc, bUI e"e n for all our
kind, that you go. Goodbye, Brad, and
may you Ih'e 10 see your green hills of
Earth agai n." Urad's brCflth ached in his
throat as she sli PIl,ed away and Out of the
room.
35
space journal
�" \'(filh how
sleps w<.' lea\'<.' the
dream couch, w which I wandered
afur," I-Ie finished the line wilh his
words, fo r truly his cOIning h:I<J been
afar.
lm'efrom
own
from
A long dme afterward. in the San i-closet,
with the cleansing son ic W:I\"<.'$ dngling his
skin like a neC(lie shower, he closed his eyes
to dream of Earth.
He had been tingling with neeJI('s of excitement when he had first climbed [hosc
long Slone stairs up to the oak.panel door
of the Observatory.
I I was t('n r('ars lal('r before he was
ready. bcforc [h('y e,"en loid him that hc
would be one of the three Ollt of Ihe thirty
in the organization. the P:.tomar Group,
who would take that long jump beyond (he
pale bl ue Earth into dark space-to find
those ancient answers.
Since the mid-century war the basic ques·
lion had been simple: "Can man endure
in the face of contimlL'<I fratricide, with
weapons in hand tnat can oblileratc life?"
36
space journal
,
Hut the sim plicity of the question had be·
lied the complexity of the answer. Neilher
Science nor Philosophy had been able to
begin to answer. The ]>ondering of the
q \lcsdo n had been bel:ned , pessimistic, and
negative.
In desperalion. Drs. Wherry, Carl, and
others of Ihe first Palomar Group in the
sixties had IllrnC(1 (0 the discarded theory
of Animate Progression. which was simply
Ihat solar syStem life had begun in eo ns
past on the outermost planet when proper
condi ti ons had e"olved; then as that planet
wilh ils own cooling. the diminishing he:1I
of the sun, and its own outward drihing
from the sun, had lost its atmosphere a nd
d ied, the life of the plnnet had moved on.
or hud been mo\',,'!! by unknown coslllic
forces, to the next planet nearer the Sun.
The process had repeated irself u ntil our
own Earrh had e\'olved life a nd l)Op ulated
itself. Most scienti fic and research groups,
infl ue nced by such limited theorics as
\Xlildl's atmospheric cornposirion theor)"which would preclude ex istence of earth·
�,
lorm life on the other planers-had dis·
claimed the An imate t heory and scoffed at
the Pa lomar Group. But the grou p con·
ti nued it.s astronom iC'll 1 resea rch. \'Vh ile the
wodd sciences de\'oted research toward
greater weapo ns and man rushed madly
toward annihilation, the Pa lomar G roup
de\'oted itself to t he Animate P rogression
research, turning its spectroscopic swdles
10 each pi:lnet in rurn, constructing a n ac·
curate sp:lce AIi:lS, and preparing men for
space travel.
Confident t hat t he guided missile and
man ned rocke t programs wou ld inevitably
overcomc ti,e tec hnological harriers to space
trave l, the G rou p directed research tow;lnl
sclecling the beSt possibility among the
solar system planets lo r surv iving life. They
reasoned that if [he Animate theory were
correct t here would be a strong possibility
that life had surv ived o n at least one of
the o lder 1,IaneIS in the progression, and if
such life had survived then the inhabitants
by "irtue of the very cons of thei r existence
shou ld be far wiser than earth's man. T he
proper presentation of the question of man'S
surviva l wou ld be to such "O ld Ones," if
the)' uistcd.
" b nned satell ites in the late sixties had
helped (0 make possible t.he technological
b reakthrough. The Moon Obsen'awry had
been completed in 1971 and the Palomar
Group, now redllime.:1 by science and the
governmen t, 1110v&l. in the re in ri me for
unobscured observations of Mars during its
dose llpproach in August of Ihat year. Mtlrs
prove<1 to be a ruSty d ri e.:l.up p lanet, but,
d uring the nex t yetlr, electro·spectroscopic
studies, without 1:1lrth's vapor Hnes to inter·
ferc, revealed tim! Ve n u~ aClUally did have
WlHcr vapo r in ils atmosphere. f urthermore.
tI,a! atmosp he re wns actually evolving into
a com l)Osit ion thar would support li fe for ms
such as found on Eurth. Heartened by their
Jisco\'eries, t he Grou p searched w ith re·
newed lcal for some sign of sur vivi ng life
on the outer planets.
h was only w hen they began t.he ir study
of the satellites that a real posSibility was
fo\,nJ, Europa, the thi rd moon o f J upiter.
Only sligh tly sma llc r than and tw ice as far
from its parent as I:arth's 1I100n, it fasci.
nuted t hc Group because o f its h ig h re fl ec·
ti"if)', so high that fro m t he Moo n itS albedo
pro"ed to be twe n ty times that of Earth.
There SCi!med no way to explain it other
than t har ir muS! be due to something a rt ificial. A nd art ifice in the Un;"crse could
only mcan life.
No t long aftt( the cad)' chemical space
(Irives had taken man fO t he I\100n, Dr.
Reinhold, wo rking with Neulfon ics Elec·
tric, hnd dC\'cloped his G·Null Converter.
R einhold had simply coupled Stuhlinger's
Ion drivc experime n ts w it h the f orce·field
Trtlnsmiue r developed in 1970 by H och·
berger at M .1.T. and had comc up with a
device for tra nsmitting a positive force
ficld to a p rescribed area ahead of t he shi p
and simultaneousl), pola ri zing t he entire
sh ip to negnti\,e. It wou ld sim pl)' draw the
shi p forward b)' lIU(nction, with its speed
regulated by the strengt h of the field. By
reversing the direction of the field from
front to rea r and adjusting the strength,
thc ship could be eased downward against
a gra\,ir.n ional pull nt a controlled speed,
thus simplifying landings on an)' planetary
body. The legendary Paragraviry Device
was a fact.
• • • •
i-iencc, the destination was determ ined,
the course c harred, :md a feasib le sh ip un·
de r construction when Brad Hudson. Myron
Drake nnd Sieve Arnhearst were Sl'lecte<1 fO
form t he crew of the SfA RI'fRE. T he
Sf / JRPIRI? had bunched from t he moon
in the spring of n inety. three.
Fo r the ent ire nine months there had
no r been a single major malfunction-just
the vast da rkness and the mo notonous h"m
of the G·Null Converter in the compart·
ment next to h is bun k. At times it had not
been easy to hold back the shrill \'o ice in·
side t hat kept trying to sh riek out agai nst
the h um and the weightlessness that "'en
t he mag net ic sole5 had not been sufficiem
to overcomc. The), st iU left o ne wi th the
feel ing o f hanging from the ceiliDg by the
shoes.
Another n inety hours would bri llg tbe
sh ip in to the J up iter gravitational field.
37
sp.!lce journal
�38
space journal
------------------------~
�T hen wou ld come (he real test of Reinhold's
Com "cncr. If it could build up sufficien t
braki ng power 10 ho ld aga inst t he J upi te r
fie ld, at least un ti l they cou ld get into a n
orbit arou nd t he tin y Europa! Re inhold
had been confidcm , but th en he was the
(:lI her o f the thi ng and was (J ot the o ne
hav ing 10 leu i l . Brad was som ewhat 11 (>prehensh -e. H is r ig id stomach m uscles assu red h im of t hllt.
•
•
•
Forwa rd, in the bu lbous nose of the ship,
t he shore squa t A m hearst am id dial s and
panels h unched suddenl y forward w ith his
eyes g lued to t he ele<:troocope, sca n n ing the
now baskct ball·s iwd J upiter and the rapid
e ll ip ti c swing o f Euro pa aro und it.
" Beue r gC I up here, you t WO," A m hcarst's
hoa rse "oice b las ted sudden ly loud over t he
he lmet inte rco m . Brad Soar u p as the lank y
D rake brushed paS! h im with his robot-like
wadd le_ Afte r twO yea rs of (raining and
ni ne months out, Dra ke st ill had n't lea rned
to coordi nate h i5 moveme ntS wi th t he alternate left- right, on-off, automatic switc h ing
of the magnetic soles for walking. Brad
followed the long man 10 the from. Beyond
the forward port, J upitcr was ballooning
at a terr ific rate.
" \Vhat ?" Drake's calm rationa li ty came
t hrough, C"en in his voice. The cool· headed
bean pole had been the smbilizing factor
th roughout the long ,·oyage. Amhearst, in
:lnswer , mot ioned IOward the forwa rd port.
" Europ:I'S Ihe lillie mile 10 t he right now.
Y Oll {;:Ln see it with t he naked eye."' And
Ihere it was, a tiny brighl light, sliding
across Ihe red Aurry of J upiter'S south tropi.
cal disturbance. "Now l:heck the electro·
scope!" Am hea rSI slid b.1Ck from the face
picce. Urad p ressed his own helmet to the
scope. T he enla rged scope image broug ht
the little moon a Ihousand ti mes closer. It
was ice wh ite wit h crystal-like specks dotting the face of it.
"T here's lifc--or was!" Brad forced himself to re lax against his childis h desire to
jump up and down. H e enriched his oxygen
supply and breathed deliberately slow and
long.
\Vithin ten hours Ihe crystal spotS had
resoh'ed in to dea r dome like Stnl{;t uces on
the ice,co" ered moon, spaced geometrically
m'c r t he su r face. T h us, the high albedo was
accounted for. In a nother live hours city·
likc arrays o f Structu res could be seen in
each of t he g ian t Domes.
Dur ing h is third ten· hou r w atch since
t hc ol»cr vatio ns had begu n Brad could
make o ut cylind r ical a nd hemis pherical
bu ild ings, g lint ing b r igh tl y me ta l.lic in t he
art ificial ye llow glow inside the Domes.
By now Ihe appre hoosion had again rep laced the exci teme nr: W ou ld the li fe th at
had crea ted th is hu man· like arc hi tecture
still exist inside t hose bu bbles t hat had no
do ub t enab led t he m to survive afte r the
death of their wo rl d? T he apprehension
doub led into cold sweat when Brad called
th e ot hers to statio ns for the fie ld reversa l.
110r now wou ld be the teSt- hu rtl ing in.
wa rd toward J upi te r Ilt one hu ndred thous... nd m iles pe r hou r. Dmke and Amhearst
sl rappcJ in and checked. Brad glanced
o,'er the panels and d ials.
"Nowl" he 5o.. id. He locked the la nding Con tro l in lO the orbit of Europa. H e
sucked in his breath and he ld it, Aashed
the red panel ale rt, and {;ut t he Con,'ener
to Zero. He pressed the Field Re,'ersa l
leve r to Automatic. The Field· D ial needle
snllppt.oJ across the face of the dial and
locked on Re\·crsc. Now, wou ld it hold?
Brad breathed again. lea ned back and adjusted his body straps. The slow ing bodylUgging tlcceler~lI ion began. Fi ve hours
of this and t he n lan<ling. Quite suddenly
Ihe b lackness came, and he knew no more.
\Vhen Ihe inwa rd Aow of returni ng con ·
sciousness ehbed, Urad was aware of an
ac hi ng while lig h t. It S<.-etned 10 ha ve no
sou rce. H e was not on the ship! H e mUSt
have rni.scalcll l ~lIed the decell'ra t io n rate.
So the AulQmat i{; had landed them. He lay
on a dllis of some k ind in the center of a
rather bare and cold hemisp heriC-oil roo m.
On one side of the room were te n whitecloaked figures scared behind a panel of
desks. After a momenl Brad reali~ed that
he was the object of their attention. He
bl inke.:l again, (o r the len were idemicalstmiglu coal·black ha ir, pale skinned and
heavy browed. As Urad studied the cold
39
sp ace journal
�impassive faces, the one in the cemer spoke.
"You, Space Comer, are in the presence
of Primesters. I am Ko-Pa ll, the J udge
Superior of th is world. \Xfe b(we ascertained that you are the Prime One of the
comers." If/bill of tbe olber$.' Urad cou ld
not spea k. " To know you nnd your race
we have kept )'OU unconscious as we found
you, for ou r psyc ho.physio exam inations.
Now, we must exam ine )'ou in a conscious
state. You w ill tOuch t he protr usion unde r
rour right hand, please." T he b:ISS ,·oice
/l owed Out with a hrp nolic resonance. The
ma n's f(lce rem;, ined expressionless, but
there was a sinister hardness a round the
da rk glinting eres.
Brnd fingered the knob under his palnl
and pressed. T he dais resolved itself imo
a n eas)' cha ir shape, leaving him in a comfortable up right position. So smooth was
the tr1H1sfoTm;,tion tha t Drad's reltex tensing
had not time to brace his bod)' agai nst it.
Now the tenseness weLU au I . The r;Ul{ness
in his head !Old him that his hod{s relaxed
condition was Slill part of the elTC(:t of
whatever narcoleptic inducing agent they
had used on hint.
" YOII have of course hccn thoroughly exam ine<1 by our l'srcllO- Physiological 1X."Ople
and aLIT Dio·7...QO logiC;11 staffs while you were
narcothi7.ed. as h""e the o t hers of your
people." D rake. AIII!ullr$t_ tl·bere are
the) ? Urad stra ined to speak.
" In a moment," Ko-Pall s.1id, "YOII w ill
be able 10 speak. As for your friends, if
that is rou r concern , they life safe. They,
tOO, ;. re being studied. \X' e will not harm
)'ou. I aSSure )'OU tha t Ollr interest is
pu re ly scientific and ratio nal. Idlc curiosity
has no place in our world. You w ill, of
cour§('. obscn'e that we corwer§(' in rour
langwlge. This we know will not surprise
)'01L. as rOil people had on your "chide
p r imit i"e electron ic tnLnslators ' ;,"d deciphering devices; hence, rOLL Me ;Iware of
the sim pl!! process of defining and reproducing ;1 language. You k now t hat the
neX t ste p is a de"ice for imposing the
mechanics On the brain of Ihe lea rne r. All
extension of m ncmonics docs il."
Of course, Urad t hought. So /I'e Bartb·
40
space journal
1/1611 hll!!e gOlle $0 far with 16(bnology tbat
we f orgot Ibe simple lillIe hUlllal1 elemBllls.
-rbirty dll)'s bath September-.
" If you arc wondering about the Prime·
SIers you see here, we arc thc go,·e rn mc tH.
The Primesters' specia l illlerest in ),011 is
political not clinical or scientific. Our
Science a nd T ech·Councils have th ose areas.
Our exam ination need not be feared . Now,
you arc advanced as a life form , otherwise
you would 110( !la,'C ,'cntured through
space. You are ad"anced as a race, otherwise you could not. Natu rally we must
dete r mine whether you ;rre a t hreat to OlLr
world. Our Tech-Councils, tlfter their eXIlIlIi·
nation of you r ship and other equ ipment,
hn"e all assured us that you can be such a
threat. Now, we must ;Iscermi n your politi .
cal intentions and I:>otemiai for we know
that it is pol itical and commercial Ilmbition,
not scientific potent ial, that initiates cooAict."
Ko· Pall clasped whi te bony hands before
him on rhe black metallic desk top . "W'e
;Ire. of course, a m a~cd that your life form,
e"en though more primiti,'e in its e.-olu·
tio nary nate, is similar to ours, fo r our reSClrrch has prove n com patibilit y of man y
;md radically different life for ms wi th
the uni"c rse. \'(Ie ha"e dc term in('d that you
arc of Planet Th r~ of Our Solar S)'Sfem?"
The cold man paused as if wa iting for an
answer.
Brad's '"oice (:ame now, but hoarsely.
"Yes. we are from I~arth."
" \Xle had detected life there but thoug h t
it more primiti"e." Ko· Pa ll's face d ispla)'c<1
some slight signs of inte rest now. "\Vhy
did you come here?"
Brad's '·oice came easier. He explained
the Animate theory. the question of man's
sor"i"lll. a nd the nal\1r111 curiosity of
1:lL rthlings. \Vhen he had fioishe<l, the
Primeste r Council filed solemnly out, like
a panel of robed English judges.
The)' let him slc.:.-el' e ight hours in a
cubicle off the central room-then back for
quenion5. Question eight, sleep eightmethodically (he)" continu(.-d fhe e:o;aOl ina·
lion. co"ering cver)' face l of ea rl h life.
Sociel), and gm'ern ment, they prolx.-d unt il
�(here was nothing in his mi nd in those
areas t hey d id nor know. The food COli ·
«'n mues Ihcy b rought him w(' rc tasteless.
He grew weary. Ko- Pall grew morc persistent, a] mOS I sadistic, un til th e cold ha n]
face and mClhods fused inw a brinle si n ister
•
personal ity.
And B rad knew fhe man was
d:l!Igc rous.
He beaullc so cTuc ll y h uman
-the racket boss, the d ict'dlor. In his nea r ly
n umbed 5 1111(', Brad s:nv the possibility of
answer to Eanhrn an's dilemma fade and die
in Ihc face of this self·centered man. So
here, nfle r cons of ('xistcnc(', was man. Surviv ing, yes, bUI s[;l1 thc sa me selfis h, powe rmad Cf(~alurc that was dlc younger 1::lrth
kind.
T hen, abruptly, Ihe cxamin:uions ceased
w illi Ko- Pall's p ronOllnce mc n l tha t t he
Ear t hmen were teu l), a ducal to Europa.
B rad k new that here would be Ko-Pall's
•
,
stepping stone fa mo re powe r, the eli m ioa·
t ion of the t hreat.
T hey had sem him to ~ hl-bar the n" I u- bnr the D ireclOr of Bio-Sciem:es for
Euro pa. It "':1$ to this w i;,;ened little /11:10
with cri nkl)' cornered eyes and gemle
mouth, :ond 10 his daughte r Kay.ba r, thnt
Brad owed h is survival these six mon ths
since the Primester's inquisitio n. Ko- Pa ll
had conceded 10 Mu·b:lrs· demand and hud
grallted a six· mont h observat ion pe r iod.
Under this guise " III-bar had taken 13md
into his own apartment. There. w it h Kay_
bar's <ln ily com pany, Brad hild learned the
comforts of this hermetic world- t he sonic
shower, where now he su)()(1 tingling; the
d cct ronic app lian ccs wit h no wires; th e
tcle" ision and tclepat hic SClnners. projccIOrs. il!ld monitors, c,'en to control sleep and
rest: the diseaselcss cities; the illg:!e nnd
plnn k ton food production ; Ihe ar ti ficinl
su n light and I>ower harnessed to Jupite r's
ceaseless hyd roge n eruptive acti"ity, tha i
was thc great n ed Spot. And with Ka)'- ba r
he leMnc<;! the 10"e he had nO! had time fo r
in his I;art h ),ears of ime nse st udy and mlin·
illg.
\X' ith M u·b.1r Brad lea rn ed t he ho rrorsregimentation a nd hollow commu nal liv.
ing, controlled genes thul rep rOl.h,,:ed euc h
human type necdc<;! for specifIC blots in t he
economy, w h ich expluined the similarity
of the P r irneSlers. He learned of t he incessan t nnd aocient m ig rnt ion of the race.
He leurned how ,\Iu-bar, in revolt against
the order. had ahe red the state prescri bed
genetic st r uct ure for h is own da ughter Ml
that she Imd been born a throwb:lck, an
individulil . unordered, unpatterned, q uile
h uma n-nnd \'err fe male.
Now in his da rk cubicle shower, Bead
tried \0 bring it ;'uo focu$--the cold "i ndic·
th'e Ko- Pall, the rfll iona l but dy ing world,
his ow n lo nely years of fierce objectivity,
his own self·sufficient Earthkind. Eres
closed, he leaned aga inst the close meta ll ic
shower w ;.]1. [r)·iog to reclaim Mlrtle di rt>ction from (he swirling weariness, w hile the
whole unive rse coalesced, and all the outward flow o f sense And life from t he center
o f h is being re"e rscd a nd w horled inward
to compress within dIe boundar ies of consciousness. And he was awa re of the buf_
fe li ng flow-Ihe baffl ing reco il And wi ldly
r ichocheting out flowing force of self. For
ooe bright 1110melll, poised on the p recipice
of "ast incomprehensible k nowing, he knew
the basic fl nw of the man :lII il11al: that ration al ou t.flow ing. t hat cente ring ;n self of
all that is k nowledge, a ll t hat is bei ng in
time and space, all that is li fe-the misconception rhat humanity is in itself comp lete, the cen ter of the cosmos, und that
mn ll is in cont rol. T hen in a moment it
was gone and Br:ld was there again in t he
sho wer, JUSt a setlred lillie man in an a lien
land five hund red millio n miles from ho rne.
-To btl cOlltbllled ill thtl 1It1.\·t isslltl of
SI'ACIJ }(JllmalIT IS OF GR EAT IMPOR_
TA NCE that rhe gene ral public
be give n an o pportunity to ex·
periellcc--conseiousIy und illle]·
ligeflll)"-the efforts and resu its
of scientific resea rch. It is not
sufficient t il tH each result be
rake n "p, elaborated, and applied
br a few specialists in t he field .
Rest r ict ing the body of k nowl·
edge to a small g roup deadens
the ph ilosophical spi rit of a 1)(.'0pIc alld lead s to spiri t ual povert)'.
- AJ be rt Einstein.
41
space journal
�F[Co Win d M, ,,,o,y Co",p~I., _ on
old .,h •• 1I0"'[I<>liollol .y.I .... op.'·
01. wilh Doppl...
No miuile syttemt can be
illustrated because of Ihe
level of classificalion. fiCo
is doing extensive work in
ABMA's Redstone and Jupi·
ler programt, in Iho Navy',
Torlar and Terrier programs,
and in other projects.
42
space journal
FICo Vi '''''~nd • • Computillg Tim.r
- <onl.ol. up 10 RYe .... iol <0 ....0.
•'",,,lton...,,.ly. Highly 'O .. pod.
±S' ....",o.y. 6" long _ 2" d io ...
FIC.. Mogn.ti< Vo ri .. ,lon C.. mpu'"
- p,.et"d...... IOf ...,n"ol
' i on in ...... lIo'<igaIiOt'!.
fiCo ASN·6 P.... nt ~o .itloll Com_
p~ t . . Sr.t .... - [ndl ... t ...... nd 'On·
'.01 a re .hown.
d
'0"'"
Ii.,
f lC .. Te. t s.t _ fa. night
,h,ck
a ,,, of lIavigaiionol .y.,.... S.II·
<ontain.d and po,'abl • .
FICo hh ..".1 T."'p . .... u•• [nd iu,_
t ... _ .ang. 200' C 10 lOOO' C wilh
fiCo Anolog·to·Dlgl, .. 1 Conyo,te.
_ for oi.bo... ... dng .y.t... I.. ,
h .. l'Fi<
<..nhol.
�I
Ford Instrument provides the systems
•
Navigational Systems and Compulers
Exhaust Temperature Indicators
Cru ise Controls
Sensing Systems fo r Traffic Control
•
Guidance Systems
Drone Controls
MinHe Launching ond Control Compulers
Computing Timers for Aerial Phologrophy
Computer and Control Components
Plouin9 Equipme nt
FORD INSTRUMENT CO.
DIVISION OF SPERRY RAND CORPORATION
31·'0 Thomson Av enue, Long It la nd Cily 1, New York
Beverly Hills, Colif.
Daylon, Ohio
f., i"'-,mat'" ... fI C. ', aero one! .Issile " ",,,5 I11III (ClpClbililies, write to fiCo', AIRBORNf EQUIPMENT DEPARTMENT.
43
space iournal
�44
space journal
�I
snow nor
or gloom of night
•
,
"We ;.... now capable o( • .,ndmg" an object ouuide
the "arlh'. gnvltational held. Such a propulaion
.yatem could carry rook'" rn"'II"lIero loth" moon,
and we nre able t o cUunal" 'he COlt of a ro ck~ 1
m"il ltamp needed . The probluTIS i nh~r"nl in the
oyl t ern have a.l ready been lolved by progre •• in
.olid propellan t rocketry."
0,. . H. W. Ritchey
Projecu .ueh ", "Rocku Mad to the Moon" m .. y
be nec,,"ury looner , han we think. S1<,illed, te~h
nlcal1y t ... IMd ,nd.v.du",h are needed byThiokollO
"nabl .. '"ell t,,\u,e projecU . Adda .. "''1U1rie'' \0:
DIVI!oIO .... . HUNTSVi llE. ALAtAM" : : =
•
45
space journal
�guidi ng ha nd
f or tomo rrow's power
Skilled hands coupled with keen minds made tOOay's rocket
powcrplants a reality. Minds that formulate new theories in powcrplant
design ... and hands that prove these theories by careful
experiment, tcst and application.
Guided by such hands and minds, RMI has led the way fo r over
fi fteen years - designing and producing record-break ing powcrplants for
such supersonic vehicles as the X-lA , Skyrocket and the
Viking missile. Today and in the future, RMI engineers and scientists
will continue to blaze the trail toward advanced propulsion
systems for" manned and guided flight.
Engineers, Scientists-Perhaps yo u, too, can work wilh America'sft,sr
rocket family. You'll find the problems challenging, the rewards great.
P r og r es s
D
.
NVILL _.
40
space iournal
i
�PUR1F1ER CHAMseR
WHERE RELIABILITY SPELLS SUCCESS • . • • •
Custom designed, precision built. Robbins Aviation products have
been instrumental in the successful attempts of man to penetrate
outer space. Progressive research and development in our laboratories will help to assure the success of future space exploration
efforts,
.. MANUAL
• LEAKPROOF
.. EASILY
SERVICED
•
1
• AUTOMATIC
'*
FOR
DETAI LED INFORMATION
WRITE
CUSTOMIZED
DEHYDRATION
SYSTEMS
" Wh r i~ Ih~,~ Mt'n I;m~ ~""",:"
10 do ;/ righl
Iml ol"''''r_
lim~ ~"(),,gh to do ,', Ol'U.'H
DO IT l iGHT THE fiRST
'I"'~!
USE lOllll<l5 VALYUI
17]5 W. FL O RENCE AV E.
l OS ANGEL ES 4 7, CA LIF.
47
space journal
�IS YOUR FUTURE SECURE?
Be sure you get your future copies of
SPACE Journal by subscribing today
one year only $2.
DETACH HERE ANO MAIL
SPACE Journal
P. 0. Box 94
Nashville. Tennessee
Name _________________________________
Address ________________________________
Occupation ____________-----;_______________
48
space iournal
�,
On the lefl. aoon'. i~ the huS" cylinder of
sirtl a nd aluminum ~no..-n U Rt:DSToSt:
(built by Chry~tcr Corporation) the larg<'81
balli.,ic ",i•• ile in full indll~trial produc.
tion. I'crftx: led ill Illl all.iltlpo rlnll ' projec t
at I I 1Inl~\'ilk, Ala!>ltrna, by th e Army,
Red,lOne
i~
more
Ih~n Il ...·CII(IOn.
It
,3
a
mile"IOne of irnmru:;e proporuolU.
On the right-and goin!; inlO 11'OO:]IIcl;on
unde r anI'''' Arl11 y ~onlraC I "jIlt Chry~lcr
Corpora lion - is Jt'Pl'TE R - the first off·
Kpring of R{'II,lone.
DODGE
a n inlcrmooiale
ra"g<'l mi~ile clIpable of tranoling 1.'ioOO
mil.:-•. \\ illlOut Red< lol)l', Ju pi ter would
uever have come jll \O heing with the
1l!lonishing '''I,;<li'y tha i hn markco:i iu
STO",t h from e~ perinM'nla l iM.. 10 produc_
tion ~talll~. Milly of t he f'rinciplc! u!<!(]
in J upiICr- Vf()pllt~ion. suida uc<: alld oou·
Irol, mcasuring &ys t em~ ani l fligh t con trob
THE FORUI'ARD LOOK
PLYMOUTH
It ·~
- hale be e n pro l<e d in &ucce n fu l
li ed-tone firino~<
Ch rysler Corporalion i5 proud of il8 role
in helpi"~ to create two ~ neTlition~ or
Iluided n\l S!i lc~< Along wilh the men who
have made the Arm y Hllllisti c Mi,.ile
A,,'ellcy the mo.t succe5I!ful rn i~iJe head·
quarters in Arneri~, we are no,,· continu_
ing Ihi5 prOorarn of progreu .
This, /00, is
CHRYSLER CORPORATION
DE
SOTO
•
CHRYSLER
IMPERIAL
��
Dublin Core
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Serials Collection
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Serials Collection
Dublin Core
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Title
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<i>Space Journal</i>, vol 1, no.2, Spring 1958.
Creator
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Rocket City Astronomical Association
Space Enterprises, Inc.
Source
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Serials Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
Date
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1958
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en
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Periodicals
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spacejournal_1958_spring
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1950-1959
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Life on other planets
Rocketry
Cold War
Goddard, Robert Hutchings, 1882-1945
Propulsion systems
Space flight
Space race--United States--History--20th century
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This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
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http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/43/61/spc_hinr_001_060a.pdf
402ddd125572cc78daee34acd8bed5bc
PDF Text
Text
�' o,d In ~ tn.m ."t Co. ," ", in •• , ,·hc,;l_ Hir,""aring g) ro (.)r nng"lar drif1 On equ;.torial test
stand. T",t can .hQ,," up drift rate~ as Iowa. on" rC'Qliuiou in 40 year •. Test) !i~e thi, ..
helped Army put "Explorer" into orbit
Some 01 Ford Ins trument's current
or recent programs include :
oystcms •..
A••h lon •• ~d J~pi' ••
Mlso,le laYnchi~8 .~d conl"'1 o,de.
compule ••
Nev, •• Uon.1 .~d mission co~"ol
In . t1lall~>da"".
incl~d'nl
Analoe: .~d d'I".1 compu'e, oy"eml
fu .. nl .•• mln, .~d oth •• wOft>e.d
cO~I'ol equipment
PI"tti"1 equipment
Nucl. . ,
.y.,.m•• nd control.
A special guidance system for the Jupiter C. de' eloped b) lhe Arm)" lJalltstic
~lIss;le Agency. \Ioas used 10 launch the
first U. S. artificial satellite inlO spa,,~.
Many componeills of this S) , tern "ere
provided by Ford Instrument Co.. prime
contractor for bolh the ··standard·· U. S.
Arnl) Ikdstone and Jupiler guidance
systems.
The fabulously-etjuipped. fantast;call)-clean g)W lab (abol'e) is only a
sma ll part of the adv;mced research lind
dcvelopment {acilities a\·ailable al Ford
Inslrumenl Co. They're us.cU to create
ami produce the incredibly accurate control 5)Slems called for by modern tech.
nology in bot h government and industry.
And l ord Instrument·, large-scale
precision manufae1uring facilities can
turn evcn the most cri li cal 5JStcm requir('mcnl5 into "orting ··hardl'oarc·· o n
a quantit)-production basis. Our Liaison
Engineers arc at your )erviec to discuss
"e
your sys tem requirements.
Gun'". conl...,l.
0."". conl,ol.
FORD INSTRUMENT CO.
DIVISION
OF ,sPERRY
RAND
CORPORATION
31-10 Ttoom son Avenue, Long I S I"nd Clly I. New York
fi. ld h i•• Of h e.. , B.v.'I~ H il l •• Ce lif., Ooyton. Oh io
�JOURNAL OF THE ASTRO·SCIENCES
CONTENTS
Vol. I. No.3
Summer 1958
CO VE RS
10ARD Of CONSUUANf$
Df. W .,~hOf __ 'f "~~
FRONT : Layout and design by Ha rry Lange. Ske tch is
Elplorer I (See page IS for story)
BACK: Oil painting by H!lrry Lange was inspired by
John Hulley's "The Purpose of Man In The Uni_
vene" {see page 3)
0 , ~ '~' f Sfok!I.<iOf
',of . H.,,,, ... Ob.,fh
lDUOR_IN _C Hl lF
,
~p ..
c., IIb.11
EOI TORIIl
M AN AG ING (DUOR
2 PROJECTING WITH SPACE JOURNAL
Ja mel l. Da niels, Jr.
ASSOC IAH ID IT OR
ASSO CIAH
I.W <h.11
~
HITURES
3 THE PURPOSE OF MAN IN THE UNIVERSE
John Hulley
B LAUNCHING THE EXPLORER SATELLITES
James L Stamy
IS SPATIAL ORI ENTATION OF EXPLORER
SATELLITES
Dr. Charles Lundquist
21 LIFE ON O THER STARS-Part II
Dr. Ernst Sluhlinger
31 THE ACID TEST
Dr. Wernher von Bra un
~DIfOR
~h., ....
J,.
ASSIST ANT (DUOII
~AYOUT
DIRlCTOR
Ho,old E.
',k.
AliT DIRECTOR
Hon,
H .· ~
GIIA~HICS
~ •• ~
OEPRRTMENTS
L... ~.
37 SPACE BOOKS
43 OUT_OU R_S PACE
44 VOX POPULI
DIRfCTOR
1<400". Jf.
FI CTION
SPRCE
IUSINUS MANA GllI
II lch.,d T. H •• ~,
47
CON '."UT OIIS
f . H .. ,old Eo.o •. 0 01 "
bo ' , .,. 1<40 11 , D•• IIb.ll.
" I~
space review
lipace C/lrtoonl
Tuction
BEYOND THI S STAR_Final Chapter
James l. Daniels. Jr.
L•• q •• ~o,o '-4 . '-4 0"0'. Vi' 9 1.,. ~ho, .... 1<4 0', J o•• Do • • W."o. T. 1<4 "'1 ' 0". "''1""' Hoch.
SUIM ISSIO N 0' MAHII I A~
l ito ,. b", '"lo. of "'0,.,1.1 to ,h ', Jou, ••1 I, 01 .. . , . . . .Ic"",.;
.,11" .. of !iOO ' 0 JfIDG .. o,d •
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, 0. '"". 12. H •• II.ill •• Alol>o.", •. All ", ol.d. 1 o"o"lod 10' ",bli.. .
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ADV!UISING
Ad •• ,t".I.~ , . ..... ill b. I", ;,h. d O. "quo, 1 10 S" ...
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space journal
�fDITDRIAL
Proj ect ing With Space Journal
B y J a m es
L.
D a n i el s,
Jr.
...OC;U. editor
Recently I had lunch wi th a Sunday supplement maga zine editor who is interelted in our
magazi ne ven ture in the ~poce foeld. This editor, a veteron of neo rly three de<;o des in the
publishing bUliness, asked a ques tion which has come to us in various forms from reoden, advertisers, and publishe.. , "What has SPACE Journal to ofter thot any other magazine
h\l$n 't?"
Then, 01 course, he osked the logical ,ubsequen t queltions about diredion ond ob·
jectives.
The onlWer to the basic question is .imple: SPACE Journal ofters the layman the belt
Ihinking 0 1 Ihe leoding o uthori lies in the os l/a-lciences and in Space Age philosophy in lan_
guage that he, the laymon, can understand. The layman cannot get such authentic and informolive material else where for two rea~on$: one, these outhors do no t normolly appear in ather
populor mogozin e s; two, when their work is p ublished it is usually in technical and sc ie ntific
publica tions and in complex technical language which the laym a n conna l understand.
From this an.wer the logical extension of the first question ori'e., "Why?" The ans wer
to this one falls in the cotegary 01 objectives and direction. The "why" we wish to afte r the
layman space informotian becomes the "whot" 01 our o b jective and the " where" and "which" 01
our di redion.
Our objective is the motivation of man to survive. We believe that the human race can
conti n ue 10 develop o nd to survive on ly through mo vi ng ou t into the Yo st rea ch es 01 this e verexpanding unive"e. We want no ordered, stognant, communal exis tence and slow intellec tual
deoth under government-regulated birth. life, and deoth, no Brove New World-restriclions
which necen ar il y wi ll be imposed if man remai ns roo ted 10 terra firmo. As Mal thu. knew, the
Earth has ih limit. in numbers 0 1 animol, it can support. Already scien tists are predicting that
within a lew year. the elimination of most animal Iile other than human will be a necenity. Even
wi th scie ntific and tech nologica l e ftkiency that may surpass all known bounds, mo n, if he reo
mains on Earth, will ultim ately hove to curb his indisc riminate spawning and cramp himself
into lor less spoce per person thon he now hos, even in his postage stomp urban lots and tenement hovels. He will be lorced to sac rifice hi. individuol existence to the 5upreme organism,
the Ito te, so thai, once achieved, Ih e me tabolic b a lonce of the whol e con b e moin lo ined.
Finally, if man does achieve Ihis precarious bolance lor physical survival on Earth, he must
eventually perish with his OWn sola, system when ils life givin g sun 01 lasl goes oul.
Th e re fore, we mu,t gel ou!. O ur earth bound frontiers o re gone; we must e xplore the new
ones; we musl open the universe lor man's incenont migration so Ihot he may con tinue to grow,
to e~pand hi, power to comprehend, and to progren up Ihe infinite ladder of lime.
Hol d ing the se view I, SPAC E Jou.no l has no difficul ty in choosi ng its direc tion. The rou te
through space ;s via the mind of the layman. for it i. the laym a n who will "foot" the bill for
space e ~ plorotion . II is th e layman who.e world Or worlds will be left to his progeny. Thus he
i$ most vi tally a ffected by every step towo rd spoce explorotian, and we believe he recogni zes
this. And nOw tha t the science fiction venture1 o f a lew years ago have completed the cycle
from vague po .. ibility to certainty, in the ligh t of technological advonces in the missile ona solei.
lite fields, the loyman hungers to knaw-Ia know what he is going to pay for, to know whot he
;s leaving to his children.
We of SPACE Journal wanl him 10 know. We wan l him 10 pay for and pau on to his
progeny Ihe opportuni ty and the challenge 10 survive--Io insure the perpe tuity of human kind ;n
thi, grond cosmos. And we b elieve th o l th e more he knows the mare he will be motiva ted to do
just that-the mare he will be willing to assume his obligation to his own species.
•
2
space journal
�$ P " C E PH I LO SOPHY
I
t h' purp ose 01 rna n in t h, un i verse
By
Io ~ n
H ~II.y
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In h is series of SSC lolks, published os The
Nolvre of the Un iverse (Slockwell, 1950),
ostronomer fred Hoyle conc1 vded with a queslion and a surmise. " What is mon ' s place?"
he asked. Arc we " ingenioul mochine,," hoving no signi fi cant conne ction wilh the cosmos?
Or is the Sible righl in plocing man at the
cenler of the un'verse, the primary abiec t of a
persanol Gad's solicitude? Diuotisfied with
available canclusianl. he offered an opinion
both humble and hopeful ,
When by pa lie nl inquiry we learn
the answer 10 any problem we always find, balh as a whole and in
detoil, that the answer thus revealed
is finer in concep t and design Ihan
anything we could ever have arrived
at by a random guess. (p. 118(
Withi n their fie ld. ecologists would p roba b ly concur. Eoch nalural species-animal or
plon t-seems so perfeclly mode for its specifIC
10lk Illot one is led to expect to find a similar
perfection in tile lIuman organism.
Ecology studies Ihe way tile various species
inleroct in tile noturol scheme. One of tile
most fam iliar examples of Illis interaction is
Ille bee wllich, in its qvest for nectar. transfers fertilizing pollen from flower to flower.
A sim ilar coordination of work appears among
all til e species. Plan t seeds pan in!ad Ihroug ll
a nimal digestive systems, tllus achieving wi de
dissemination and good opportunity for
growth. Tile effect of tile worm', dige.tive
J0hn
H II
( (
ey
aelivily is 10 ferlilize the soi l; Ihe diges tive
habit s of one species of woodpecker serves
to preserve cerlain trees from deslruelion by
e xcessive beelle populations, and so on. Und e r close scru tiny, nature's interaction oppea"
01 cooperative as it is compe titive.
Individuals 01 each speciel, seeking tlleir
own fulfillment, actually playa creative porI
in a much larger pattern, Pllotosyntlletically,
plants convert solar ro y. into food wh icll the
insects, reptiles, and animals of ocean, forest ,
and plain gradually pyramid into wllat ecologists call the " clima~ culture ."
A growing respee! for na ture derives from
!lIis 60-year old science. For ins!once. the
natural balance of species in any locality appears to be a richer and more eff'oeient utili zer
of solar energy than man brings about artifi_
cially , Tllis discovery lias led to Ille development of so·colled " orgonic " forming , tile
compost lIeop, ond many ather changes in
conservation, fishing and ogr icultural pro·
grams,
All Illese conclusions apply, tllen, to tile
otller species. 8u! tile lIuman role is not so
clear,
Til e e co log y 01 man has yet to be explained.
Wit hin tile natural balance on Eartll, he seems
not to fi l at all:
Nat ural communities are clloracleriled by a posi tive or favorab le
energy budget, Many, perhops
most, areas controlled b y man are
exploited, resulling in a negative
energy budget, !lIe final mark of
wllich is unp roductiveneu and
abandonmen t. (Encyclopedia Bri.
tonnica, 1954; " fOla nt Ecology')
The fire. clearing, drainage, agricullure,
cily_building, smoke, etc. of lIuman o clivily in
terrestrial hillory seems to work counler to all
3
spa ce journal
�-the delicate en ergy ·e~chan ge of nalure. Man
h(1$ POW!)fI which permit him to overwhelm,
ex terminate ,
or
exploit
all
other
species,
Organic farming and conservation programs
barely mitigate hi. tendencies to crush all before him.
Throughou t his history on Earlh, man hos
appeared anomalous. For overbalancing Ihe
other species on the plonet, hi. role hos
seemed more deslruclive Ihon anything else.
Calling upon Ihe sian ond the heovens for
salva tion , he ho. wor~ed , fough t, suffered and
died-oflen carrying to hi. grove the deepest
doubts about the purpose and value of his
ClO. i stence.
Wherea s all o ther elements of the
nolural order seem to fond their places and
to fuifilliheir roles in colm acceptance, human
beings e .... ibi, confusion. Why Ihi, (In,,iely,
this slorm ond stress? Wh(ll is m(ln's ploce in
the universe (lnywoy? An(llYling his oe!ivity
wilhin the fr(lme of n(lture on E(lrlh h(lS 5(1
f(lr yielded no sotidoctory ecologicol e"pl(lno·
ti(ln.
Recent events h(lve (lpened up the ide(l of
on entirely new an swer to the ancient riddle.
As ou ter spoce becomes (I felt reolity , (IS in ter_
planetary exp loration becomes a ,cien tific
possibility, a new hypothesis about man presents itself.
Nature surely exlends for beyond anyone
planet. forth spins wi thin (I univene, whose
my riad stars almost certoinly hove evolved
countless planetary systems teeming with life.
Man's p lace in the nolural scheme, ,hen, may
be one which extends beyond Ihe limils of (I
single planel.
Since Golilea, the ideo of a living, popu la ted universe has been fomilior . Thot;s the
outlook of leading (lslronomers lodoy-e.g .,
Jones and Hoyle of Greol Britain, Shapley and
Struve of Ihe Uniled Slates. At least Iwo of
these men furlher believe thot biochemical
lows favor 0 simil(lr evolution on other pl(lneh.
No one specifies Ihe color o r site, bul the
sta ted probabil ity is thot-if we keep going
4
space iournal
oul inlo space-thi', or a later, general ion
will encounter beings resem bling us.
If hum(ln beings o.e indeed (I normol planetary developmen t Ihroughout the universe, 0
theory of man should extend beyond Ihe con fines of ony one pl(lnel (lnd become broadly
applicable. While (lur scientific observations
ore mostly limiled to this si ng le world, neve r·
Iheless our theorelical framework should (lPprooch m(ln (IS a commonplace orgonism fre_
quently occurring (lnd ac ti ve in Ihe larger
natural «heme.
Within the acknowledged limilation of our
experience, a philosophical (lppraach 10 the
problem C(ln ye t be made from avail(lble
scien tific sources. The allied disciplines of
evolution(lry biology (lnd of ecology offer Ihe
basis.
Cerlain characte.istics distinguish man from
other species, but they do nat nece narily set
him (lparl from nature itself. As a mammal,
man co nverts specifIC forms of energy into
a ther forms. Within his own body he inge.ts
ond processes ce rlajn frui ls, nuts, leaves, rools ,
flesh and banes inlo sound, Ileal and action.
His defeC(llion and finally his dead body nourish plants. Thus he forms on integral link in
Ihe nolural energy chain.
His differences may simply fit lIim for (In
inle'pl(lnetary .ole wililin the cosmic natural
pa ll e rn. Tile same four limbs which in otller
mammals are designed eilher for quodrupedol
walking or tree·clim bing, seem particularly
designed on human being s for anolher pur·
pose: erect posture frees the h(lnds for tile
manipulolion of lools, wlle ther rudimentary or
ultromodern. Eree! poslure also raises Ille
vision and makes it easie r 10 focus upward
and outward.
An inslinctive inlerest seems 10 lead man to
a close scrutiny of Ihe heovens.
For him
(ls lronamy is the "queen of sciences" ond, for
millennia, tile only one. In Ihe early periods
of lIis progress he builds mylils or religions
aboul tile celesliol bodies, worsllipping Ihe
�I'r------------------------------------~~~--~=-=-~~
Sun and Moon, Jupiter, Venl,ls and Mars, or
Queholcoatl, or Odin. He iocoles his future
salvation in on vnearlnl), or o ther-worldly life
in Heave" .
He ';Ilks hi s military adven tures
wilh celestial port en ts and his omO'O\l' desires
to the Moon or 10 Star·du sl. In all limes and
pll;lces, his hislory reveals (I troubled conscious·
ness of the great un;"cue oround him.
Th i, c e le.t ial focul di ffe rentia tes him a nd
narrOw, hi, rang e of re ceptivity.
If othe r
onim a l. o re 1'101 for •• igh ted enough to .ee the
,10". and olmo. t c cr ta inly ign ore them , they
",ake up fa. it by perceiving th in g. wh ic h
mo n fo il.
10 nOl e .
A
do g heo" .ound. whi c h
Ihe human eOr miHcl . The o wl ,,, ike' 01 it.
m i c <J ~t prey Vlhen h..,rnon be in g. Ore 10.1 in
the dar k. Ne ady all anImal. fallow t ellial ~
scents too refined lor human perception . Bah
and fi.h re.pond to vibra tions which me'" cannot feel ; and '0 on. HumCln perception of Ihe
cele.tiClI e nvirClnment Clnd relCltiYe inJensiliyity
to eClrlhly .ounds, smell,. a nd yibratiClns ClppClrently con stitute an innate opeciCllil Cltion
withi", th e nClturClI ,cherne.
f rom Ihe inyention o f Ihe leYer and Ihe
whe e l down to the launching of ar tificia l e mlh
sCltellites. man hCl' reveClled CI dilli ntlive
ability to corry oul in creasing ly complex operations . This ability depend. upon hi. elaborate
communicat ion ,y.tem . Many .pecie. (e.g.
bi rdsl u. e .ystems of , ignol. sounds, move'
mento. vibrat io n.-Io coordinole group activiti e s. The human Iystem of .ym b ols is much
mare elaborate . One of the malt a rticulate
of Our speciel on Earth, Shake.pe are. i, colcula led to have u.ed over 25,000 diffe rent
word.; and. of cour.e, on individu a l under ·
stand. more word s than he ule, .
Through ward •. man communicate, a partial
reproduction of certain procellel, both natural
and artific ial. If he is ju.t one of the nolurClI
specie. having a parliculor ecologic al func ·
tion, limi tCllions on hi. foculti'H are to be
e ... pec led . For inslonce, he can d e scribe the
growlh and decline of the . Ion and galaxies
of OUr universe, but he (.onnot tell why Ihe
univers e e ... isll.
His reproduction of these
prOCCHe. i. descriplive. com parative, analogi.
cal. He knows how 10 make an atom e ... plode,
b ut he does nol know why an atom or On
uplosion is. Eve n wi thin the descriptive realm
hi. capacity to re produce re ality in word.
rea ches limils beyond whi ch he cannot go.
How big or how old i. the universe? Such a
question lead. beyond man' s needs for pracIi cCl I activily. Here hi. symbol. foil. On the
one hand, he canno t conceive Iho l lhe un iverse
slops in a certain place, because lomething
wo uld have 10 b e b e yond ; an the olher hand ,
he uses Ihe word infinily, b ut cann o l reCllly
imagine iI, He ha s equal diftkulty in cancei ying either thaI the universe had a beginning or that it did not.
Man i, no l omn'<eie nt. nor capable o f being
omniscient. Hi. men ta l equ ipm e nt is not d e ·
signed to enoble him 10 comp,e"end all the
mysteriel and ull imClte mea ni ngs, Ho wever ,
it io well des igned 10 e nabie him to op e rale
01 a certa in level wi lhin Ihe uni yer.e. He co n
learn the molian s o f the ,Ita n a nd planels,
the gr avilic , electromagnetic and othe r field.
of au ler spoce, th e pri n cipl.s Clnd mechanici
of flighl. for Ihi••or t of purpose, indnd,
his equipmen l see ms pe rfe ct.
Instinctively, oe nlienl "umon being s haye
long been drCl wn 10 Ihe id e Cl of flighl, For
cen luriel men have o Clually dr~om e d of flyi n g .
lindberg" 's (falling of the ~lla nlic Ocean
drew forlh CI grea ter popula r re sponse Ihan
the viclories of military heroes. From boy·
hood on, men find .peciol Ihrills in 'peed, in
operaling complu machinery, in lilt ing b. hind Ihe controlboard of fa st·mo ving vehicles,
in eAplor;ng Ihe unknown. Wi thin the limi lCl lion l of Earthly life, men pul " roc ket" eng;n=;
in the ir cars, mount hig" sla bi/i u r fi n. on Ihe
rear fenders, and .eek rides which will toke
I"em " out of this world. " They read lIuck
Rogers and other 'pace or ,cience fi ction .
Such dreaming, reading , Clnd ploy-ac ting
seem wholly nalurol if the make·believ. of
tod ClY prepares for Ihe realily of tomorrow .
Eco logic al anoly.i. luggelts Ihot each
species, pursuing ils own ends, not only pro mote. its own lurv; Yal but actually piaYI a
useful role in Ihe buitd·up of a rich, na tural
paltern of energy-e ... change.
Why space
flight is importon' 10 human ends will be dilcuned in a IClter CI ,lieie. T"e ecological
5
space journal
�~I
quellion here under discussion is: How does
Ihol octivi ty contribute 10 Ihe nalural bolonce? To this question, onalogy suggests
thaI fertilizotion may be Ihe answer.
Within Ihe limi ts 01 a single plonet, birds,
bees and many olher animals disseminate
Ihe seeds and pollen of Ihe plants. In Ihe
e~ploralion of planets, many of them either
comple tely rocky and dusty or else supporting
only rudimentary forms of life, men would
naturally seek Illasc planets which could
support odvonced life -forms. To these he
would bring plon ts ond animals to suppor t
human cultures.
Prcsumobly he woul d bri ng
some back, too. He would Ihus ac tually enrich natural oclivity in Ihe area of his explorations. like on interplanetary bird or bee,
his disseminating agency would contribute to
the profusion of life on tfle plane ts he
reaches.
He may do more. l ong·period comets
and polar shifts may become subjecl to his
forecasting. Ultimately he may seek to exert
his influence to prepare for, mitigate, or per·
hops even oRset any major impacl. Such
activities are familiar to him in his Earthly
his lory of developing new lands and conli.
nenls. An ances tral foreshadowing of the
6
space journal
ac livi ly is contained in two of the mos l
memorable biblical accounls: Ihe variant
stories of the crealion and ferlilizotion of the
Earth (Genesis 1 and 21; and the slory of
the preservation of species in Noah 's ark
(Genesis 7). His future aClivities in the uni·
verse may resemble those ancient tales.
The hypothesis developed in Ihe preceding
sections would also explain the strug gle s and
strains of history. The main problems of suc'
ceHive generations would be to develop the
required ability, based on the amassing of
observations and formulation of words / ideas.
The flexing of scientific muscles in wa r, the
groping for purpose and meaning ful rel o .
tianship to the cosmos-th rough religion,
philosophy and poetry-would all contribute
to the growth of the species toward its ma ture
role in the universe.
Such on incubation period may seem slow
10 a human individual. But the nalural uni·
verse allows for long time·s pons. The ages
of stars and planets are numbered in billions
of years. The grawth of a rich natural balance
in a swamp may require millions of genera·
tions of insecls.
Ecologic p ragreuion may
depend upon thousands of generations of one
type of anthropoid displacing thousands of
generations of another.
It tokes a caterpillar only a few weeks to
develop into a butterfly. But the activities of
the butterfly are relatively simple. II seems
well within the time· spons of Ihe natural
"heme if humans require a few hundred
genera tiOns to evolve within thei r colleclive
cocoon o r ineuba lion·planet, before ochiev·
ing the elaborate operation of interplanetary flight.
II these comparisons are valid, then the
present historical moment is a vital stage of
social troOlition from a quasi ·larval condition
to that of full flight. Successful accomplishment of the transition will parlly depend on
our true unders tanding of iu characler and
purpose. To that end, this article has been
devoted to on interpretation of the function
of human interplanetary flight from the point
of nature as a whole. A loler article will review the usefulness of space flight directly 10
humans, evaluating its importance for Our
growth and ultimate SUfv;vOI.
��SP A C E SA TE L LITES
I
launch ing the explorer sat e llit es
B y J ames
J .. ",. . l. $".."y _, be,," ;" C.d., I.o;d ••
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On November 8, 1957, the Secretary of
Delense announced that the U.S. Army was
to participate in the scientifIC p rogram of the
International Geophysical Yeor. II is now 0
matter 01 history Ihol 83 days later 01 4.8
seconds after 10:55 P.M. [EST) on Jonuo ry 31,
1958 , bplorer I wos placed in orbit, and
in 114.8 minutes it had completed its first
journey oraund Earth.
Many readers, both students and prac ticing
engi neers, are fomilior wi th Ihe length 01 time
Ihot e lapses between Ihe initio lion of a design
ond Ihe .ealization 01 the operating hardwore.
It is ob"ious thai 0 task of the magnilude required for Ihe launching of on Earth .atellite
cannol be carr ied out within on 83-doy pe·
riod wi thout utili zing a grea t deal of e}listing
hardware, and this hos been true in the E..plorer program .
f or a number of ye ars the Army Ballistic
Missile Agency has been developing Ihe Red·
stone, a medium range, surlace 10 surface,
ballistic missile. When the intermediate range
bollistic miuile, Jupiter, WO I ossigned 10 the
Agency, it was recognized th a t the de"elopmenl program could be compressed if certain
c rit icol compo nents ond subsystems could be
flight. lested during the time Iho l design and
production of the basic Jupiter missile were be-
Th •• ,.1, .
, ',uelur.
<on'"in inll
.h.
L.
ing accamplished. The eKisting Redstone mis'
,ile proved to be a valuable te.1 ve hicle for
this purpo.e, and a cerloin number of the le
miuile. were modified and renamed Jupiter-A.
This pro"ed to be (l satisfac tory solution to
many of the design and d e "elopment problem. for Jupiter components; however, there
was one outs tanding problem which required
od"anced teding techniques, and thi s was the
famous re-entry problem. The major task,
in this case, was the protection 01 the Jupiter
warhead Irom the terrific heat generated by
fric lion as it re -ente", ot hypersonic velocities, the atmosphere from essen ti ally outer
space conditions.
In o rder 10 obtain "ilal test data under
oclual conditions with e}listing hardware, it
was necenory 10 " soup up" the ba'ic Redslone
design. This called lor the use o f a higher
energy fue l tho" normally is required. This
fuel, unsymme lrical dime lhylhydrazine, afforded Ihe necessory inc rease i" the thrust level for
Ihe engine. I" odditio", th e burning time of
this b ooic Redslo"e thrust unit forming the fin l
stage of this composite missile was i"<reased
by lengthening Ihe propella"l ta"ks.
This
could be done since the weight 01 the uppe r
stages was less tno" Ihol 01 Ihe Redstone top
uni t which it replaced. Even the.e measures
were insufficie,,' to give the a"erall performa"ce required, and so additional propuls'on
stages were needed. These were designed,
developed, and tested by the Jet Propulsion
Loboratory of the Coliforn'a Institute 01 Technolog y. At this time they were working an 0
"oriely of solid ·propellont missiles for the
Army Ordnance Corps and were confident
that. w,th some modifications, they hod rockel
mOlars suitable lor Ihe task and thai Ihey
J"pH.,. C ",iu il. ... iI n_"", ,",in9 a' Cope Con".. ,,,I, '10. SK onD' hf",,_ .he
mi .. ;!. i, r.,. d ond 0".' "II 'e'" "nd f"./ing "r. ,om pl.'.' th o .".. <t .. , . i. t oll. d 0"0, f'om .h. mi"it..
I
Siamy
.....
8
J.______-=~'p__. _c_e__io__"_'n_._I________________•___
o;____________________. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ,
i
���Cu'a"'", .1..... 0/ f. plo,. " , ud m . 'a.h ." '. II"~' "'. ".u,. <o.""c 'ad;,,'lo~
;ft.ld. "ftd ou,,/d • •h
.",.11;,• .
The low power tr ammi trer ape rate d on a
frequency o f 108 megac ycles, and the high
pawer transmitter aperated on a frequency of
108.03 meg a cycles. The low powe r Iron,.
miller was elt pected ta transmi t data for Iwo
ta Ihree month , before ih batteries d ischarged; Ihe high power transmitter, on the
arher hand, wa s e~pecred to lost only two
weeks. These e~pectatians have been ful.
filled.
The onoly ticol prablem of determining ho w
the outer surfoce of the sotettite should be
prepared in orde r 10 obtain prope r tempera-
'Mu.;'"
.1.. ,1" 0/ "'. '.or;'. ","" ,ei... "ftd '. "'p.,a'u,••
rure con lrol of Ih e interior is a very diAkuh
one . The veh icle is eltposed to Ih e lutt rodio.
rion of the Sun; a nd, in turn, il becomes 0
rad iating body os il pones inro Eorlh's shodow. The tempera ture ollumed by th e inrerior mechanisms depends on this rodiotion
bolance and the heot conduction parh be.
twee n Ihe electronic compone nts and the
e xte rior envi ronment. In view of this, it is
desirable to measure the temperolure at severa l points inside and outside the soleJtite,
and this info rmat ion is 01 vital imporlance for
the proper design of future soleliites.
"
space iournal
�Erosion by cosmic debris is also on impor·
tont foclor, The meosuremenl of it is mode
in two ways: firsl, by means of on ,mpacl
microphone mounted on Ihe ederior surface
of Ihe so leliile which regislers collisions occur·
ring anywhere on the outside of the satelli te,
The microphone e~periment indicotes the fre·
quency of impoci by particles with more Ihan
a cerlain minimum momenlum,
Second, 0
syslem of grids composed of very ,moll wires
wound on a care waS i",lolled neor Ihe oft end
of th e so teliile 10 measure impocts by me teorite
particles greoter Ihan 0 certoin minimum man.
The meteori!e e~perimen! was designed by
M, Dubin of the Air Force Combridge Reseorch
Cenler.
A geiger counter and on a ssocia ted scoling
circui l were 0110 included in Ihe Explorer I
for th e purpose of mea.uring cosmic ,odiatian
and transmitting its in tensi ty back to Earth.
The measuremenh were all made continuously
ond transmi tt ed simulioneously, and no type
of information storage device was used. Dat a
gathered by the ,olellite was picked up by
ground stations du ring the 10lellile's postage
over head, This cosmic roy experimen t was
designed by Dr. James A. Von Allen of the
State University of Iowa.
In addition to information received directly
from th e satellite through its instruments, il
also provides basic scientific informotion
simply by being in orbit. Ground observo·
tions of the so tellile p rovide da ta obout the
ionosphere, Ear lh'l mognelic field, and olmos·
ph eric density Ihot, un til now, hos been based
on indirecl evidence ond theoreticol ossump_
tions. Accurate optical and rodio observation
of changes in the .oieliile's orbit also provide
basic informa tion as to grovilolionol onomalies
in the Eort h's fie ld. The exact amoun t 10 which
Eorth', shope deviotes from on idea l sphere
can thus be dete rmined from such observations.
'-inol ou*mhl, 01 .h hplor., I .....11,.. On.
.0•• Ifi,*', ' ... 0 ,,,dig "on. ",iff." i• • i.ihl. in Ih
... ' ion
of th
'0".'
�9
Explorer III which wos subsequen tly
lounched is 01'0 in orbit ot this lime. Thi.
vehicle is gath e ring and Iransmitting the same
type of information 01 Explorer I. There arl!
enen lially no differences between the carrier
vehicle or Ihe loun ching methods of Ihe la lel liles. The'l! ore, however, levero' .ignificanl
chonge. in the instrumentation of Explorer III.
A maior chonge in Ihe sa tellile is the oddilion of a miniature lope recorder, d e veloped
by Ihe Stole University of lowo. This device
;s collecling ond recording on tope Ihe dolo
an ca.m;c rodiat ian encountered during Ihe
10101 orbit. This informa tion ;s played back
upon a .ignal given from a ground slalion.
The lope is then automatically erased and
rese l.
Scientists consider information gained from
Ihi s memory sys lem a marked improvem e nl
over Ihal of Explore r I. The first sOlellite dispolched dala conlinUQusly; bul it wa s recei ved
only in areas under the orbilal bond Ihol hod
' h g./g ... <Dun,,",
~,.eI ,~
,<
bo.h loplor." lor .. e",.,e "eM 01 <0, ..
'or in .....i.r·
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,,,101 orbi,. On " . Igna! I,,,,,,
r"rth,
,e<MeI., f.potl • •h. ;nl .............. II ~o, ,,,,h.,.J eI",in, 'be orbi" ou'o·
"'''',colf, ........ ".d ...... if.ell_11 In " I... ,.<ond.
.b.
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Il
sp~ce iourn~l
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The prela rlc hing pro cdu.e for o th b ·
plorers waS uch like th standard 0 erotion
fo r o<!y lorg , liq uid-pro elled mis8l2.3A~ 1 of
the function of checkou , propulsio ,syst e m
tes ting, fueli g, ozimuth
ing chedou e tc. we re
rh. "'It l o u' ", bjl$ 01 r.pl",. , III o_e, .h fguh. Th.
.h.
",.d ",
Jupjte r.C. . . M<1t I"yn<he c/
.,,'ollilo, w,u
" 35 dell'" i nc/; no" " " to .h. Equo'O<. Th. , .... lliI. ;,
otbj,ing On on ."......,.-;,,1 bond be ....... ,h. 35th I",j·
",do. ""flit ond .oulit.
the 10ll... r $1(1 es of Ihe as enl, 1'15{B.~ power
planl
pend e d. I
r<Jf;"4, nd fell
bad to Earll. The upp ... stages s'fi'o r y afte r.... ard re(lch
the ape~ f Ihe arc. J 51 prior
Ihe tim... hen the vehi Ie attained s m(l~i
10
mum height, he second
ground slo l;ons. Mony blanks thus occurred
;n Explorer 1', record, partitulorly when Ihe
so/cUi le wos over large bodies o f water. El(plo.e r III, however, is sending out cosmic ro diolion information representotive of rhe 10101
orbit. Thus, there
being conducted, for the
ignmenl!, I emeler·
orried oul. During
5
ge was fir
The firs t ta ge of th ... missi le ca r ied Ihe
payload to ilf perigee distance
m the
Earth. Other doges of t e missile
reased
the sa tellite
speed 10 rha t ne<;es ory for
orbi ting, a
r hour.
nimum 01 1 000 miles
The upper st ges were spi 1-stabilized, in mu ch
the monner
a riAe bull
This woo one by
electric mot'}"c"m,o~"""",d"i\ ilh in Ihe n se sec·
lion of Ihe ai n 5t 9 ....
sto
5
w
pr pell(lnl
.5
first lime,
(I
compre hensive survey of 10101
cosmic "'Y intensity above Earth with respect
10 both time and po.ition.
14
space journal
e SOlei·
lite
'pro
" ima
re
rbiting
th of ap-
YlCJOl!!!~""IlJLIlJ","ds.
�SPAC E SATELLITES
I
spatial orie nt ati on 01 the exp lo, e, sateft ites
By
Cha.I•• A.
l~n~.u; "
So"'~ ()a •• ' ••
"0' "",n ;n W,b·
"*.,
.. I. ,"lln_',gH• • 0<,; .0<1
f, ... $0,'), D.".'.
5.... Co"," I. ,u9 ond ),,, 01,,,,,,, ...
$I .. ,
hr.
P~" ;"
bo' . . ' ....
f<Q ..
,100 Un"'''''' .f K.o>o •. II, .... a. a .. I,'onl
",.f... ", .f ••• ,n.. ,'n ••..-,,), •• ~. ,.,,' •• n'o
Un;T"''''
S,.,.
010';'0 ,100
Aft. . . .,,,;n. ,100 .,.. , ..
I ... " . . . . . . . . . ' Ito ..
l~J ~
_'.d".li19SJ
......_ ~'..
..-0.
,. 19J1i. U.......
oil .. "", .............. ' .. 01., 1,... / ),;, ",..."
... ,1';. . . . . Ic), " C•• .t'. ~~yw;" ... d ....... . k'.;"
5oc'Io., 1..-,)' "01.". 0lIl<0 i. ,~. "-,,.y
. . III.". """'"
, ....... OIM.",
. ... <Y_ 110 h ",.,,;0<1 ..nd ...
The launchings of the forst United States
salellites hove recei"ed widespread notic ...
But less w .. n known is the analysis required os
Ih e bodies continue to orbi t. The cam pl.. te reduction of scientific information from the
satellites is a lang and laborious p rocess, and
final canc h/sians can be reached only many
months alter launching.
One o f the ma ny interesting questions to
be considered is the sa tell ite orienta tion or
a lT itude in sp a ce. This consideration has
many implica tions. Changes in the time for
a re volu ti on about the Eo rth-Ihe period, Ihe
str ength of radio signals received from the
satelli te, the br igh lness of the body compa red
to the stars, and the temperot ur es in Ihe
satellite are all affecled b y Ihe salellite's
orientation in space.
When a buller leaves the muzzle of a rifle ,
it is spinning .apidly. In ils flight to the
target, this spi n keeps the nose of th e bullet
pointing forward_
Th e original orientation
with which the spinning bullet began its fligh t
is maintained by the gy.oscopic p rinciple.
Thus, tile bullet's altitude or position relat;ve
to the Earth, is fixed in space by rh e orie nla·
tion of its axis a nd tile spi nning mo tion im -
Cil arle5
Lu ndqu 5 t
parted to it. The same p ri nciple is used in
launc hing the hplorer sa telli tes. The last
three . Iog es of the Jupiter·C ond the in, tru·
menta ti a " packages are spinn ing from Ihe
time the rocke t leaves tile g round. For this
re a son the satellites enter th ei r orbi ls under
much the same conditions as a bullet begin"ing its flight.
If Ille. e satenites we re perFectly rigid
bodies and if rhey were not acted upon by
e xterna l forces, the tows of mechanic. demand tllar the o.ien totian of tile axi s of spin
of the satellite remain Fore ver fixed in spoce_
(See fig. I.) By rllese same lows, the pol ar
a~is of tile Ea rth is requi.ed to alway. point
to the Narlh Star as Ihe Eartll revolve s in itt
orbit,
Til e Explorer bodies ar e, howeve. , aeled
upon by external Farces. Furtller, E~p lorer
I is no t a rigid body becau.e tile four antennas for one of its radio transmi tters are
made of fle xib le coble. (See fig. 2.) Thus, the
a tt itude of these sa tellites wi ll not be fixed in
space . Fo r tllis re a son Ihe situa tion i1 .omewhat more complica ted and interes ling.
Even at the normal height of pre.ent sa te 1liles, enaugll atm os p here remain. to re tard
their motion, Tlli. re sis lon ce is proportional
to rhe amount of sa telli te surface area pro·
jected in the direction of ils flight. Tllus, tile
Explorers in te rce pt 16 limes mare of tllese
pa.lide. if rile y move broadside Ilion if they
move end an. (See fig. 3.1 The corresponding
atmospheric drag on the sa te ll ite body affech
the shape of it. orbit and tll ese orbital
changes may be observed. Then, iF tile arien·
ta tion of Ille satellite, it. shope, velocity, and
position are known, tile otmalpheric density
may be deduced From observed orbital
cllanges.
'5
space journal
��ri ~u' • •. ""/Iud• .. hich
und., idoo' cond,'ion.
,
h"lo'.' r .. ould ha •• " .. u",.d
Another imporll:'"t fac tor in terrelated with
orientation is the satellite's relative brigh tness
as viewed from ' he Earth. This apporen' bright.
nen, as compored to backgro~nd stars,
primarily depends upon how the body is
aligned with respect to the Sun and Ihe
observer. Thus during dawn and dusk abservo·
tion conditionl the salellite's alignmenl in
space will de termine the reflecting surface
visi b le to observers. Of course, the reflectivi ty
of the satellite also e!tech its apparen t b rightnen. Studies have been conducted to judge
the e!tecl of vorioUI solellite positions ond
olignmenls on the el\posed reflecling surface
ond the subsequent solellile brigh lnen at
various attitude s, The assumed orien tation ond
spinning mo tion could be verified by accurate
m,... ~i<h
II~u'. , . Tho £.t>I",o, , ,,, ..
ift""'m.ftfO~Oft ""chg. ".,UI rho
<on';'" 01
lourlh flogo,
rh
�obseryations wnich note changes in apparent
brightneu. The Smithsonian Astrophysical
Obseryotory is analysing such data.
finally, orientation again is important because torques are exerted on these satellites
since they act as canducton, spinning in the
magnetic field of the Earth. These forces depend upon the direction and magnitude of
the Earth's magne tic r,eld relatiye to the sotel·
lite.
The resi stance encountered, temperatures,
apparent bright ness, radio signal strength,
and electromagnetic torques for (I spinning
~oteflite haye been seen to depend upon
its alignmenl in space. If the satellite is a
sph ere, the r,rst three are not primarily affected
by orientalion. Hence, all fiye factors are
mos t interesting in the case of the Explore ...
Changing Ih e point of yiew, each of these
effect. may be used to help determine Ihe
altitude of the satellite in space.
Analysis of data from Explorer I supports
the tenta tiv e conclusion that tile satellite went
to (I small Iroction 01 tile original rate. As
Illi. lIappened, a transition 10 th e final flat
spin look place. Thi. transition from on axial
10 a flat spin may lIave been aggravated by
flexing of Ille antennas wllicll would allow tile
diuipotion of energy wilh very little change
Icanse.votionJ of tile angular momentum due
to tile spin transition. Tllu. the final angular
momentum approximately equalled the initial
angular momentum.
At burnout tile final rocket stage of Explorer
1 hod a spin rate of approxima tely 750
.evolutians per minute about ils longitudinal
axis. Th e respective momenh of inertia about
Ihe longitudinal axis and Ihe fla t spin axis
have a .atio of aboul 100 to 1. Tllis is due
10 the distribution of sateltite moss about
END ON ATTITUDE
inio a flat spin soon after it was launclled.
(See fig. 4.1 The fint evidence of tllis was
found by tile Californio Institute of Tecllnology, Jet Propulsion labora tory, from measurements of til e radio signols from Ihe satellite. During Ihe rorst few orbits about tile
Ear lh, tile records point to a reduction of tile
bulle t-l ike spin about tile long axis of the body
18
space journal
BROADSIDE ATTITUDE
f!g~, . J. O'"g ./I' . ..s "n Ih. f~pJo,., I .",.11"0 c/~. I"
'ho o, .. '~do 01 I" moss Th. <r<... ·h",.hoc/ ,,'o.. s Inc/i ·
,,,,. 'ho .ol~",. ,w.", Io, ,he ."1.//,,. in ol'h., "
po,,,lIo' C' po'puc/lout", ,,1II1uc/. 10
j"
OIloil,,' polh .
�predominonl feoture 01 lotcr records has been
variation of radio sign a l ot.engt" having a
period of app roxima te ly 8 seconds. A sample
of such a re cord is shown in fig. 5. Tkis observolion is consis tent with a fla t sp in ond ind icates Ihol this is the ocluol condition.
Due to the oblate for m of the eorth, the
plane ond mojor oxis of the orbit both rotat e.
As the bplorer I, in its flat spin, passes
Ihrough the orbitol pe rig e e (closest po in t to
th e Ea rth ] and is oeled upon by appreciable
drag to rques, the orien tat ion of its rotational
oxis wi!! be c hon ged . Forces of el ec tra-
(I
'ig~'. ~. Th Wot ,pin 01 h pj",."
r~. ,pin o , i, 10 no
long., pO,,,U.1 .<> .~. rongitudi",,1 0 ' ;' r"di«>IIOM ", •
•~o' ,~. ,o ,.rl". ~". " p.,io<! 01 oppro,;,.,., .." 8
.. <.,,,d •.
I
j
the different oxes, If conservo lion of angu lor
mom entum as mentioned b efore is assumed,
th e n a flat spin role of 7.5 revolutions per
minu te will result du e to th e 100 to I ratio.
This rote of 7.5 revoll,llions per minute o r
. 125 revolution per secorld corresponds to a
Fill~"
5. A r, pico! m.a,y , .monl ,,/ ,111"'" ",ength
I,,,", f.p l",., I . Noli<. thot th. "'''io, po., k
(actu.,1 .I"nor ,,,,;,,,,,,,,) .,«~" .,pp,o.;m.,r.l, ..
8
"COn d., I"dk.,'i"" ., no, 'pi" ,,,,, I", ,he ,.".Ilire 01
rh ,., ... ,.Iol i •• lim •.
,.,.i •• d
or,
flat spin period of 8 seconds. {See fig. 4.) A
19
space journal
�magnetic origin p robably «IU"~ .imilar devi a -
tiom. Tempera ture doto re<:eived from the
sol elli le yiel d. ,orn e insi g ht into rhis solutio n.
Ex p ected
various
tem pe ratures
o .. umptions
of
calcula te d
sOl elli te
under
orienta tion
ho ve be e n compared wi'h temp eratu re me a. UH!ments made On board the solelli te a nd
leleme lered 10 the Ea d h. The o verage in_
te rio. te mperatu re, calculate d on the assump ti o n of 0 flat . pin and an axial spin about 'h.
long
~
,~
,~
m
0
ll<>
&00 0
T
(. I()
- :Jl9i
,,0
0
o
DOt? 0
0
00
(J
0
0
,~
'"
"
0 0°
0
0
>0
0
......T 5"'"
.~
,~
.......
30
~
10
"'"' ..... 01<11<0
-lO
~
'"
0
fig",. 6 .
G,ap~
,.I"';(I~,h;p
d e p,<I, 'he
h'w.en me", "
u,. d "no:! .. peele d 'emp.'''_
,
ty, .. t'''Mm,lIed b, f . plo,.,
20
space journal
~
~
~
'0
~
'0
T
I·F I
Oll;S,
ore shown in on illustralion. [See
fig. 6.) The cirded points are temperatures
measured on the satellite.
Note that the
observational do to doe s not agree with
temperatures to be ellp e cled if Ihe bullel-like
sp in remained unchanged; Ihal is, if the
Iran silion ta a flat spin did not take place.
Ho wever, d uring Ihe first twenty days, the
p red icted temperatures for the case of a flat
sp in wh a se alli s is fi xed in spa ce do not agree
we ll e ith e r. If, as p reviously suggested , the
orienlation of the axis about which the flat
spin i. e xecuted, changes due to exlernal
forces, the expected lemperatllre would have
values fl uc tuating in Ih e neighborhood of
JO O" K. This is in a gree ment with th e abser ·
vationol doto .
The Smi th so n ian Astroph ysical Observatory
has re porte d variolion in the rate of change
of t he orbital period . This might also be
relaled to the satellite attitude through prope r
onol ysi s.
The flexible ontennos, whi ch probobJy
cause d th e flat spin conditions on Ellplorer I,
we re omitt e d on Explorer Ill.
Pre liminary
t!vi denc e indicote s that the tran sition to a flot
sp in is muc h le H ropid fo r this satellite. Thus.
im p rovement in the sotellite configuration was
accomp lished by analysis of ovoilable information from Explorer I records.
As this is written, the satellites in question
are still orbiting and transmitting data. The
analysis of the above phenomena is continuing. The final result of these studies wiU be
a n under standing of what tho orientation of
the satellit e s has been d uring their lives. Thil
picture must be Cortsis!enl wilh the obse rv atianal data on the varieties discussed. Onc e
Ihi. co nsistent pic t ure is ab tairted. it can in
turn be used with confidence in the onolysis
ortd del Nmirta l iort of the mor+y queslior+s
o b o ut space a nd spoc e ve hid e s.
�S , ,
c: (
'11AllSIS
,
Ii f e Dn
I 'ft" S' " h lln,. r, D', .,'., . f .. ,_, ~ . ,., .
0'" Offl, • . "' .. . l olt '''', ,.i"ll• • • • n" . ~. ,
bo," In NI.d."I .. "."k. c;., ... n•• O... ", bo ••
19 13 . .... . ".n"-<l
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.1
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• ", . nd .. .
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c. I•• " ~I. d. "...,. In p~",I" .'
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0. . H• •• 001 •• ,. 0."'0.., of t ho c;. 1...
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'Ow"".
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$t .. .. .... , ...1. . . . . . . . _,~ ;0 c..... t ~ ,,;t'
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t .... t .. , ... V· , O.ld'" .1 ..1... 110 ........1_
' ..... TlI . .
to'
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ItOd 0.,1 • • d.d; . . .' . ' ..", .. , ....... ,,; .. ,,,,.
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.t,
,
Part II
All the countlen observations of celestial
bodi es, many of them with the mast ingenio"s
methods known to modern science. have not
yet given us a definite proof of the exidence
of life in places outside 01 Ollr own Earth .
The only direct indication of the possibility
01 living motler existing on another star is
the observation of green patches on the surface 01 Marl. These polches e~pond during
the Morlian Iprino and Slimmer and recede
again during fall and winter. They are commonly interpreted as being cOIl,ed by green
plants, probably nO I 100 different from our
mOHes and Ikhens. Olher than this one ob·
servation. no trace 01 life has ever been observed in the universe . And yet, scientists
state with a high degree of certainty Ihal
life must be expec'ed to exist on other slars.
They bOle .his stalemen' on a simple rule
which, for a long time , has served as a most
powerful and a mos' succeuful guide to the
biologist. II simply stole, that when the nece.·
sory conditions for a certain developmenl
are fu lfilled , nature initiole s this development
very readily. Applying thil rul e . we mus t ex·
pect that life hO I developed on many other
celestial bodiei on which the necessary con -
···lif. Oft
Ern s I
B,
oth., Sto .. :· PD"
1958 . p . 10.
I , S' ,,"CE JOU'" DI, .p,ing ,
Dt~er
star s
Stu h I n 9 e r
dition, lor its development were met at one
time or another. A. we onumed in the first
par t 01 thi. article,' Ihere ore obout 100,000
planets withi n our galo~y whi ch very probably are iimllor to Eor!h. Thot pori of our
universe which can be observed with todoy's
means (ontoins. in oli likelihood, no less than
len thousand billion planets on which , at
some time, condi lions were lauorable for Ihe
developmen' 01 life .
What, then, are these conditioni? Fin',
there mu~1 be a soufce to supply energy in
on adequate lorm to the living organ;sm~.
Second, there mud be a source 01 "building
material " to provi de Ihe proper row ma teri al
lor their growth. Third, there must be water.
Fourth, the te mperature variations must be
within reo.onoble limih, about - 20 C
1_4 FJ to
80 C (176 FJ.
Fifth, there
must not b e an excessive amount 01 poisons
or ot her agents detrimental to living mailer.
Once life has developed on a planet, it may
well adopt itself to leu stringe nt conditions.
Many o rganism~ on Earth li ve and even thrive
in regions where the temp e ra ture regularly
drops lor below zero or where there i5 no
waler or air. However, it is not probable Iho'
living organisms could grow th rough Ihe very
early phases 01 their ontogene tic development if the temperolure dropped (ons iderobly
below zero lor longer periods or if there were
no wa'er and air.
+
Yet Ihese requirements are nol enough.
II we fill carbon, oxygen, nitrogen , o,d
water in a tes t tube. irradiate it with sun ligh.,
provide a convenien t temperature and keep
poisonous material oul, th e re will still be no
development of life. A living cell, e ven the
mosl primi.ive, contains protein. The bOlic
elemen" making up protein molecule, ore
21
space iournal
�corban, hydro gen, oxygen, and nilrogen; but
each protein molecule has a ve ry !o rg e num ·
ber of atoms. These otams are ononged in
e dremely comp!ico ted but very ord e ,'y pot·
te rns. Even though many diReren t pa tt erns
of atoms moy be farmed ius t by random
events in 0 mixture of those atoms in the
course of time, it is improbable that the for·
motion of 0 highly complex pralein molecule,
ius l os a rando m even t, is completely negligi.
ble, even ove r a time spon of million. of
ye ars. A very special force il necessary to
p ut the atoms in the righ t order, to arrange
them in such a way that a pralein molecule
resulls. Even so, would this complicated pro.
tein molecule, immed iat ely a fter its formO lion
be aliv e' Wo uld il show the charoderis tic
fealu re. of life, Ihe metobo lism, the regula.
lory proceues, the growth, the tendency 10
procreate, Ihe developm ent of protedive
meOlures ond, mosl importanl of all an in·
heren l Irend for evolution? These fealures
which make live matter so charac leristicolly
diR e rent from dead ma lt er, can they be
unders tood at all on Ihe basis of th e lows of
no lure as we know them from loday's physics
and chemistry? Or do we have to assume a
crea tive ad from for outside Ihe boundaries
of our natural sciences? There is, I b elieve,
only one answer which we Can give in han·
e sty: we do not know. But this very question
hal been with mankind as long as there hOI
been scientific Iho ugh l. It will certa inly re·
main not only the most intriguing question
of all science, but also one of the mos t pro·
found questions which can be asked by man.
The physical sdences have given us 0
marvelous picture of the inorgan ic world, ex·
tending out 10 the re mote galaxies of th e
universe ond down into the su b microstruc·
tures of the atomic nuclei. We understand
the laws Ihat make Ihe sian move; we can
design complicated machines which utilile
the forces and interaclions of eledric phe·
nomena; we have learned to move through
the air, and beyond ii, with unbelievable
speeds; ond we draw almosl limi ll eu power
f rom the interior of Ih e a tom. Biology has
been no leu successfu t in revealing the low,
that underlie the world of animals and plants.
22
space journal
The lows of physics and chem istry , correclly
applied, ore valid also in the realm of o rg anic
matter. And ye l the fundamental questiol1
which fa ces Ihe natural scientist is still unanswered: are the laws of physics and chem.
istry, includi ng Ihou: still unknown, suffident
to exp lain Ihe formation of living matter?
All we can do is to continue our researches
in to the mysteries of nature, even if this question should remain unanswered for a very
long time.
Scientists, indeed all of us, would be reluctan t 10 assume that our little plone l Earth
is the on ly ploce in the vast universe on
which li fe has developed. Allhough we do
not know wha l causes a pro tein molecule to
develop oul of its basic ingredienh and what
makes it behove like a live protein molecule,
we are confide!,1 Ihot noture iniliotes Ihis development whenever. and wherever, the conditions are right. This reasoning implies that
lif..--even on Earlh-may have started in
more thon one place, and more often than
once. In fact, it is conceivoble thol molecules
whic h poness th e charaderistic fea tures of
life developed mony limes on Earth, and continue to develop today. It should be assumed,
though, thot Ihe first phases of Ihis development, taking place in a single live protein
molecule, may well toke millions and millions
of yeors and thot such a molecule e;o:hibits
Ihe feotures of life in such on inconlPicuous
monner thot we may nol b ecome owore of ils
exislence, even if we had il in our test tube.
Earth owes its life-fovQring condi tions to
ils atmosphere, its stare of water, and its
proxim ity to Ih e Sun. The elements found on
Eorth are the same os Ihose found on olher
celestial bodies. This can be verified by on
analysis of the light which reaches Earl h
from other slars. The chemical compounds,
however, ore quite different on slars and
plone". While Ihe allIer regionl of Ihe Sun
consis t mainly of hydrogen ond helium ond
only Iroces of particularly hardy componen ts
like cyonoge n, silicon fluoride, and tilonium
dioxide, the crusl of Eor!h, and that of the
plonels, is made up of a greot variety of
chemical compounds. The relolive obundonce
�of these compounds is very probably the some
on the solar planets and in all likelihood, also
on the planets of other $lars. This, however,
is only true for the solid pori of the planets.
Their atmospheres and their water conten t
differ very widely. It is this difference and
th eir distances from the heat· providing central star which mgkes some planets suilgb!e
for life gnd e><cludes others very defin itely.
The atmosphere o f Egrlh fulf,lI s g number
of functions which are essential for the sup·
port of life. It provides 0><Ygen for the gni·
mgls and cgrbon dioxide for the plants. It
emries rain to the remote st ploee~. It moderates the impact 01 the solar rays during the
daytime, and it keeps Ihe surface of Egrlh
'.om losing it. heat too quickly during the
nighl. It shields the living being s Irom ul! rg violet and cosmic radiation , and it prolects
Ihem ggainst Ihe countless meteorites which
conslontly shower Egrlh .
The animal organism, being constgnlly a t
work in one way or gnother, need s a conlinuous supply of energy. 0><Ygen, with it. great
gffinity to e><athermic reactions with many
olher elements, is on ideal source of energy.
Nature chose the slow combus tion of o xygen
with other elements as the principal supply
of energy for the bodies of animgl.. The
luel which is burned with the oxygen of the
a tmosphe re is normally some form of plant
or gnimol life. It is well known that Ihe body
of on animal could not subsist on the com·
bUltion of soot or crude oil, allhough the
amoun t of heat energy per gram 01 those
fuels is much higher than Ihat of a gram 0 1
spinach. This fact indicates very clearly thol
Ihe onimgl body does not only require calories
for its subsistence, bu t also g specific kind of
"molecular orderliness." This peculiar feature
of onimgl organisms will be discussed some
more in 0 fu lure article.
The g tmgsphere gf Earth hgs not always
been the sa me th roughout the several billion
years of its exislence. In the beginning, Ihere
was a great abundance of lighl goses, par·
ticularly hydrogen, helium, methane, gmmonig, wat er vopor, an d neon. Ho wever,
Ear th could no l retai n these gases while il
was still very ho t. They gradua ll y drifted ou t
into space, and we must onume that for
some pe riod during its development Earth
was wi thout on oppreciabJe atmosphere. To
understand the reason why a planet cgn lose
its atmosphere, we musl toke 0 loo k 01 the
structure of our atmos p here in g e neral.
23
space journal
�The molecule . 0 1 0 gos 0'., in con.lont
mo tion) the ir ~e locities and di ll,<;: lions 0 ' " dis-
They wer e ,.,Ieo.ed from Ihe crust o. it .Iowly
solid,f, e d. Bul Ih., •., woo . Iill no o . ygen in Ihe
I.i buled 01 'a"dom Und e r (a"di tio " , o f "0 ••
mal le mpe.olure ond olmo.ph.,ric pr e ssure.
oi., o"d if Ih."., ho d been, ,I would ho~" b.,e n
co ns um e d ago; " in Ih ., o . ido tion p,oc.,,,e l
one cubi c inc h of oi. co ntains about a hund red
bill ion bi lli o " mo le cu le •. Eoch of Ihem collid e .
wit h onol her on e a fte r 0 po lh of nOI mOre !ho"
a hundre d Ihou.ondlh of on inch, ther e by
changin g its ~ e l oc i ty and ils direction. The
o ~e rog., ~eJociti e. of the mol., cules in (> gas
dep e nd on Ihe temperolUfe: Th., holler th e
go •. th e higher the o~eroge ve loci ty o f i"
mo le cul e •. The meon molecul a r velocities of
~OI;oU' gose. ore listed in loble 1 for Iwo
dIff er en T !emperolure •. Some o f the molecules
will o lwoys be fo ster thor'! Ihe ove ro ge, olher.
will b e Ilo wer. Th e distribU lion of Ih ei r ve.
loc itie. follow. a so·co!led Mox wellion distri.
bullon cu r~e .
0 1 Ihe ,ad . a nd mine. o ls. Ther e wa s . ome
melhane and omm o nio, and Ihis o lmo.t chOOI,c
The hei gh I of Ihe atmosphere .. not
welt d"fined . It. d en.ity decreases can!;nuau.ly on Ihe way up, but even alan alti _
Iud., of 100 mil es we find .till almo st a billion
mol e cule. in .,och cubic inch . Th e po th I.,ngth
b.,lw.,., n two colli. ions. howe ~er , ha s increased
10 many thousand miles . If a t o n olli tude of a
f.,w hun d.ed miles 0 molecu le happens 10
acqui re a po.licularly high ~elocily in a few
lava.oble collisions, and if ils direction i.
,odiolly oulwo.d from Earth, it moy w.,11
o ve rcom e the grovity pull of Eorth ', field and
e.cope into Ou ter .poce . The velocity needed
fa. Ihi. e.cope i, independe"" of the mall
o f Ihe mole<;:ule, bu t dep e nds on Ih., mOil
ond Ih., diameler of the plonel. Some , horoc te.htic c Hape veloc ilie. are Ii.t ed in lob le II.
Althou gh the av e.oge velaci tie. 01 go.es,
.,ve n at highe r le mpero tures, are generally
lowe' Iha" Ih e eHape velociti.,. of Eo .th
a nd ol h er plo"els, there will always be moJ e cut.,. wha. e velocities, at one lime or onolher,
a. e w fficiently high to mo ~e them escape
from Ih ei. mother p lonel. In the COune of
milli o n. of yeo .. , Ihi. g.oduol escape may
w., 11 I.,od 10 a conside.oble rOr.,ficolion , an d
eve n a lotol lon, o f a planetary olmo.phere.
t" Ih., c o s., of Eorth, it did. II was only much
lot e ., o fter fo. lh hod coo led dow", thaI a
" ew otm05phe re developed . Corban dio xide,
" 'trogen, and water vapor w.,re probobly
Ih., main con. liIU.,,,,, of thi. n., w otmo. ph ere.
24
space journa l
seH,ng woo probably Ihe backdrop On which
Ihe fi.s ! live p lo t., in molecul e. we re fOlm.,d.
How Ih is pouibly may have happened , or 01
least what we can co njeclur e today, will be
describ e d in more d.,toil in Ihe ne d issue
of SPACE Jou rna l. It may suffice hele to nOI.,
thot the f"st living organism . were probably
5mOU coogulolian. 0 1 proloplosma·like molte.,
copablill of .plitti ng carbon d ioxid e with the
aid of sunligh1. Th e corban and a numb e r of
chemical compounds incorporat ing corban
wele retained in the orgon;.m, a nd thlll 0.Ygen
wo. re leased. We. must assume Ihot Ihe 10101
amouni of oxygen found in ou r o!mosp hele
today was produced by plonl o rgani sm • .
Th,,'e would b., e v.,,, mOle o.ygen in the
oi, today If the pia"", ofter Ihe i. d eolh and
du.ing their decay. hod no l us e d up so much
of it in a slo w o.idation p.Ocell which fin a lly
r... uiled ago'n in corban dioxide. How.,ve •.
Ihroughoul Ihe ag e s, muc h of Ihe organic
moll". wa s buried deep in Ih e ground whe'e
it was nOI "xpo~l!d to Ih., oxygen of thll! a t_
mo sp here. A consid.,rob le omouni of oxygen
was Ihe.efo.e I.,ft j" Ihe at mosphe'II!, and
huge re~e.voirl of cool ond oi l wer" bu ill up
simulloneously in Ihe d.,eper layers 01 Eo.,h ·s
crusi. It is very intere lting 10 nole that the
total OmOu,,' of o xygen in the atmosphere
would jusl about be suffi cie,,' 10 o xi dize the
1010i amount of cool and oil .till bu.ied under
th e surface .
A"imol life was able 10 d " "elop on eorln
os .oon as Ihe oxygen supply wo. sufficienl
for its support. The a nimal o.gon i. m depe nd,
10. its food .,nli'l!ly~e ilhe r d i.ectly Or ,,,di.eclly--on Ihe e.i.lenee of p lo"l lif., . But.
Ihe production o f corban d io.ide by the a"i.
moh is .uch a smoll contribUlion to Ihe lo.ge scale production by oxida tion of dead plonl
o rga nisms tha t onimols could no l be conlid _
ered ellentiol lor Ihe e.islence of pia", Iile.
II i. conc.,ivoble, the r.,fo.e . Iho l a plOn.,1
��conloins vegetatio n and no animo!.; b ut it
i~
not to be expected that there are pla nets
populated by anim a ls and bore of any plontlike organis ms_
It is by no means certain, of course, wh ether
life will always develop into a plant branch
and on animal branch. Th ere are numerous
spec ies of living organisms even on Ear lh
which canno t be counted under one of the.e
branches. Virus es, bacteria, and even some
of th e protozoa, do not clearly belong to the
plants or the animals . Some highly specialized
paras ites wh ich live in the in lestines of other
animals requ ire neit her oxygen nor corban
dio xide nor light for their su bsistence; they
liv e on sugar o r sto rch which they toke from
th ei r immediate vicinity, and they produce
energy not Irom ox idation, but from a process
of fe rm en ta tion which is controlled by specia l
enzymes. These parasites, of cou rse, depend
on a live hall. It may be a ssumed with a
high degree of certainty that if life develops
at all, it will at first be in the lorm of plontlike organisms which consume corban dioxide
and release oxygen, with the help 01 sunlight.
Corban dioxide and sunlight afe th erefore
mandatory for the development of life. Water,
100, is obsolu le ty essen lial, not only o. a
source of hydrogen, b ul also as a solvenl,
and a s a basis for the colloids whi ch form the
bulk of the struc tural materials of plant cells.
Mo st o f th e tramportotion of mate rials imid e
a living organism, plan t or animal, is done by
di ffusion or by osmotic processes; Ihis would
be un thinkable without water. With its large
specific heat, wate r is on ideal ther mostat
which helps to equalize the te mpera ture wi lh_
in one organism and which protects the organism aga inst rapid changes in te mp eratu re.
Jt i. true that life can exist for long periods
of tim e without wat e r, as in dry spores or
seed.. Howeve r, Ih is is a latent kind of life
on ly, and no t the active development of living
organisms. There are even mammals, like
the little desert mouse, which never drink
wate r dur ing their whole life; they syn lhesize
it oul of carbohyd rates and oxygen. Even
though they can live without taking water,
Ihey procure it in on indirecl way, for Ihe
26
space journal
seeds and o ther food which they eat could
never develop without on adequate supply
of water.
Life c an on ly d e velop, and su bsist, when
the ambien t lemperolure is favorable . The
lower limi t of the temperature range suitable
for life is nol only det ermined by the freezing
of the liquids within the organism, bul also
by Ihe rates of chemical and physio logical
reoc lions which, as a rule, d e pend very sensilivel y on the temperalure. It is true that a
living body can dev elop and mainloin a temperature cons iderably higher Ihon that o f the
surroun dings, but th e temperatu re gradien ts
within the oute r layers ollhe body ca n not be
too grea t. Fur ther more, octive tem perature
control i. a rerlflemen l tha i is och ieved by on
organism on ly 0 long time after it has de veloped the basic feotures of life. We ma y
safely assume, therefore , tha t life deve lops
only in regions where the temperature does
nOI d,op below Ihe freezing poin t of waler
solu tions. The high -tempero lure limit is set
by the stabili ty of large orgonic molecules.
Any molecule can be broken up if the temperotufe i, roised high enough . The large molecules wh ich are found in living moiler decompose fairly easily, mony of Ihem even below
Ihe boiling point of water. Most live o r.
gonisms can be killed by boiling them in
woter. Some algae are known to live, and
even thrive, in hot springs, but Ih ese orgonisms
are highly specioliled and cerloinly dona l
rep re sent on Ori9i<101 developmen t. " should
be assumed that on environment which allows
temperatu res belo w obout- 20 C 1_ 4 F)
and above
80 C 1176 F) is not suited
for the development 0 1 life.
+
Wilh these restrict ing conditions in mind,
we wiIJ now proceed 10 look 01 the solor
planets o s (I Iyp ko l planetary system, and we
wiJl (ls k wh kh of them migh t be co pable of
bearing life.
�•
TABLE 1
TABLE II
MEAN THERMAL VElOCITIES Of ATOMS AND MOLECULES
ESCAPE VELOCITIES AT SURFACES OF PLANETS
AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES
Milse.:
o
2400
C
Q
Moo,
Mercury
Venus
,..
3.4 m; lee
Hydrogen
1.15 mi, lte
Helium
0.82
Water Vapor
0.38
1.1
Nittagen
0 .31
0 .•
Oxygen
0 .29
0 .86
Corbon Dioxide
0.25
0.74
1.5
' .6
6.4
7 .0
3.1
37.0
Ear th
Mars
Jupit er
22 .0
13.0
Saturn
Uranus
14 .0
6.5
N eptune
Pluto
TABLE III
CHARACTERISTIC DATA OF PLANETS
H ' JlU
l .loo
O. ~
7.100
0 .9 10
.. 000
......,
0 .74
~
.
U ",M, 1
CI " "T
I U 'M, 1
.....\."
" . ,. O. , . . ,, "
u .".
Of UT
IMllIlI I
IIIIU U ' .... I V. . . ." . 0 ' UU
1,,· . .U1UTI)
O.J I
,~ .
l,rOS .1S
17.96
35 .9
It.1
0.117
0.1'
110'
71' .23
n~ . 70
61.1
21.1
140 '
'3.94
365.15
92.9
'1.5
13.0
' .000
...,
. ,1 15
0.15\
0.101
.n
24.61
686.91
14 l.S
1.312.000
O.H
)1..,50
2.64
. ]00'
9.11
4,33 2.60
~ .U
SATURN
73,100
763.000
O. ll
93 .210
1.1 7
.140'
10.03
10)'39.53
816.2
U~NUS
31.000
59 .000
1.03
. 270'
10.75
30.616.'-
1,71l.'
U3
·330'
15.10
60.1 .... 2
2.793 ,5
. 370 '
155.61
90. 471.33
3.676.0
6S4.D-I
27.32
0 .7 1
~ . )]
14.510
17 ,)60
....
0.700
''''''''
72.000
'.m
..
0.29
~
0.96
2.160
0.010
0.011
..'"
0.16·0.20
. 240 '
"DISTANCE flOM fAITH.
~
"-~
0",'''\ 'llOCln
1· llll/ lI Q
0,054
11.640
NOON
<
(MIIU . " 'I
JUPITfi
PLUTO
o
,"
l .nT
010111.
lOU."
",.
NfPT UN(
£
VOIU.,'
""H,,
VENUS
~"
-g
(. l lIl)
Mucu n
EArTH
•
II . .. " . .
. 24 "
•••
•••
..,
,.
,..
0.6'
�oboul 400 ~ C (750 oFI. Th e " night" sid e,
which i, permonenlly in the shado w, is (!l( .
tremely col d . There is a v ery brood twilight
lone between the hot Clnd the cold region~
becouse of ongulor oscillolionl of .he plonet;
in Ihi, l one, the lem pe ra lure VOriel widely up
ond down du ,i ng the Me rcuri o n yeCir.
If
Ih ere is any olmol ph ere On Mercu ry- and
the re are op tical o b lervotions which imply
Ihol the re is some_its press ure is not grea ter
Ihon obo u. I 800 of thai On Eo.th. Mercury
is simply '00 small, and 100 halon its sunny
side, to reloin On appreciable omount of go~
as On atmosphere. II;s probably mountain.
OUS, b ul travellers 10 Mercury will find no th ing
e xce pt "0 lifelen, desolole world , with a sur.
fa ce parched and crocked" (Polrick Moore).
The ClmClun! Clf sClICI, ene'gy ..... hich is reo
ce;ved by a given ClreCi i. inversely prClpCl"
tiCinCl! tCi the squClre Clf th e distance belween
this oreo and the Sun. Mercury, for example,
WhOle meCin distance from the Sun is only
about one·third that of Earth, receive~ almost
nine lime1 01 much ,olor energy per unit area
01 Earth. Solurn receives almOSI a hundred
limel less. There is only a limiled region
around th e Sun, and around eCich fjlted I:ar,
within wh ich a planet receiVel Ihe righl omounl
of sol(lr radialion to mah life possible. If a
planet wilhin Ihis region has aboul the right
magnitude, il could have developed an 01.
mOlphere which conloin1 at leoll waler vapo r
and some olher gosel like nilrogen and
car b on dioltide.
Thi, almosphere in turn
would equalize Ihe temperature sufficiently
so that On environment favorable for Ihe de .
velopmelll o f life would result. H. Strughold
ho s named this fovorable region around a
fol(ed Itor Ihe "ecosphere." Our Earth happells
to be righl in th e middle of the SllIl 'S eco.
sphere. Venus i, at il. inner, Mars Cit ih outer
margin.
Mercury, our .mallesl plonet, hee table IIIl
is unluitoble for life.
It hOI the peculior
feolure of alwoys lurning the some face
la'Nord Ihe $1.11'1, very much like the Ma:lll
olway, look. towo rd Eorlh with the some .ide.
The bright ,ide of Mercu ry , hClvillg elernal
doy, is heal ed up to a surface temperalure of
Venus, one of .he mo.1 beautiful sigh ls in
the evening or morning .ky, ho~ been veiled
in my.lery as long 01 Oslronomers have lurned
Iheir telescopes lo word it. A dense Olmos.
phere, opaque 10 o p tical observation, covers
the enlire planet. It is not knowll whol this
opaque gas layer comi. 11 of, bu. it il prob.
oble Iho l it con tai ns corba n dioxide, and pos.
si b ly large cloud. of du.t. Bul what does i.
hide? Since no water "Clpor Can be detected
in Ihe ouler toyers of the olmo.phere of Ven",s,
il W05 onumed in ' he po,t that Venus is on
entir ely dry and deserl . ti~e plon el, wh ipp ed
by terrir,c storms ond shrouded b y a per.
mon en t layer of dUll clouds. W hipple and
Me nze l recen tly sugges led tho l Ihe en tire sur.
face of Vf!nUS may be one lorge ocean of
wOler. In Ihis COle, it is not impossible Ihot
Ihere i, some kind of aquati c life on Venul.
Th e temperolure of the wa te r would be high,
bul il would be below the boiling poinl. There
is only little hope Ihol we will learn much
more oboul Ihe surface o f Venus un til Our
first inlerplonetory spaceshi p circles th e plonel
and ~ends lounding rockels through ils 01.
mosphe ric blonkel.
�I
The Moon is on entirely inhospitable ploce .
Although it receives the some solar energy
per uni t time ond area as Earth, there i. cer.
toinly no life on th e luna r surface. The lemp e rature on the sunlil side goes up 10 about
120 C (250 ° F), " ] n Ihe shado w, it drop.
quidly down to - 150 C ! - 2 4 0 ° F). There
is no a tmosphere which could equali ze these
large tempera""e diffe rences. Even il Ihere
hod been some go.es d uring its early development phases, the Moon would have lost
them very rapidly because 01 ils smoll size .
There might be minute troce~ o f very heavy
go.es like krypton or l( e rrOn, but their existence would be insignificant for the develop_
ment of life.
Mars is always named first when life on
other planets is discussed. Its surface ca n·
d itions are more like terrestrial con ditions than
thc.e of any other known planet. Speculations about the forms of Martian li fe have been
numerous and fontc.tic, and Ihere is almost
no limi t to the weirdness of Ihe Martian monsters which have been conjectured by in_
ventive minds . Aslrobio logis ts are now more
coutious_ They do not el(pect more than
some modest, bu t very resistant forms of p lant
life, such as we find on Earth in the dry and
rocky areas of the for north.
The green
po lches which can be seen on Ihe Ma rti an
'urfoce, togelhe r with the rela tively low tem peratures
20 C
68 f) during the day,
but orlly - 70 C !- 94 F) during the nigh t
according to G, de Vaueouleurs and G. P.
Kuiper) imply a possible "egetotian simila r to
mosses or lichens. The a tmospheric densi ty
on Mars is only one-Ienth o f that on Earth,
It conlains ni tragen and carbon dioxide, but
+
!+
olmost no oxygen. The waler content of Ihe
Martian atmosphe re is only 0 few percent of
Ihe mois ture in the atmosphe re a bove terrestrial deserts. Animol life similar to that on
Eorlh would no l be poss ible. A very interesl_
ing suggeslion hos been mode by H. SI.ughold: it is possib le thaI planh on Mars store
the oxygen resulting from their metabo lism
within Iheir tissues. thereby build ing up a ki nd
of "i nternal otmosphere. "
Plant types dif ferenl from ours co uld Ihus deve lop, and e"en
specioli~ed forms o f animal life, drawing
oxygen direclly from the plant., would not be
u!lerly impossible. However, condilions for
life are not overwhelming on Mars. As H_
SIrughold put iI, Mars hos a lways been, and
will alwoys be, on "underdeveloped p lane t,"
os for as life is concerned. It is iust a lilt le
too fo r owoy fiom the Sun. The greolest di, tonce from the Sun is even much more significant lor the rest of the plonets,
Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Nep tune are large enough
to reloin even the lightest gos, hydrogen, in
their atmosphere.,
However, their surface
tempera ture, are so extremely low hee lable
Ill) thaI none of Ihe proo".ses whi ch are
essentia l lor the development of life could
possibly toke pla ce. The mean densi ti e s of
these lour large planet. are surprisingly low;
the logical explanation is tha I cons iderable
portions of their observed sizes are made up
by otmowheres of great depth. The wa ter,
which exists unquestionably in grea t quanti ties on theoe plonets, must be frOlen. In fact,
it is assumed today that each of Ihe four
2.
space journal
�on one o f Ih e fo ur ma jor plonels. The le mperotures are for too low; Iher e is no gaseous
o~ygen or carbon diox ide; Ihere i, no liquid
wo le r; Ihe re is o n abundo nce o f the poisonous
goses ammonio o nd me thone. Their surfaces
ore deserls of frO l e n goses, hos tile 10 any
p ossible form of li fe . It is liard 10 imogine
how fulur e space Irove lers could ever sel fool
on one of Ihele plonets. They will only orbil
oround Ihem ot respec toble dis tonces, sending
the ir unmon ne d sou nding p robes do wn inlO
these oceons of hydrogen, helillm, me thone,
and ommonio. The rocky co.e of these plonets
will p rob ob ly never b e oc cessible to mono
mojor plonels hos a rocky core which is
covered by a la yer of ice severol thousond
miles thick; Iheir otmospheres above Ihe ke
cooling olso hove depths of several thou sand
miles. These figures ore implied by Ihe low
den.ities, Ihe observed diomelers, ond the
very pronounced i10tten ing of Ihe plonels.
The o lmospherk pre llure ot Ihe .urfoce of
Jupiler is oboul 0 million limes greoter Ilion
Ille o lmospherk p rellure ot Ihe surfoce of
Eorth . Even 01 much lower prellures, all gases
are liqllid or solid, or ot least 1I0ve densilies
equol 10 their densilies in Ihe liquid or solid
slote. Tile term '·o lmospllere" is therefore
misleading; only Ihe Olliermosl few hundred
miles of Ihe '· otmosphere" of Ihese ploner.
can be e~pec l ed to be goseOUI . Again
judging from Ihe observed densities. il mUll
be ollumed thaI Ihese ou ler loyers conlisl of
hydrogen or helium. Jllpi ter ond Sotum con .
loin, in oddition, foidy lorge quontities of
goseous om mania. All fOllr planels ore rkh
in galeolll methane. Most of Ihe ommonia,
however, is frolen; Ihe some is true for corbon dio ~ ide , which should nol be e~peCled
in gaseous form. No ga'eous nitrogen or
o~ygen shollid be e~pected ei ther.
We need no l hope 10 find ony Iroces 01 life
Utile is known about Ihe losl and remotest
plonet, Pluto. II i. too for ow o y for meoning.
ful, direct obSe rvo lions.
But even wilhout
knowing too much obout ils surfoce conditions,
the possibility of life con be excluded becouse of the edremely low surfoce tempera.
lure •.
Among the nin e planets of the Sun, there
are Ihree whose orbits are within the eco sphere; but o ... ly anI! 01 Ihl!m, Ea rth, e xhibi ls
such a lovoroble combinotion of properties
Ihol life could deve lop on 0 grond scole.
Venus may bear some aquo tic IOfe; Mars very
probobly corries low forms of vegetation.
How long will Eorlh continue to oRer these
fovorable co ... ditions? Wilhin the ned billion.
of yeors, Ihe Sun will heat up ond expand
and eventually will exle ... d its white hoi 01·
mosphere beyond the planetary orbit of Earlh .
Bul long before Ihot time, Eorth will hove lost
mOre and more of its atmosphere. Within the
next several million yeors, the atmosphere will
groduatiy dri ft owoy in lO outer spoce. W hen
Ihe gaseous oxyge ... and corban dio~ide are
significontly rorefie d, animol and plont life
in its prese nt form will no lo nger b e ponible .
Will life by then have developed into form s
which con subsist under Ihe cha ... ged conditions? Will rna ... have found o lher ways to
prevenl the gradual decli ne of fovoroble
living conditions? Will he change his Earth,
long be fore noture does, in to 0 ploce whicll
is no longer a ... inviting obode fo r life? Alrer
011, the history of homo :lop;ens covers only
some Ie ... thousand years, ond homo sapiens
lechnic,",s has been a t work lor only 0 lew
hllndred years.
30
space journal
-
.
�I
S P AtE
CHALLE N GE
I
Ihe ac i d lesl
By
W e rnher
von
Br alln
I
W e .fth • • ¥ .. ~ I ... ,, ~ .. ~I bo," "" "'.,,~
21, 1912, ;. W;,,'l<. G.< .. o.y. H• • , •• "'" hll
. ! tho
i. I9J~ I, , .... "..1 •• • , ]1)0 he ioi .... " . -
U."."", 01 '",""
""'''''.'_ ,. a.ni"
' ''_
... ".,,""
Obo".
_
."''''''
hi ..
I•
•_ ........ ,. r' .......... 0 . ... ', _" • • _1·
,I.. old ,_, _ ......... ..... ","",.1
_to .....
0 1' ..... .t tho '''.;d f ... ' '''' ' ' _d c. • . Mi".", c;.. ... at , _. . . . . . . h ... 1937 ••• ,'
'ho ... d
W",'d w",,, '100 V.l
was
010 •• 10..-1 •• ' _ ' ' ' _. . . .d ,h. ~,,' ,." ....
1.1 V., .... ,• •• <'-1 i. 1Ul. 0.. ",. 1< •••
tho
." "U..........
1956. H. I......"od and
o'
,0<."
..... _ • •• ' .....,".1 01,_<,., .'
i.,.
A..., ......,,',
II,.. ,w. ""........ II;, ".bll,.,,"., '.,'.d. T"
_ ...
. ""''''.
A".u ,1M f."I
S-.
''''''''''.
C_ .."
c!
~_ ••• d Tho
.........
'" _._
1
The add le$t of men and notions ;$ Ihe
measure of their cou roge and resovn:;efulness
in rhe face of adver sity and peril. Th o se whic h
have survived crises have ellerted Ihe masl
pro foun d influences upon mankind's destiny.
Those which fo iled did so because Ih ey could
no l manage abundan ce and pow e r,
Ou r count.y ha l faced agonizing tests more
than once during ils relatively short history,
It emerged each time from the crucible nol
wi lhou t scars but with greater confIdence and
riche r maturity. America survived crises be·
co use il knew what must be done and did it
wilhout regard 10 consequenc es, wilh faith in
its own judgment and in the resources which
hod to be marshalled for the common good.
Eve n now we are ellper ienci ng another
test. Hi storians may record it a s one of the
mo st fateful in te rval s of Ihe twentieth c entury
which hgs certainly hod more than its sho re of
his toric events, The early days of October
1957 mgrked g turning point in our desliny
and that of o ther notions , large and small,
An unp recedented te chnological achievemen t
suddenly Irons form ed a troubled bu l familiar
world into one of strange and foreboding
aspect. As it has, since Ih e down of the In_
dust rial Revo lution, scie nce had influenced
his lory, and directly shaped the lives of men,
The reaction 10 these events ha s been pro·
fo und. They tr iggered a perio d of se lf· ap ·
pr g isal rarely equalled in modern times.
Ove rnig hl it became popular to question Ihe
b ul wark s of our society: our public e du cat ional
sys tem , our induslrial slrength, int ernationa l
policy, defense "rotegy and fo rces, Ihe ca po ·
bililies of ou r sden<;e gnd technology. Even
the moral fiber o f Our people came under
seo. ching ellom inal ion.
Since Ihe evident
Ihregl was to our securi ty, the inilia l preoccupal ion concerned modern wegpons systems
and means of defending a gg insl them, The
Domaclegn swo rd menacing fre e pegple can·
sis ted of a mOn! lrous destru ctive force inherent in gutomgtic delivery systems, cgpable
of tmnsporling therma· nuclea r wgrhead s over
thousands of miles, in gny weather, acrOSS a ll
geographic and political barrie", gl velociti e s
of such magni lude as to imply lo tgl deslruction
wilhaul advan ce warning.
The logical process of evglualing our position has been underway ever since: first, to
determine if we possessed the se weapons, and
whol mean! of defense could be erected .
Aclions have b ee n taken by Ihe Defense De·
portmenl, lully supported by the Congreu,
aimed 01 achieving operational copabilities
with Ihe intermediate and intercontinental bgl.
listie mi.,iles 01 the egrliesl practicable da te.
Perhaps it is time now, wilhoul mudd yi ng the
waters further , to determine whether we have
correctly a ssessed the lotol threat represented
by a totalitar ian reg ime, whose e nd objecti ve
is world dgmination.
The Sgviet challenge is by no means reo
silicted Ig mili tary technology. It goes for
beyond the realms of pglitics and armies. No
longer i. Ihe task of coping with the Red
menace th e eulusive responsibility of generals
31
space iournal
�and statesmen. The acid te:;t mvalves every
facet of au. civilization. every part 01 au'
society: religion, economics, politics, science,
technology, industry and educa tion. Free men
everywhere have been cought up in this g.im
compe tition. We who eniay au. home., drive
the family co •• 5pend mo.e tim e in leisure and
less in wo.k, and pay less attention to notionol
affairs than to television shows. are faced with
a decision-will we do whatever i. necessary
to win this struggle. or will we continue in Our
(omlortoble illusion and thus court the risk 01 a
defeot which would forever e limina te freedom,
and pla(e Our chil d ren a"d their chi ldren under
the (antral of on all-powerful sto te? What
we are about to discover is whether a notion,
which has rated its home 'un sluggers and its
fullbacks above its scientists ond philosophers.
can meet the totol competition 01 aggressive
communism, ond still preserve ill way of li fe .
It will not be enough to perlect weopon s
sys tems which hove a t least equal capability with tho.e of a potentiol aggressor.
USA
The SO.i.I·Union cOn·
",burer opp'O"mol_
Iy .0% of it, 10101
p.odu~ 'i o" 10 Indi.id·
_n",
uol ,."ui'e..
in
compo,i.on 10 77%
cOtliribut'" in Ihe
United Stat ••.
USSR
'0'
"A.l ...... O ....... U
32
space journal
Others have pointed out thaI :he deterrent
effect of these machines of war may cancel
the possibility of total conflict. It has been
orgued thot this will turn aggression into onother direc ti on: that is, to the perimeter or
brush·type wor, in which the huge radets 01
grea t range ond man dest ruc tiv e capability
would nat be employed. Agoinst this estimate,
the Army has reshaped ih striking forces ond
equipped them with battlefield rockets and
guided missiles. Th e urgent need of an odequote defense posture capable of deol ing wi th
any type emergency has met a rare degree o f
unanimity here and abroad.
In ,harp contrast, however, wide di sagree.
ment hal developed over the real significance
of the best-publicized exploit of Communist
engineering-the Earth circling Hltelli tes
whose monotonous signal. were intentionally
audible to lil teners everywhere on Eorth. Skeptic s, who reluse to occep l the possible un til it
hOI been demon stra ted, have clouded the issue. This il a dangerOUI slole 01 mind in a day
when breokthroughl occur so rapidly thaI obsolescence of (ample .. weapons systems has
became a p.imory concern.
�STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS
,
Perhaps the launching of Ihe Explorers
helped to redeem our promises, hul no omounl
of explanation or justifIcation can show why
we did not do il ahead of Ihe Soviets-and no
amount of mutual backslapping tllat we succeeded with Explorer on the first try can hide
the fact that we lIave lost a round. We cannot afford to lose much mare. It was a grave
error in judgment to foil to recognize the tremendous psychological impact of on omnipresent, artifidal moon visible to anyone with
a goad pair of eyes and audible 10 anyone
witll a simple radio receiver.
Anotller grove error was the failure to evaluale realistically the research, development,
engineering and production capabilities of a
total it arian state. Th is lulled us into <;om·
plo<;ency and led 10 on underestimate of our
adversary-risky husinen in any competition.
Since I hod the dubious privilege of living
and working under a totalitarian government
for many years, I sllould be able 10 discuss
this lapic with same degree of compelence.
Anyone who says that sdence and technology
cannot flourilh in a police Itate dael himlelf
and his coun try a great dinervice. It is generally recognized, of course, thai personal
freedom of movemenl and thought, and a free
exchange of ideas, are essential to scientifIC
advance. From this, however, many erroneoully conclude thai genuine scientific work is
impossi ble in the climate of dic tatorship. l et
me clea r up this nation once and for all, in the
interest of arriving at on hon est appraisal of
our situation, by ciling my personal ellperience
at the Peenemuende Rocket Center in Hiller's
Germany.
Neither I nor any of my associates were
ever required 10 submit a travel itinerary in
advance, whether for a short business trip or
a va<;atian lalting several week, . Throughout
the war we hod intimate, continuous contact
with 36 universi ties and technical institu tions.
They performed research in support of our
missile programs under contracts so broadly
worded that they permitted the institutions on
e_tremely wide latitude in implementation.
Discussions and symposia, quile similar to
those conducted in this country, were held IrequenUy. Many idem were generated in this
truly liberal academic environment. True, these
ideas related uclusively to our technical concerns and not 10 politiu, but they are succen·
fully applied even today in roc:ket and minile
activities. As for as personal freedom of
movemenl is concerned, as well as free e_·
change of ideas in the strictly scientific and
technological sphere, it would thus simply be
misleading to assume that things were much
different Ihan in a free country.
The heavy hand of dic tatorship is rather
felt in another area. In Peenemuende, the
securi ty police kept dossiers on all of us, lisling all the things we might have said about
fhe regime or individuals of the upper hie r-
3l
space journal
�archy. Personal vices and weaknesses were
catalogued in Ihe ir nre s. Bu t th ey left us a lone
as la ng as our useful ne n, in their opinion,
was greate r Ihan our debil occa'IIII. Once
th ey fell they could do wit houl you and you
were in their way, they·d call for the douier
and destroy you. It was Ih at simple.
I realize that this sounds quite awful to men
who hav e never experienced it. But the sober
fact is th a t peop le, whether scienti sts or
candlemakers, learn to live with such a situa lion.
We dan', deny ourselves week· end
auto trips in spile of the National Salety Caun·
c il's warnings ab ou t multiple deaths. Jusl so
th e man living unde r dict atorship adj" sls himself to business·as-usual, whether he likes it
or not, because he mus l in order 10 survive.
Something like seven hund red million people
are living to day under Communist rule and,
in all probability, they have learned to live
in the face of such ponible " road accidents :
Consequently, we sh o uld disabuse oUrlelves
of Ihe dangerous myth that the impo tent Ru s·
sian scienti st bends aver his slide rule with a
gun pointed 01 his he ad _ It appears tha t he
enjoys at le a st as much reward as Ihe Ame rican scienlist and that, until quite recenlly, he
had even greater lotit"d e in hi s selection o f
' eso"rces and assistance.
W e m"st consider, in th is measure of the
forc es arrayed aga inst us, the overall postwar era in s"ch areas as a tomic and thermo·
nuclear bombs, n ucle ar power plants, jet air·
craft, g"ided antiaircraft missiles and long.
range rock ets.
W he n we cons ider their low general technologi cal slat",. 0 1 evid e nced d"ring the lost
war, pl"s Ihe Iremenda"s physical damage
inflicted "pan the Soviet ind"stry by the war
itself, it becomes frightening ly clear that their
rate 01 progreu grea tly exceeds 0,,($.
Th e reaL periL lies in the eno rmo us momentum they have b"ilt up, which ce rt a inly will
yield other dramatic by-prod"cts along the
way _ They hove long .ince emb arked "pan a
dynamic program 10 a c hi e ve supre macy in
science and technology. Their state-controlled
educalianal system is turn ing 01,11 competent
engineers and scienti", in greater numbers
than ours. It is upo n thil broad founda tio n
thai the Russian is waging his eRort and no t
l
14
space jou rnal
upo n the gleanings of Ihe brain-picking 01
lome ca ptive, for ei gn scientists a s many people in this country sti ll see m to believe. Clearly
we must accelerale our eRort at a rate c al culoted to overtake and surpass Ihe Ru uian
advantage.
And this ca lls for a sacrillce
01 an unpreceden ted scale.
It must be understood also that th e Soviets
have grasped the significance of man ', imminent conquest 01 space a nd have proceeded
well along the road in tha t d irect ion. A cu rrent estimate 01 the situation would include
thele possibilities.
First to launch their satellites, the RUliions
probably used a multi -stage rodet whi c h
was originany designed 10 carry a thermonuclear warhead over intercon tinental range_
Second, the same racket conf,gura ti cn, wilh
minor modif'ca tions, can place a payload of
be tw ee n 50 and 100 pounds on the mo on.
Third , Ihe rocket can a lso p ut up a ,atellite
capable of military reconnaissance, equipped
wi th (I television playback fea lure. A few
su ch orbi Tal devi ces can keep trac k o f the
progress of all surface co nstruction projects,
ship movem ents, and air bale operations anywh ere in the world. O nce th ey a chieve this ,
and I am convi nced tha t it is only very few
years oR, "open s. ie.·· i".pection for purposes
of disarmament becomes academic_
Fourth, the Runia". have a sound program
desi gned to solve the question of safe return
from orbital flight and rela ted space medical
problems, wit h Ihe purpo.e of preparing lor
manned space travel.
I would recomm end thai we brace ourselves
for o ther Soviet ··forsts" in the new field 0 1
astronautics. We are behind and we canno t
catch up in a day or two, since major technological projects necessarily involve lead time.
I! will require several years o f conce ntra ted ef.
fo rt for us to come abreast, and even longe r
to pu ll ahead .
We c a n waste no lime commiserating over
the sorry lot of the Russian worker or peasant,
compori ng hi, lac ~ of freedom and creature
comforts with ou r prosperity. We should also
"shuck oR " another illusion, that the Runio"
people wi ll ri se "p to overlh row Ihe Kremli n
and thus re li e ve ul of a ll our worries. Perha ps
a dream 01 freedom ex ists in Ihe Soviel Union.
�Pe.hops, by
e~pOling
mo.e young people 10
scientific t.oining , a seo.c h for trulh will be
generoted .... hich will eventually rea ch against
the dic tatorsh ip. But .... e ca nnot stand oround,
hands in pockeh, waiting for othen 10 do
whol can only be o ccompli.hed by us. I am
co nvin ced Iho t i' i. ma n ', des tiny to enter
space and tha t he .... ho con trols Ihe open
' pace around us is in 0 position to control
the Earth . The only choice le ft U' i, 10 oc-
Our educa ti ona l o Rering s mus t come und " r
sc.u tin y since i, is tomorrow·, generation .... hieh
.... ill ha ve to cope with the p rob le ms develop·
ing today . If their pHlpmotion is to be compg lib le with the kind o f world they will inhobil,
Our young people mus t be taught bo.ie a nd
"""nligl knowle dg e 01 the earliest practicable
gge_ in the e lementary schools. We have
teoehen we need, who con provid e Ihe in_
got to disabuse ours elves of Ihe ideo tha t
cep! the Sov ie t challenge Or ·· poy Ihe piper: ·
"hool i. a pla ce sol e ly to teach boy s and g itis
I certainly do no l suggest Ihol we move in to 'pace with any belligerent inlenlions. It
how to live togelher. Th ey must underlNlnd
mothemotics a nd the physical sciences, whieh
would only be cOMillenl .... ith the fundamentals
for whidl the United Sta tes stand, if we wo uld
means more and beller te ochen and e x-
propose to the Un ite d Notions the universal
p and ed oRerings both in scope and num be r.
BeHer ,olories, improved profenionol status,
acceptance of Ihe pr in ciple of the freedom of
outer spa ce- in analogy with the p rinciple
and more adequate cfouroom and laboratory
fa cil it ies are eueoliol 10 obtain the kind of
of the freedom of the seas.
spirotionol leaders hip to interell you ng minds
in facts .
But any such doc trine would be void and
meoningless if we connol bock it up wi lh a
position of relo live strength .
tt hos been soid that with the Sputnik
Khruschev ond Compony launched thei r
eve ntual downfall becouse this country reacted by firing up its missle and space programs.
And indeed, in more than one aspect thi s
may be our losl chon ce . In th e first World
War, as well as after Peart Harbor, the United
States hod time to marshal her resources.
Even in Korea and now, ofler Sputnik, we hod
tim e 10 in itiote the nocessory coun teract ion.
Nul time, in this world of long · rongo bollidic
missi ' e. gnd thermonuclegr wgrhegd, Wl' mgy
not have time. Ei the r we ""ill b e ready ot 0
moment·s notice, Of h"to ri gm moy conclude
oyer Ihe ruins of au. cilies that we were
'·weig hed and found wonling: ·
I hope that we will not conclude thgl money
a lone .... ill turn 011 the tricks-there are oth"r
foctors involved whieh cannot be .ellied so
eosify. It would b e presumpluous for me 10
oRer "school solutions," Or even to tisl all Ihe
Ihings which must be considered. But th"re
a re some minimum requi rements which can be
identified and whieh demand prompt oelion.
do not believe Ihe Federal government
wiU or should ollempl to dictate ,uch 0 program, but it should establish g e: nerolfy recogni zed educational standard, and it should
ouis l in a pump·priming role in the pu b lic
.schools and in -our col!ege, and universi ti es.
Educa ljon in 0 democracy is Ihe concern of
every ci lizen .
The p eople must insis l upon a
redirection o f emphasis and wi ll ingly o cce pt
their jut! meaSure o f responsibility for e~ecu
tion of our educationat prog rams. To aU who
ask, " W hat can I do 10 help?"·, my an sw er is
to loke a ctive inleres t in whot is being tough l,
how it is being taugh t, and by w/'om.
There hal been unn ecessary concern aboul
possib le Federal in terfe.ence in local schools
The Federal government as well o. Ihe I tole.
have be"n .uppo.ting public education in
grea te . Or lesser degree for years-all we are
talking oboul is funneling 'uppor l into more
productIve chon nels . If Ihe Fede .gl governm"nl can 'upport high".ay proiect., why not
schools?
Finolly, we must generate the wjff 10 supremacy.
Because Ihis is intangible-because
il mu.t come from the hearts and mind, of our
people, it canno t be legislated, budgeted or
evoked by decree.
We wont no Federal
35
spa ce journal
�and hone st report ing , the hallmark of Ameri_
can journalism, which is sometimes lost sight
of by a smo ll segment of the press bound to
corry ou t propagonda attacks Or soles Com·
paig n s by self-se rving interes ts.
If we can inspire a notiona l determina tion
to achieve the ultimate victory, all other foe·
to" will foil into thei r proper peflpective and
places. We will then move forward, a united
people, in to on age in which the fo r reaches
of the universe will b ecome as familiar as the
ne xt town.
propogondo mochine exercising dominion over
the free pre n. We wont no d icto tor telling us
what ' 0 believe ond who. '0 do. But we must
set about learning the foch and , when we
have ynde"'ood them , buckle down to the
chollenging tosks whith conlront us.
We should stop telling the world what we
are ogoinst. We should tell the world whot
we Ore lor. We must not fight the communist
ideology wit h negative stotements, but with
the lofty ideals of the founders of this greot
republic. The ontidote to communism is not
onticomm unism, but the be lief in God and
the dignity of the individual. let us not deceive ourselves; the communist ideology hos
powerful appeal to th e hove· nots. the uninformed , ond the desperote. Bu t ideos are
fought no t with ma teri al means, but with
superio r ideal. And where should these ideas
be lound in this world todoy, if they cannot
be found in this g lorious land of the free~
The flog of leoderhip of the free wo rld hos
been thrust in to .he honds of Americans. Let
us live up to the historical challenge.
°
We must think in te rms of long· range objectives, not on the tim e scole of ned year 's
automobile models, We must put our trust
in men au igned to corry out these program .,
and not in terrupt or divert them by frequent
reexomination s Or demands for justificotions.
We must supp ly them with the resources they
require, hold them responsible lor resulh, and
leove them alone to corry out their missions.
We my!t look for, and demond , comp e tent
36
space jou rnal
II is disquie ting to be asked "Bu t what
will a ll this prof,t us?" Such ques tions be tra y
a lock of conf,dence and, even mor e .erious,
the kind o f unenlightened opp roach wh ich
has hamstrung our progress in the past. No
man can soy wilh onuron ce, what benefits
will occrue from our discoveries. With Ex·
plorer I, we mode 0 modes t beginning. WI!!.
have stepped inlo a new, high rood from
which there can bl!!. no turning bock. As wI!!.
probe farther into Ihe area beyond our le,,,i·
ble atmosphe re, man will learn more about
his environment; hI!!. will understand beller the
order and beauty of creotion. He may then
come to realize thot war , as we know it, will
avail him nothing byt colostrophe. He may
grosp the truth that there is something much
bigger thon his one lillie world .
Before the
majedy of what he will find out there, he must
stand in reverential owe. This, then, is the
acid test as man moves in to the unknown.
�I
S PACE
PREVIEW
books recent and f ort hcoming
R e view e d
By
R a l ph
E.
J enn
H o ffm a n
M.
Ho fl ... ~n . ' . ney, G . h"od"p",G. by h,.'h,
..... boo' ... <><;.,. d w'", " 0 ,.'dod ~;,,;;.
" ., 'G" " . ", l hl ..... . ... hGntl .. .. d , .
>.',
t H" G, ,« h"m' ,..j;'.' I., ,... o.d. """, •• -
••'
.... " . Q.d Do,.'.p ~
~, h 0'"<0 h, •• I. H.
" • ".lI. , Gf " 'do . ..,odo. ", Q.d ••
of
..... 2 ~ "",,"<--fi.,;o., b' ••• ap", " . " ', 0 • •
o' ' ..
of
' ... Now y .. l T;,.., 'ool h " o " fo , ' ' ' ' ' '
,ho.
"".".G' ••".... H..... .....
".ft
'"0' '' ,0'''' •• d ,••d,." • " ••,." •• ",..
" hi,• ... 'o w,
""oo! ........
""" ~ ,.
Exploring the Oistonl Siors. By Clyde B.
Clmon. 384 page.. New York: G. P. Putnam 's Som. $ 5.
The Nexl Fifty Billion Years. An Astronomer 's
Glimp.e into Ihe Fu tu(e. By Kenneth Heuer.
144 pogeo. Illu strated by Chesley Boneslell.
New York: Viking Press. $3.
It is a we kame coin cidence that the'e two
\lolumes ,hould rea ch the re\liewer'. des k o n
the some day. Mr. Clo.on's popularized
treoli5e on oslronomy covers Ihol sc ience from
Ari stotle and Hipparchus 10 Fred Hoyle o nd
\loults Ihe heavens ond the cosmo!i-the lerrible emptiness 0/ spo ce, in Clason 's op t
phrase -from our neighbor Luna , leu than
a quarte r- million miles away to dim galaxies
thaI are me(ely dreamed of as exi.ling beyond Ihe 200-billion light·yeo( range 01 Ihe
Polamo( two_hund(ed · in ch telescope or the
even longer range of Ihe radio in,truments
which e~plore "the \lision of the world and
all the wonder that would be."
Mr. Heue ( limits his disc ussion to our own
insignificant little globe and the possibleno l Ihe
probable!-circumslances under
which it might end it5 currently four.billion
year old
e~istence.
Mr. Clason 's book-if the opinion of a
ve ry nonprofessional ast ronomer is accep table
I1 9S
Bi r ney
Raym o nd
- tokes in too much territory. The chapters
on the constellations and on the stO(S, galactic
and e~trago 'o ctic, from our own Sun 10 for,
for, faraway S-Doradu. (it's one mill ion lime$
as bright a s our Sun) in the large Mogel lon ic
Cloud - those chop te .. are so co ndensed thot
the reader finds himself flounderi ng in 0 maze
of while dworh , red giant" and Cep hied
variables .
This reviewe r wo ul d be forst to ad mit t hat
thi s cr" icism is unfair and is the product of
hi s own ignorance.
At the some time, it
must be ad mitted thot " E~p l o ri ng the Distonl
Stars " toke s in iust oboul all th e ter ritory,
universal , galacti c, and cos mic, t hot the re is.
Kenneth He uer, F.R.A .S., has delivered
mor e than a thousand lect ures a t the Hoyden
Planetarium, New York . His book di scusses
the variou s fotes whi c h hove bee n advan ced
os Ihe po .. ible end of the world. The Moon
mighl opp.ooch so closely tha t !idol waves
will ove rwhelm the con ti nent. , or in even
cl oser approach our .otell"e might shatter
in to a million or two fragments which would
destroy the world in a shower of supershrop·
nel. We might perish in a co ll ision with on
erran t as teroid, with the glowing h ead of a
cornel, or even in a heod ·on co ll ision with
another star of a magnitude as great as
the Sun. It's possible t ho ! the e nd mighl come
when the Sun's fi.e dies and mankind voni.he s
beneath the mantle of another Ice Age 0.Ihe opposi te e~treme-when the Sun blows up
os a novo or e\len a supernova.
All of these are natural phenomena. All
ore remotely possible bu t very for from probable ond so for in the future that no one need
worry unless he e~pects to be around this
po rticulor 'phe(e forty or fifty million or billion yeors from nOw.
37
space jo url1al
�··H ••• rh. di..,,!rou, .lred o~ ;ull
On. d ,,-CMcaga, lIIiO>Oi.-.1 rb.
Sun'.
uplodlng
I. .ba .. n.
".d ,h.
Lah
Michlg".
Chicago ~I ••,
ha •• a,..,dy baU.d a,,"a,:' ICh,I.,
l an.".11 Wu. r,,,fian 1,0'" THf NEXT
$0 II WON n .... SJ
'·n.
f",th I. ,!ruck b, " ,_"
co",.' .. ho•• head i. ahoul 10,000
""I •• In dio",.'.,:' ICh.I., lon,
.".11 lIIull,,,fion 1'0'" fH! NUT $0
IllIION
HA,~SJ
�I
�d;,.""".
··r~. MOOft ,"0, h
d''''''ft IH>ck to .~. E",.~ ;ft .~. ,."'" •• f ...., •. At "
"I 20,000 ,.;f•• , ;, will h ,;n to
" •• ok "P. ,,,1ft,", ~",. "'....... <HI .~ . . . . . ,,~ :. {C~."., '" ..... n ill" ..,,,,;,,,, I,,,", THf NUT 50 If WON YEAU .•
�I
However-ond her .. is where you a nd I
ond the Australian aborigines (Ire d er.nilely
co"cerned - M•. He uer gives us to th ink ove r
th e possibility Ihot rna'" himself might
Ihe .uicidol trigger! If mon p .. "ists- -as
... ems 10 be pers isting-in e ~ perimenli n9
hyd rogen atoms, wiln (,nion ond fu,ion.
pull
mOn
with
with
cobol t co sing' ond world w ide fallou t , then
you
CO"
w rit e your own ticke t ogoi nsl the
doy when some junior-9rode Raspu!;n dores
the fre .. w orld to p l oy hi. o w n brOrld of Ih.n-
,ion roulelte .
It is som el iling to thin . about, bvi in the
mean time, he'" ote Iwo books wllid. belong
in Ihe librory of every astronomer, profes"
sionol or omol .. ""
_HoRmon Birney
Se,ence ond Human Volues By J. Sro nowski.
94 pages, N ew Yor .
Julian Me .. ner.
S3.
II is quite f,tting tha t thi, volume is i!lu,·
trated wi th wmks cr ..ated in the m" laphysical
ima gi"atian of William Blake. " Poetry,"
writes Mr. B,anaw , ~i, "does no t mOVe us to
be jusl 0, unjust, in it.elf. It moves uS to
tho ughts in whose light iustice and inj u,tic e
O'e ,een in feodul ,hmpne,s o f ou lline.'·
Tole rance among sci .. nli,ts connol be based
on indifl,,'encc; it mu,t be bo,,;-d on ,especl,
Mr Branow,l, i says. Resp .. ct as a persona!
value im plies, in any society. th e public
odnowl .. dgments of ius tice and of due honoL
These me values whith to the laym an seem
mos t r.. mote from any abslract stud y. What ,
Ihe layman may ask. hov .. human vo lu .. s such
0< justic.. , honor, and Ih .. ,esped o f man for
man 10 do with science? "The que,tio","' re plie' Mr . Bronow.ki, ··i. a fooli.h su rvi vor of
tho.e "inete.. nth·cen tu,y quo"" i. which 01.
way. came bad to equate ethics wi th the
BOOK of Genesis." He mys that science confronts the work of o ne mon with Ihol of an other and groll. ea(h on each; and it (annat survi ve withoul jusliee and honor and
respect belween man and man. Only by th e.e
meons can science pursu e ih stlladlost objed, to e~plQfIl trulh. If these volue. did
not e)( ist, Mr. Bronowl~i be lie ve s, then the
society of scie ntists would hove to invent
them to mo ke the practice o f "ollnce pO Hi blll .
In societ ies whefe these value s did not e~ist,
scien(e has hod to create them.
What power hold. the compony 01 scholon
togethe r? In onswe' to his ,hetQficol que' tion, Mr. Bronowski re plies that , in an obviav,
�serne, theirs i. the power o f virtue. All .<holors
in their wo.k o.e of course oddl y virtuous by
the world ly standard. of pu b lic li le . They do
nOT ma~e wild claim.; they do nO I chea t; they
do nol try to perluode at a ny co.l; Ihey
appeal neither to preiudice no. to autharily;
they o.e often frank abaul their ign o , a nce;
their d ispules are faidy decorous; Ihey do
nal co nfu. e what i. be ing o.gued with race ,
po lit ico, s.. ~ Or age; they listen potiently to
the young and to the old who bo th know
eye.ything Con cerning this, Mr. Sronow.ki
writ"., " Th",,, Ore the gene.o l yidue! of
scholarship, ond they are pecu liarly the virtues
of science. Individually, scientist, no doubt
hoye human weokneue. . Several of th em
may have mi.treue. or reod Karl Marx; same
of them may even be homose~lIols and read
Plato. Bllt in 0 world in which slote and
dogma seem olways ei the r to Ihreaten or to
coiole, the body of scienti.t. is ,roined to
ovoid, and organi zed 10 resist, every form
o f persuasion b ut Ihe foci. A scientist who
breob this rule, os Lysenko has done, is
ignored . A scientist who flnds that th e rule
has bee n broken in his loborolory, os I<om·
merer found, kills himself."
Much of Mr. Bronowski ' . thin kin g can be
said to follow I(o n"s cotegoticol imperotive.
It i. quite oppore nt that he conliders man ,
with his Irog ic dignity, to be on important
little creature in the ' cheme of things. Re ·
gordle .. of where mon is destined to go,
th is reviewe r is re minded by Mr. Bronowski's
book of Ih e line by the poet Rilke who, after
seeing Picosso 's pa int ing, " The Sal rim ·
bonquel.·· wrote : " But ,ell me, who ore
Ihey, thes .. O(fObOI S, even more fl ee ling Ihon
we o urselve .. .'" In o n oge of cyn ic ism, M•.
Bronowski·. book is ,efre. hing . Thi•• eviewer
recommends il.
_Ralph E. Jennings
The Space Child', Mother Goose. By Frederick W insor. IIl usl ra ted by Ma rian Parry.
New York, Simon and Schuster. S3.50.
The outhar o f Ihis ' pace child's hydroponic
garden of verse, apologizes, in his dedication , .. .. if if. vieulI ieu and il leaves you
co ld . Forgive us, dorling$, We're Awfully
Old."
,
42
space iournal
These poems ore not reolly y;eull ;eu, but in
011 probability they will leave the dorling.
cold becou.e Ihey ore written for .poce porenh---and e"'remely inlellecluol spoce parent. 01 Ihot. Even so, ma ny of the · poems
have 0 whimsi cal twist Ihal is provocative and
delightful; lor ellomple, a poem illuslroring
th e hypersonic genesis of loday's Everymon ,
Solomon Grundy
Wolked on Monday
Rode on Tuesday
Motored Wed nesday
Planed on Thursdoy
Rodeled Frida y
Spoce.hip Sal urdoy
Time Machine Sunday
Where is the end for
Solomon Grundy?
-M . Roymond
�I
I
,
Yep-New York sho ;s 0 nice ploce, bul I wou/dn ', wonl 10 live
thor.
+lDVfJ1TUR£S Or-
' L~SKfl'
S; ") :{J~
..... .
\
.,
�IIlACTt O Il
I
'01
populi
I ~ .... d", '0 P'''u, d.loy •. 011 ,.oclion .. oil ond ","n~ •
• «iph .~b ... i""d '0 SPACE lo~'nol .",,' be odd,.... d
' 0 SPACE Jo~'n",. P,O. ao. 12. H ~n".ill • . Alobo .. o.
5;""0,11 all .... b.«.p'.on. or i"'I~i.i •• <oo<",.ing .... b •
• «iplion. m~" b. odd ..... d ,,, SPACE lou,no!. P.O. Bo .
9 4. No.h.ille, hnn.
Dea r Edit o r,
Dea r Edito r,
Than k you very muc h fo r the copy of the
spring e di tion o f SPACE Jo urnal, wh ich is
ded ica ted to my la te husband.
You have e very right to be p roud o f your
publication, and 10 be pa rticularly proud of
the article a bou t my husband. It i. on" of the
ve ry best that will be in the boo k I keep for
p ublished stories abou t him.
Wit h congra tula ti o ns on thi. fine .tory, a nd
apprec ia tio n of your courtes y, since rely
W orce.ter, Mass.
Mrs. Esthe r C. Go d d ard
Your Vol. 1, No. 2. o f SPACE Jou rnal has
just fallen into my ha nd s. As I am a science
teacher in the l ake Geneva High School. I
was very in ' eres red
10
see what you had to
offer.
... I was shocked howeve r to find that 'he
photograph on pa g e 12, fi gure fou r, was cop·
tioned Ihe Cra b Nebul a . This must be o n
erro r. It loo ks more li ke M51, th e W hi rl poo l
Ne b ul a in Cane. Ve no tici . .
I am a lso the sponso r of the
lo~e
Gene va
science club. My clu b members have as ke d
Dea r Edi tor.
I ha ve read your first issue of SPAC E
Journ a l very completely and from my observa·
tion I would like to IIote that of a ll such
p ublicol ians on the marke l, you" i. b y for the
mOll .uperior. I offer my cong ratula tio ns for
a terr ific job . .••
W . A. Shuping
Direc tor o f O pera tions
abou t "ar'ing a roc ket division in the clu b .
Now I am well a ware of Ihe dangers tha t lie in
such on ope ra tion, and I do not wont anyone
to get hurt.
I have raid my people that I do not wan t
them to build a "y overnight ra(ke t and rho t
the re is li lli e ' a be g a ined from jus. throwing
some thing toge ther and . hooti ng it off. I wo nt
Mi ssile. Rocket a nd Space Division
Vitro Corpora tion of Americ a
Martinsb urg, W. Va.
a lo t o f study to go into such a th i"g be fore
Dear Editor,
tion and operation of .uch a club. I know
I enjoyed your spring issue very much, bu t
r wou ld like 10 ca ll your a tt ention to figu re 4 ,
p a ge 12. I am sure that you will fin d ' ho t i' is
no t the Cra b Nebula bu t tho ' it is ' he Wh irl_
pool ga lo )(y ho me times c a ll ed W hirlpool
Nebu la!. M51. as "ded in Charles Messier's
list.
Frank H. Reev es
Nashville, Tenn.
no thing about rocke' fuel. euepr Ihot rhey
are very touchy and d a ngerous to handle. Ii
there some kind of p rog ram thai we (a n
undertake tha t would in teres t the clu b members and sti ll be safe and construe' ;ve?
Photo Se rvi ce Depo rtment Donald W . Ca rte r
Yerke' Observatory
44
space journal
it is done, if ever.
Frankly I would like .ome good sound a d vice on how to p roceed with the organiza_
Williams Boy, Wi s(.
�Readers Reevef and Corter, and a hasl of
others, are correct in identifying the illus/ro tion on page 12 as the Whirlpool Nebula, or
M51, in Cones Venaticj, The mi;<·up occurred
when the stoff wa$ ollempting to rush the
second inue through the printerJ alter cele·
broting the successful orbiting of bplorer I.
While this is certainly no ~alid eJlCUlie, we leel
that the circumstonceu were at leoft mitigating
A. for reader Carter's science dub and ils
activities in rocketry, I urg e you not to at·
iempt to build rockets prope!led by any form
of e;<plosi~e, such os block powder, home·
mode mixtures based on powdered metals,
compreued gaues, etc. You should begin by
tludying the basic physicol principles which
underlie rocketry . It may not sound inviting
or exciting to begin a project in rocketry by
reading physics. However, you will find that
your project will lake on new depths 0/ mean·
ing and possibilities os you delve inlo Ihese
basic principles Only alter you ha~e mos·
tered Ihe fun:;lame ntals and have become completely familiar with the deadly power of even
Ihe moll simple e .. plosive will you be ready
10 allempt the construction 0 / rockets . Editor .
Dear Editor,
Our group ha, recently become very ,nleresled in the properties 01 space. We found
some questions lor which answelS we,e un obtainable. Since we have heard of your
mago l 'ne, we wondered whether you courd
be of oHistonce to us. Would it be po"ible
for man to adopt himself to the moon in a
great number (perhaps millions) of years?
We would oppreciole any aid which you
could supply on Ihi. subiecr.
Ridley College
Joe f. Low
Ontario, Canada
In answer 10 your question "Would it be pas·
SIble for meJn to adopt himself to Ihe moon in
a great number (perhaps milliond 0/ years?",
I must give you both a yel and a no, qualifying
each according to my interpretation of your
question.
The onswer is no if you are thinking ahout
a daptation by way of what we call evolution
since all lorms of life, as we know it, require
1/ you mean by adaptation man' s abIlity to
crea te artIficial environmental conditions on
the moon which will "venluolly permit estob ·
lilhmen t of e~pe"mentol scientific 'obo,olories,
mining, foclorie5, and even cities, th e answer
i. a very positive yes. Editor .
Dear Editor,
Since the first issue 01 SPACE Journal was
dedicated 10 Prof. Hermon Oberlh, " Father of
Aslronouti"." and Ihe second to Dr. Robert
H. Goodord, "Father of Rocketry, '" it is fitting
to note that the careerS of the.e two great
scientists crossed briefly in 1921.
On learning of Dr. Goddord's report "'A
Method of Reaching El(treme Altitudes," Prof.
Oberlh, then a .tudent of mothemoli" 01
Heidelberg, wrole 10 Dr. Goddard , in his
limited English, as follows:
"Deor Sir:
Already many yean t wor~ 01 the prob.
lem to pou over Ihe atmosphe,e of our
eorlh by meon. of a rocket. When I was
now publishing the result of my examinations and cokulotion., I learned by the
newspaper that I am nol alone in my in·
quiries and that you, deaf Sir, have alreody
done much important Walk. 01 this sphere.
In spite of my efforts, I did not succeed
in gelling your books oboul this obiecl.
Therefore, I beg you, dear Sir, 10 let them
have me. At once afte r coming out of my
work I will be honored to send it to you, for
I think tha t only by common work of Ihe
scholars of all notions can be solved this
grea t problem.
Yours very truly,
Hermonn Oberth
Student Math. He idelb eHg'"
Hunt sville, Ala.
George A. Ferrell
Thonb to reader Ferrell fa, bringing Ihil in _
teresting le/ler to the attention of OIJr other
readers . In Moy or June of 1922, Dr. God·
dord sent 0 copy of his work 10 Prof. Oberlh .
8y Ihe I,me thaI Prof. Ober/h's own work Waf
publilhCld in Germany in 1923, Dr. Goddard
had carried hi. experiment5 in liquid.fue/ed
rockets to the point of actuoltestfiring. Edilor .
0~Ygen.
45
space journal
�Dear Editor,
I read your copy of SPACE Journal while
making fudge. Although 'he fudge wain',
any good, I thoroughly enjoyed your magazin e. Articles I especially liked w~re Dr, ...on
Bro un's "Where Are We Going?", " Father of
Rocketry," "Rocket Moil," and " Reaction ."
SPACE Journal has everything in it tho' I
ha ... e always wished for but never found until
now . Please con'inue the good work , but
pleose don 't discontinue the poetry o r spoce
fiction .
S!. Louis. Mo .
Donna Lucido
Dear Editor,
I hoye just finished reading Vol. I, No. 2.
of SPACE Journ o l. I especially enjoyed the
article "Mars and Beyond." A number of
other boys here 01 school are interes ted in
space travel. We have all found your publication helpful in the classroom . I've read a
number of magalines concern ing space travel,
b ut I rond yours the mo,t factual. I like the
way it giyes a brood view of the topic you
are discussing.
t beg to differ with Joe Gib10n ' '' Reaction,''
Vol. 1, No. 21. I th in k tha t the short Itory
gives a bit 01 variety to the magazi ne and that
you should continue jt.
St. John 's Military Academy
Barry Hackner
Dela fi eld, W i1 .
Dear Editor
You would do your magazine and it. read·
ers a se rvi ce if yOU dropped the space fiction.
W illiam E. Dennen
Associate Editor
Children's Booh
Lillie, Brown a nd Co.
Boston, Man .
Readers luc ido, Dennen, and Hodner lauch
upon a paint which hos hod the sloff in graye
doubts , the desirability of conlinuing space
fkl io" and poelry in SPACE Journal. So for
opinion has been eyenly di~ided among the
editors, b ut the fi"al decision will ho~e 10
come from Ihe readers. For Ihis reason, we
are mosl anxious 10 have the reoc l;on to space
fiction and poetry from as many readers 01
possible. We also suggest, porenlheticoJly,
46
space journal
•
Ihal reader lutido read her SPACE Journal
either before Or olte r-nol while-making
her ne xt balch of fudge . Editor.
Dear Edi tor.
My copy of SPACE Journal, Vol. " No.1,
second printing , h01 for its caver a reproduc·
tion of Chesley 80neslell 's poin'ing depicting
'he se poro lion of the firs' stage of a four·
stage spaceship. Yet th e caption on the can·
tents page reveed, that a portroi' of Prof.
Oberth should have graced the cover. This
is borne out by the pho to on page J 1 of issue
No.2, showing such a cover.
The cover
change, I assume , was due to Ihe need for a
second printing. but why didn ', you change
the caption?
Then too, different (overs for
the some issue may con fu se things a bit for
readers who wish to collect and bind SPACE
Journal. An unimportont moller, but I thought
that it should be brought to your ollenllon.
I too sho red Mr . Gibson·, feelings (reaction,
spring issuel when I first sow you r maga zine
on the newsstand. And I too become 0 (on·
vert after glancing through it.
excellent publication.
Chicago, III.
Yours is on
Ken Soblik
The reprinting of the first issue was done in a
hasty manner. Th e change in co~er was dane
no t wilh guile but with Ihe advice of a large
news di$lribUlor. Th e discrepancy which reader
Sob/ik nales on the conten ls page was a
b/und"'r which resuhed from the hosle in
gell;ng Ihe second printing ou t. Incidenlolly,
Ihe cover on Ihe second printing o f the firs l
inue il a product of SPACE Journal's art sloff
-which is inexpressibly proud of having ;ts
efforts mistaken fa. Ihol quality which space
enthusiasts have tome 10 identify as the Boneslell touch. Edil or.
�FI CTi OH
I
beyond th is st ar
J a m es
D aniels,
l .
J r.
Synopsis of Pre<:e ding Installment
The Palomar Grovp, a s(;ientific organization dedicated to the survival of mankind in
the universe in 1971 hod succeeded in estab ·
lishing on Observatory on the Moon . The
Group sou ght th en some . vidence of life elsewhere in the solar system, in the hope of find ing answers to th e d ilemma of man 's eternal
conflict on Earth .
The high albedo of Europa the third moon
of Jupiter see med artificial, and artifice indi _
cates intelligent life . Brad Hudson of the
Palomar Group with a two ·man crew, Steve
Amhearsl and Myron Drake, in a magnetic
drive space craft, arrived an Europa, where
they found great cities svrv;ving under gigantic
glasdike domes . Th e human inhabitants of
this hermetic world had survived a dying
planet, bul, in doing so, had submitt",d to on
abso/vte communal go vernme nt under a ce ntra/ body calle d th e Primesters.
The Earthme n were held for observation by
the variovs Socia ·, Bio·, and Psycho-Physio logical Councils . In Ko ·Pall, the ruthless
Judge Superior of the Primesters, Brad lov"d
Ihe ;ncarnatian of Eorth's own pow",r·driven
latolitaria" political leaders. Ko·Pall declared
the Earthmen a threal 10 Europa and ordered
thei, destruction. In Mu -Bor the ge"tle Director of Bio-Science s, Brad fovnd a surviving
champion of reason and hope for hvmankind.
And in Kay ·Bar, Mu-Bor's beautiful blonde
dought",r, Brad found the love Ihat he hod
never had time for on Earth.
Mu·Bar, on pre/elll of scientific stvdy, hod
secvred permission 10 move Brad temporarily
into his own apartment. Now a plan of escape
and relurn to Earth for the Earthmen hod been
arranged by Mu·Bor.
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Part II
Brad had come from the Ihawe r and stood
looking through the skylight a t the never
c easing eruptions on the face of Jupiter. AI _
ma lt like a sun in itself; for this moon , Europa,
Jupiter was Ihe sun. Europa 's whote power
system was harnessed 10 Jupiter's miraculou s
high pressure hydrogen activity. So many
Jtronge reactions unknown on earth were posJible under those tremendoul pressu res . Someday maybe on expedition could be landed
th e re. Maybe Ko- Pall was righl; perhaps Eorth _
men were a tltreot 10 his world. They would
al l think tlte ,arne way about e.o;peditions 10
th is world. They would crawl here like mogga ll, over and in and around Ihese domes.
The sharp whine 01 the door bUller announced a vi,itor standing in range of Ihe
sconner. Brad faced the door ond in a firm
voice addreued the mike pickup above it,
" Open ."
The door slid bock silently, revealing Ihe
wizened f'gure 01 Mu-Bar. Mu -Bor entered
quickly and (rossed the room to stond by the
now neotly covered bed, wt>iet> se rve d during
waking nour. as 0 divon.
"I hod almost fo rgo lle" Ihot today was
the day, " Brad ,aid.
" I have arranged for you r friend s 10 be
41
space journal
�broughl 10 my laboralory in Ihe Scien·Dome.
The ship is Ihere ond ready. Now 10 Ihe
event. The car awails in Ihe por I, You musl
go directly to Ih e Primesler Chombe .. , Remember thol only wilh Ko-Poll as hostage can
you expect 10 hove ony guarantee of safely
until we con get you into space, Once out,
Ihere i. of course nothing to stop you.
ore no ships to pUfJue you."
There
Brad had stood focing the smoll man while
he talked.
' 'I've wondered about that, Mu-
Bar. It's one queslion we hoven' l discuued,
Why no space croft?"
"You recalt thot I told you of how, in Ihe
ancient time s, our people crossing space
stopped on Ihe moons, ond how the inhabitonh of each of the moons in turn died, until
only Europa was lefl. Here, in trying to !urvive, we sacrificed many things. The .ecrel
of space trave l wos one of the le.
" Sin n
the building of the Dome, we have
hod neither the indinotion nor the desire to
trovel Ihrough space, " Mu·lio r told him. " We
hove Our world recreated and livable.
We
Brad, if you volue any thing I can lell you, thgt
if I had th e right to give 0 dying wo rd, Iho l
word is 'doub t'-forever plant doubt in men',
minds. If once they foil to doubt, Ihey ore
dead-for curiosity, the ferlile ultimate that
will let mon survive, is born only of doubt.
Only through doubt can we ovoid onchoroge
to hindsight. Doubl and you can sh ed old
doctrines--open the mind to new, to change,
10 foresight. When mOn hos all the answers
he ne eds, when he accepts a stalemate bal.
once-o compromise of self for exis te nce of
Ihe social whale-then it is 011 over. Brad,
your answer. lie no t in dead wor lds and old
people, but in the young ones and ne w
world s, It 's up to eoch new generolion to
adopt, and to leorn, ond to progress-Io fond
in Ihe universe the expan.ion of the glory
of creolio n. Eo ch generolian musl expand
its ability 10 comprehend, must go beyond the
limited horizons of Ihe generotion before. If
Ihere are answers to your que$tions, Ihey lie
for beyond Ihis star you call Ihe sun and ils
nine insignjficonl worlds. Some of the onswe .. lie in the foc! thaI there is a beyond,
o fron ti er yet to be explored by the young
surviv e . W e need no t go further. Pe rhaps,
.ince su rviving a dying planet and osten sibly
esta blishin g Ihe perpetui' y 01 our race, we
hgve become complacent in a sort of rgcial
secu rity . We hove occomplished the ultimate;
hence, our race kultur becgme one of s,ggno ·
t ion~not g dyna mic thin g. You see we tru ly
did grow old 01 (I race . Preservation of the
race enloiled the com plete and uH e r 'u b mis.
sian of the port 10 the who le, so thai th e in_
div idual, as you hove leen here, is nothing.
The socie ty is the organism, The entire econ ·
omy, la w. , technology, everything, is geafed
to this, 10 the perpe tuation 01 the perfect bol ·
once this organism has attained, Ihe bolonce
thol olone ossures its continued e xis tence,"
Mu· Bor brake off abruptly and then added
" ~but we hove lolked of th is so mony times ,
you have cited the communal half of your Own
world and tne slow submission of your entir e
Ear th p e ople to its spell. And so you must get
boc k- for the sa ke o f the human kind you
muSI get bock gnd tell them _s how them Ihgt
tngt way can only b e the end. Remember ,
48
space jour na l
•
i
��and curious. Yes, Brad, go bock to Eorlh and
lead man ou l inlo Ihe grand cosmos.
"Bul enough, Ihe lime is near. Off wilh
you. We musl have Ko·Poll in hand . You
will b arely hove lime to gel him 01 his firs t
session resl." Mu· Bo r was propelling him with
gentle pressure loward the door.
,· t will have my dough Ier allhe Scien·Oame
to see you awoy, " Mu· Bor said, and foin lly
smiled os Brad looked bo ck 01 him in surprise.
" t know how you feel abaul her." They
were ou l in Ihe aparlment corridor now near
Ihe Transi·por l. Mu·Bar lurned and hurried
away befo re Brad could reply.
Left a lone, Brad was conscious of the foci
Ihol he hod no weapon. He remem b ered how·
ever, quickly, thai weapons were none xis tenl
here, for physical threots on Europo were nolh·
ing. Sacrifice o f a Iile was only a .nolch on
Ihe hond 01 the social entity.
A few moments loler in Ihe T,ons'l Tube he
sped lo word the lerminol unde r Ihe Primeslel
Dome aboa rd Mu·Bor 's leor·drop Tron" ·cor
on 0 fr ic tio nless cushion of oi •.
There were only len cors in the huge ter·
min ol when he orrived, which meon l only a
Primester Session-no crowd 01 pe titioners to
comp licole the situalion. He le fl the cor b e .ide
Ihe one with Ko·Poll 's block non insignia on
il.
Upstair< in Ihe circulor corridor Brad found
Ko · Poll's cubicle. He slipped inside the dark
room ond wailed. His b rea th rasped hal in
h is lungs. Oh, for 0 breolh of reol air. He
could nol remember, now, even Ihe smells of
real a ir, a fler monlhs of brea thing Ihis sta le
co "ned stufl'.
He hod almost reloKed whe" the door
suddenly swung open. A figure shadowed the
, Iii o f li g ht ocrou the floor.
Brad tensed
ogoinst Ihe wall. The door stid shut. There
wos iust one woy--o primitive flyi"g tackle.
He crou<hed 10 spring ot Ihe skodow.
" Brad, " the whisper was Kay·Bar's.
" Here, " ke moved to touch ker .
" Quick, we kove not much time. You mus l
g o. Ko · Poll know. of your plan. He has
mon itored your movements. He will try 10
stop you here. My !other soys to forge t Ko·
Poll ond come directly to the Scien·Dome; ke
will have YOLlr frien d s tkere."
"If Ko · Poll knows, he will kove them
guarded."
" Only from you. He will not hi"de. my
fatker . Now let's kLlrry."
Brad slipped i"to Ihe empty corridor ond
storied toward the ter minal e leva tor.
" No. Brad," Koy·Bo r tugged hi. arm and
pulled him p ost Ihe el e va lor door. "They'll b e
guarding the terminal." They raced on o.ound
Ihe corridor to a smaller and unoblrusive door.
II opened inlo a <hu te, slon l'ng dow"ward.
"Come," Koy·Bor pulled him in . A sled
type tran spor ter stood "ear Ihe door, " Ge t
0"," Koy-Bo, stepped onlo the sled, " This
sluice my lother has kept in repair. Only
he knows of il. Jj was used by the A"cie,,"
eons ago, It i. primitive bu t my father hos kep i
it in repair since he discovered it. He hod hi.
Scien ·Oome buitt a t the other end o f it afte r
Ko · Poli become JLldge Superior. And thi.
tunnel is shielded. The ScaMen can', follow
us." He sat down on the sled o"d gripped the
hondroil •. Kay-Bar .ent it hLlrlling olo"g the
tun"el.
At tke Scien·Dome Mu-Bor hurried Ihem
from the doset where they . Iopped. " The
others ore here," he soid. "I hod to "oreothize
them, bullhey'U recove r." He ope"ed a fina l
door to le t them in to a $<intiIlOling room of
plastic ond met a llic fixtures.
��Beside a long table in Ihe cen ter of the
lob were Amhe a rd and Droke, sitting ered
and slift in an ob",;ous, hypnotic Iiole. "They'll
respond 10 any commorld, Brad. You'll be oble
10 operate the ship all right, even wi th them
in Ihis ,tole. Just give them detailed instruction. (lnd they ",Hi handle their regular duties
efficienctfy." Mu-Bar turned 10 Ihe men. "You
will rise ond board the ship and toke your
u5u<.:11 stations. The ,hip i. diret'; lly across the
ramp beyond rhat door:'
Mu -Ber pointed
to Ihe door ooou Ihe' room. The Iwo men
rose and Ihumed zombie-like across the room
and through Ihe door which Kay-Bar opened
for them
Mu-Bo. turned to Brod with brows koit. His
shoulders slumped lower. He looked from Brad
to Koy -Bar.
"Yov must lake her with you;' he ~oid, "We
are dying, Your world i ~ young yel. We ore
long post our gro"e, a society in ils senescence.
We may drift on a few more of you r centuries;
bul it musl end, for we w'th all our scien>::e,
all our eOlls of efforl, ho"e not found the
Iloble answers which you come seeking. Perhaps we ne"er started to look for them,
Neither our technology nor our sociology could
so"e us forever. The communal society, as you
have seen, is not the answer for human kind;
for wch a soc'ety .tifles Ihe '''nole curiosity of
the 'ndiv'dual. We killed .t here and storied to
I
52
space journal
I
die intellectually e"e n as we learned to sur"i"e
physically."
Mu-Bor moved to the door and looked after
Ihe two men who hod gone out. '" am sorry
tha t you must return 10 your young world with.
ou t answers; yet, perhaps before you are answers better Ihan any thai you or I or anyone
could formulate: one is that each world must
sal"e it ~ awn dilemma, not borrow from others;
another i. thai if life can exisl simultaneously
on the same form as ours in two place ' in
our own syslem, the n there must be millions
of other worlds where life e~ists in this eternal
uni"e rs e. A never ending frontier! Conflict
itself perhaps cannot be e liminated, but the
energies whi ch would be exerted in struggle
can be channe led into cur io us sni/f,ng about,
a . long a. Ihere is a franl ier to sniff in. Find
ways 10 probe ii, Eorlhmon , and your Eorth kind will li"e. Do not build up walls around
you and Iry to outli"e your own worl d. Fi nd
new ones. Since you ho"e slorted as young
as your world is and have mode such progres<,
there is no reason why you cannot contin ue 10
reach out and out inlo this infinite universe."
" And you, Mu-Bor, you will come with us,
too, " Brad urg e d.
" No, I must stay. It is too lole for us_ for
me. 10m of thi, wor ld. My daugh ter is young
enough not to have absorbed this world's
cu llure. As I have told you since her concep·
tion, I ho"e guarded her from it. She is, as
you have said, like an Eorthwomon. Be,ides,
I shalt die hoppy, knowing that this world
sur"i"e, in yours-that the old is port of the
new, that your maling represents the sur"i"al
of our world ofler all , ,ince truly your progeny
wi ll be .Om of thi, world, too. Now it is time
to go." Mu -Bor rushed them toward the door.
From Ihe starboard port Brad, with Kay·
Bar . quiet lears hur ting a. his own and with
his orms around her, watched Ihe tiny f,gure of
Mu -Bar standing inside the Dome while Ihe
port able launch romp Mu-Bor hod co,,,' ruc'ed
wheeled Iheir ,hip into position oUllide.
The ship silen lly spiroled up. The crushing
occelerotion began. Brad turned with KoyBar to the forward pori and looked lo ng across
the darkne .. at the tiny point of pole blue
IIghl_Earth.
I
�Frankly Speaking ..•
We Takc The Down-To-Earth Approach
Not many of us among the m any thousands of Reynolds
people an' lining l'P for a ticket on the first mAnned rocket
to the moon,
We don't doubt the trip will be m(lde, Recent progress
in space tra\el de\elopmems has been tOO over .... helming
to leave much room for doubt.
.\Ialr.:ing the balli~!ic shells for missiles and rockets definitely is our line and no one .... ilI be prouder than we if
that moon rocket is " Reynolds-wr:opped,"
We've had t. g;oocl bit of experience along the rocket and
mi~sile line. Our Shemeld, Alabama, plant h:ls manufactured
a number of high precision aluminum ballistic shells [or
Reynold s Metals Companv
the highly succc,sful Redstone missile and its dramatic first
cousin. the satellite-launChing Jup itcr-C rocket.
ReYllolds Met als Compun) is the nalion's second largest
producer of aluminum lind our modern fab ricating plants
are manned by (!'COple "ilh highly practical down-to-earth
meta1 fabricating I.no" -how, We're proud of the fact that this
specialized experience and I.no" ledge has helped us to work
"",ith Army and Chr)'sler technical people in giling Ihe United
States more and beller missiles and rocl.elS for the money,
We pledge our~elves to continue mecting "out-of-I hisworld" needs with a "down-to-earth" :Ippro:.ch to missile
and rocket makin g.
Richlllond 13, Vil',rin ia
"
The handbook for tomorrow
"N ot until this book has
there boon one important
reference book wh ich hu been able lQ explain all
phase! of the new uge--the space age, Anyone selectiug this book cannot I)O$sibly put it down feelin):' thnt
it has b<len anything othel' than" fa scinutin):, experienCI:'."_.l/illo" lJ, II /C llpcr, Vit>'o CO")), of A ",~ ...'ca ,
Lllvi$hly illustrated with over 300 l,hotOJlrllph~ maps
and diagrams.
$ 6 .95 , Post pa id with
~h e(k
or money orde r from
DUTTON
N ew Y•• k 10, N , Y.
53
space journal
�.
dA?
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ENG..!;
Exploring New Concepts
Manufacture Of:
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EERING,
Precision Design, Engineering And
SPECIAL
MACHINES,
AUTOMATION, SERVOS,
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2300 CLIFTON ROAD
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journal
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INC.
�I
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HOLIDAY INN HOTEL
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The world's fastest growing space magazine.
Don't depend on the limited number sold at newsstands,
insure your fu ture copies by becoming a subscriber.
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space journo!ll
�•
Neither snow nor rain
or
or gloom of night
•••
" We arc nov.' capable o f lending an object outside
t he carlh'. gravlullo"al ii~ld . Such a prepuhio"
.yuem could carry ro~k~ 1 m"illclter. loth" moon,
and ,"'c are ;r.hle \0 ".timate the ~o.t of a rocket
mail Itam? nc~d"d. The prol>lunl inhe.",,! In the
or ..em h .. ve ;olre"dy been .ol,,~d by prosr" .. In
aohd propellant rocketry."
Dr . ll. W. IU t chey
P rojeclI ouch ". "Rocket Mail 10 the Moon" may
be nc"" . . ary .oone. than we t hink . Skilled. '"oll ·
nically t."\ned ind"'Ld".l. are """ded byThiokol to
enable .uch future proj_cu. Addu •• ,nqw.,e. to:
DIVISION· HUHTSVlllf. ALAI_ A ~
�I
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��
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<i>Space Journal</i>, vol. 1, no. 3, Summer 1958.
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Space Enterprises, Inc.
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1958
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en
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spacejournal_1958_summer
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Cold War
Explorer satellites
Jupiter missile
Life on other planets
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PDF Text
Text
JOLIRNAL
D E D I C A T E D
T 0
T H E
ASTRO - SCIENCES
.
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RUSSIAN
SPECIAL THIS EDITION:
VILLAGE ON THE MOON
'FALL 1958
challenge
�PROGRESS REPORT FROM AVCO RESEARCH
NEVV LIGHT ON
LABORATORY
MHD*
The Avco Research Laboratory was
founded a little more than three years
ago for the purpose of examining high
temperature gas problems associated with
ICBM re-entry. The success of this
research led to the birth of a new cor
porate enterprise, A vco's Research and
Advanced Development Division.
The Research Laboratory, now estab
lished as a separate Avco division, has
expanded to embrace all aspects of physi
cal gas dynamics. We are currently gravid
with several embryonic projects which we
anticipate will likewise grow into new
corporate enterprises. Our work in the
physics, aerodynamics and chemistry of
high-temperature gases is growing in the
following areas:
This shock tube photograph, taken by
emitted light only, shows the typical shock wave configuration
formed by high-velocity gas flowing around a pointed cone.
NO MAGNETIC FIELD.
,
I
I
I
I
I
- ...
/
I
/
--
......
MagnetohydrodynamicsFlight and industrial power
generation applications
Space flightManned satellites
Electromagnetic propulsion
'\
These developments have created a num
ber of openings for physicists, aerody
namicists and physical chemists. If your
background qualifies you to work in any
of these areas, we would be pleased to
hear from you.
\
\
''
'
/
......
-
Dr. Arthur Kantrowitz, Director
Avco Research Laboratory
I
/
Here is shown the magnetohydrodynamic
displacement of the shock wave. The magnetic field is caused
by electric current flowing through a coil of wire within the cone.
This experiment qualitatively demonstrates the interaction of
a high-temperature gas with a magnetic field. This effect would
be expected to produce drag and reduce heat transfer to the body.
WITH MAGNETIC FIELD.
RESEARCH
LABORATORY
A
P. S. A listing of laboratory research re
ports indicative of the scope and depth
of our activities is available. Address
your request: Attention: Librarian, Avco
Research Laboratory, 2385 Revere Beach
Parkway, Everett, Massachusetts.
*Magnetohydrodynamics, the study of the dynam
ics of electrically conducting fluids interacting
with magnetic fields.
Division of Avco Manufacturing Corporation/Everett, Mass.
Other divisions and subsidiaries are:
AK Division
Crosley Division
Ezee Flow Division
New Idea Division
Crosley Broadcasting Corporation
Lycoming Division
Moffats Limited
Research and Advanced Development Division
�JOURNAL OF THE ASTRO-SCIENCES
BOARD OF CONSULTANTS
Dr. Wernher von Braun
Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger
Prof. Hermann Oberth
Vol. I, No. 4
Earthman's First Moon Landing as rendered in
oil by Con Pederson. Layout of cover by Dave
Christensen and Bill Isbell.
B. Spencer Isbell
MANAGING EDITOIR
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
James L. Daniels, Jr.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Mitchell R. Sharpe, Jr.
ASSISTANT EDITOR
David L. Christensen
GRAPHICS DIRECTOR
Lee R. Moore, Jr.
LAYOUT DIRECTOR
Harold E. Price
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR
David Akins
STAFF ARTISTS
Harry H.-K. Lange
Con Pederson
Ernest Harper
BUSINESS MANAGER
Richard T. Heagy
PUBLISHER
Fall 1958
COVERS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEf
Ralph E. Jennings
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
2
PROJECTING WITH SPACE JOURNAL
Dr. Wernher von Braun
FEATURES
4 SOVIET TECHNICAL PROGRESS
Ronald C. Wakeford
12 EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE
Frederick I. Ordway, Ill
31 IMPLICATIONS OF SOVIET PROGRESS IN
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Col. J. G. Mayton
41 A PROPOSAL FOR A VILLAGE ON THE
MOON
Hiroshi Kumagai
35 DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM-THE REAL
CHALLENGE OF SOVIET SCIENCE
Dr. Karel Hujer
DEPARTMENTS
METEORITES ........................
Global Reporting
SPACE BOOKS
Recent & Forthcoming
SPACE POETRY
"Frontiers"
52 REACTION ...
Vox Populi
46
48
34
Space Enterprises, Inc.
CONTRIBUTORS
Mary Jane Day, Warren T. Musgrove, Agnes Hochberger, Molly Dee Isbell, Wanda Reid, Don Williams, Mrs. F. G. Saurma,
and Photographs in Space Symposium, courtesy of Soviet Embassy.
1
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space iournai
�Projecting With Space Journal
Our
Problem--Yours
and
Wernher von
Mine
Braun
Two bright six-year-olds were out on the playground at recess. They were closely exam
ining a spider_ crawling on a brick. "Don't touch it!'' exclaimed one first-grader. "It's -a
poisonous Latrodectus moctons/" he added. "How do you know it's a black widow?" asked the
second. "Whether or not it's a block widow," replied moppet number one, "the markings
indicate that it is definitely of the genus Latrodectus." At this point, the school bell rang.
"Let's go bock to class," said one of the youngsters. "We've got to finish stringing those
darned beads."
This, of course, is an apocryphal story. I tell it here merely to point out an obvious fatt:
To neglect our children with precocious talents is nothing short of criminal waste of
our human resources. Adlai Stevenson once summed up this problem in his elo
_
quent prose: "We must not let indifference or unwillingness cause us to fail to see
the problem of education in human terms-in terms of boys and girls with abilities
and aspirations, children who may either be held down and defeated by a poor
educational system or be given new possibilities and new goals by a good one.
When we neglect education in an age of global conflict, we risk the very safety
of our nation and the future of freedom in the world."
No one with any compassion or common sense has ever, to my knowledge, presumed to
suggest that bright students should be accorded attention at the expense of the overage student
or the slow student. What has been suggested is that the bright stude_nt in some instances
hos been penalized because of his brightness. In this regard, I hope and believe that ele
mentary teachers ore ploying a vital role in developing and keeping alive the specialized
interests of gifted children.
We all can agree with Mr. Stevenso n that education is the passport to a bet
ter society. It may stick in the craws of some, but it is a fact of life in 1958 that
the race is to the swift, and the battle i s to the strong. The day is past when a
student can expect, in his bland innocen ce, to "get by."
When we compare ourselves to other countries, we sometimes find that we hove been
weighed in the balance and found wonting. The New York Herald Tribune reported recently
that Prince Charles, heir to the throne of Great Britain, at the age of eight is studying French
grammar, world geography, long division, and multiplication, and getting "advanced drill in
reading, writing, and spelling." This of course is the Blue Plate Special for a future monarch,
but it shows what some youngsters are capable of digesting. The Gymnasium which I attended
as a boy started its students out with a stiff course in the classics at the age of ten and Cor
nelius Nepos at twelve. I hove never regrette d my good fortune in being exposed to such
a diet. This same preoccupation with education is true of the rest of Europe and of the British
Commonwealth of Nations.
Dr. Lawrence G. Derthick, U.S. Commissioner of Education, returned recently from a trip
abroad accompanied by ten U.S. educators. They were sobered by what they saw. In Len
ingrad they noted a striking fact which pointed up what they described as Russia's "total
commitment" to education: biology, chemistry, physics, and astronomy are required of all pupils,
regardless of their individual aspirations. Language studies begin in the second grade.
The Soviet race for military suprem acy is no more of a challenge than their
race for supremacy in education.
We cannot meet this challenge by leaving
the problem to educators ·or to politicia ns alone. It is a people's problem. It is
our problem.
*Reprinted from the September 1958 "Instructor."
2
space journal
�space
•
symposium
*
the russian space challenge to the free world
�SPACE SYMPOSIUM
soviet technical progress
By Ronald C. Wakeford
Sputniks l and II gathered much valuable
information on ultraviolet and X-radiations,
Ronald C. Wakeford graduated from South
ampton University, England, with the Higher
Notional Certificate in Aeronautical Engineering.
His post graduate study was conducted at the
some university.
His professional career hos
included engineering and business experience in
three countries, England, Canada, and the US
He is the author of numerous reports and articles dealing with rocketry and astronautics. He is
Director of Research at National Research and
Development Corporotion.
and cosmic ray intensities.
Sputnik Ill, how
ever, carries much more complex instrumenta
tion.
Sputnik
II
contained
thermal
control
equipment and sensitive elements to register
such
effects
as
temperature
fluctuations
and the internal temperature of the orbit
ing vehicle. A spherical container contained
the two radio transmitters and power supplies.
The temperature of the external surface of
Sputnik was also recorded.
The Soviet Moon rocket program, which
To measure the
short wave radiations of the Sun, the Soviet
gaining
Earth probes used three photoelectric multi
momentum, should result in the first inter
pliers placed at an angle of 1 20 ° to each
planetary vehicle being launched within the
other.
next few months.
according
to
all
reports
is
daily
These received radiation, and the
Backing up the current
electric signal generated by the multipliers
Soviet program were the successful launch
was amplified by radio circuits and transmitted
ings of the three Sputniks, the first two of
to Earth through o telemetering device.
which
re-entered
dense
atmosphere
and
burned up.
Data on cosmic radiation were supplied
by two cosmic ray counters.
Scientifically informed circles were not sur
After a signal
was broadcast that a definite number of
prised that the Russians were far ahead of us
particles
had
been
counted,
the particles
in the astronautical field since, at many in
were again recorded with a new signal broad
ternational meetings and in their press, fore
cast as soon as the same number was reached.
casts
By dividing the number of recorded particles
hod
been
made
of
the
impending
booster
by the time taken to count them, the Soviets
thrust required to place Sputniks II and Ill in
obtained the number of particles the counter
orbit is indicative of the strides the Soviets
trapped each second.
hove made in creating large rocket motors
found the intensity of radiation.
satellite
firings.
The
tremendous
and new propellant fuels, advancing in the
guidance field, and in developing high alti
tude biological laboratories.
vehicle
which
carried the
As for the biological experiment, the dog
Loiko was the first living organism to travel
several days in cosmic space.
It has been reported that the three-stage
booster
In other words, they
second
Soviet satellite into orbit developed a toke-off
thrust of approXlimately 660,000 lbs.
This
Important
scientific data on reactions to the gravity free,
weightless,
condition
were
obtained
from
this revolutionary biological exper!ment.
addition,
pulse
beat,
respiration,
In
arterial
figure resulted in an apogee altitude of close
blood pressure, cario-biopotentials, tempera
to 1,000 miles.
ture and pressure in the animal's cabin were
4
space journal
�recorded and telemetered to receiving sta
amount of compounds in chemical reactions
tions.
was controlled automatically, and the cabin
Highly active chemical compounds were
used to regenerate the air in the cabin of
Sputnik
was equipped with apparatus to feed the
dog and eliminate wastes.
The dog was
II and to maintain the proper air
These chemicals provided the
-----
the carbon dioxide and surplus vapor.
..... ...._
=-==-=-=�-=-:.-:--::!q
......
,
�---�J--�--------- I
I
_.... ....... "'
/
Sputnik II
1. JETTISONABLE NOSE CONE
2. INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING ULTRAVIOLE T
AND X-RADIATION FROM THE SUN
3. RADIO TRANSMITTER
4. HERMETICALLY SEALED
CHAMBER FOR LAIKA
SATELLITE LAUNCHING VEHICLES
Type
Sputnik
Sputnik
Designation
CH-9
CH-10
SOVIET
ICBM
T-3
Length
(fl)
125.6
112.8
Diameter
(max. ft)
16.24
211,000
16.24
INTERCONTINENTAL
88.5
Stages
Weight
11.5
AND
1st Stage
Thrust
2nd Stage
Thrust
3rd Stage
Thrust
3
451,000
264,000
77,000
3
517,000
268,000
78,100
Exhousl
Speed
f.p.s.
T-3
Status
9850
INTERMEDIATE RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES
160,000
3
484,000
268,000
78,100
Thermo Operotional
Nuclear
(M-104)
ICBM
Warhead
108
16
350,000
3
12
176,000
3
Second
Version
ICBM
T-3A
91.5
517,000
268,000
78,000
9840
Thermo Operational
Nuclear
ICBM
T-JA
101.5
16
396,000
3
122
Second
IRBM
Version
T- 4-A
IRBM
T-2
IRBM
T-4
(M-102)
IRBM
IRBM
IRBM
Golem 2
CH-18
T-1
10.2
231,000
3
264,000
264,000
9380
Experimental
65.5
8.5
100,000
2
268,000
78,100
8365
Atomic Operational
56.1
7.2
70,850
2
170,400
52,800
10,000
Experimental
7.2
5.9
74,800
2
242,000
71,500
7900
Experimental
57
42.3
62
5.64
41,300
37,850
77,000
99,000
7550
Production
78,100
6525
Operational
5
space journal
�thoroughly trained prior to making the flight;
great probe into the third dimension.
it was gradually accustomed to protracted
many years the biological approach of Soviet
stays in the small, hermetically sealed cham
medical scientists has been to utilize dogs as
ber, to the space suit, and to the attached
test subjects.
impulse converters that record physiological
many authorities in the US would prefer to
functions.
l l 20
work with these animals instead of the un
pounds, which included all the equipment, the
predictable rhesus monkeys which spearhead
dog, and the power source. Next to the 2500-
our own space flight biological programs.
Sputnik
ll's
weight
was
For
This research has paid off, and
pound Sputnik Ill, it is the largest and heaviest
Professor G. A. Chebotarez of the Lenin
Earth probe to be developed and placed in
grad Institute of Theoretical Astronomy pre
orbit.
sented a paper in February 1957 titled "Cos
Soviet experimentation with dogs in rockets
mic
Boomerang,"
which
gave
technical
has been going on for a considerable lennth
details on a method of placing payloads of
of time, commencing with a series of nine
from 110 to 220 pounds into a lunar orbit.
dogs, all of which were subjected to the
It
environment of our upper atmosphere and
actively pursued since its inception and that
the fringe of Space. Of these initial nine, three
it is currently approaching the hardware stage.
(Albina, Kozavka and Malyshka) made the
An elliptical orbit around the Moon is planned
ascent more than once.
Subsequent tests
is believed that this project has
for Project Boomerang.
been
The Russian lunar
utilized 12 dogs with many rockets containing
probe will probably be equipped with tele
two dogs per rocket.
vision as well as motion picture cameras to
Heights of 68 miles
were reached with this twin biological combi
photograph the
nation; shortly after free fall from maximum
relay the pictures back to
altitude, one of the dogs was ejected.
suggest that the probe will be "radiotele
After an ascent to about 50 miles the dog's
Moon's
directed" from Earth.
I.
surface
Earth.
Reports
A prominent Soviet
parachute equipment was activated; taking
scientist,
place three seconds after ejection.
particular aspect of the program.
The sec
and then
S. Hlebtsevich, is in charge of this
ond dog was ejected at altitudes of between
One study in which the Soviets are par
23 and 28 miles; its parachute opening was
ticularly interested is the determination of
timed to inflate at a height of approximately
what causes the appearance and disappear
two and one/half miles. Professor Pokrovskii,
ance of craters on the Moon.
director of the Institute of Experimental Avia
S. Y. Ziggel also wants to investigate the
tion Medicine of the Academy of Sciences of
white cloud phenoma which are to be found
the USSR, stated that all dogs used in the
in certain areas of the Moon.
experiments were recovered successfully.
The dogs were trained to endure strain and
to resist vibration; the Soviets stated that the
dogs behaved normally when ejected and
Astronomer
The question
he raises is: "Do Moon quakes occur; and, if
so,
do
such
catastrophes
cause
crater
changes and the mysterious clouds?"
Russian scientist
Egerov's paper entitled
that they bore up well under the weightless
"Some Questions on the Dynamics of Flights
state which followed.
to the Moon" gives some idea of how closely
The data recorded
indicate that the condition of the animals was
the Russians are studying the subject.
satisfactory throughout the experiment.
paper he reviews the many fundamental ques
In this
The Russian biological achievements are
tions and theories of flight to the Moon. The
only forerunners of many experiments that
classification of unpowered trajectories, cir
Man is one of the next
cumlunar flights, and the possibility of peri
steps in their program, and it is extremely
odic circumflight of the Moon and Earth are
likely that Soviet scientists will have man in
Space shortly.
Bio-satellite experimentation
examined.
with human occupants represents the next
the dispersion of instrumentation upon impact
must be conducted.
6
space iournal
The question of impacting on the
Moon and also the important question of
�0
are discussed.
As many as 600 trajectories
were calculated by the author in his paper.
Other Soviet scientists have considered the
establishment of base camps on the Moon's
surface in the light of all the difficulties which
will beset such a program.
They have con
sidered the need of frequently sending rocket
ships to that body to support a base.
The
clothing and space suits for participants in
such a venture have been designed; their
space suits being (according to the press and
photographic releases) developed, as in the
United States, from high-altitude aircraft suits,
and experimentation in pressure chambers.
"Laika" is shown before being installed inside Sputnik
II (A still from the film, "First Soviet Earth Satellites"}.
General view of the scientific apparatus in Sputnik II.
�on the Moon would include the search for
on
atmosphere,
determinations
of
surface
conditions, and experiments to obtain geo
logical data.
Soviet scientists have devised o scheme
whereby the Moon may be explored by a
small unmanned tank.
The "tankette labora
tory" would be landed on the lunar surface by
the probe rocket, the former vehicle being
radio controlled from Earth.
Equipment in
the mobile laboratory would include a tele
vision camera which would transmit details
of the Moon's surface to observers on Earth.
Other experiments conducted with this device
would be geological sampling, gravity and
temperature determinations, etc.
In the background of the Russian Moon
program is the Soviet work on guided missiles.
In
this
field
they
have
constructed,
and
have launched, and have in production, every
Apparatus to study so/or radiation, installed
in Sputnik II.
type of missile that is known from underwoter
to-surfoce through the missile spectrum to
surface-to-surface.
Their
progress
in
the
ICBM and IRBM field is well known since test
M. K. Pikhanizov some eight years ago
wrote a report on
a
Moon
rocket
which
would weigh approximately 1,000 tons and
attain a velocity of 11 kilometers per second.
The vehicle would carry a crew of two over a
circumlunar
trajectory
and
then
return
to
Earth. A modification to this particular pro
gram would result in a vehicle being launched
from an Earth-orbiting space station. Such a
vehicle would weigh approximately l 00 tons
and would take off with a velocity of 3.5 kilo
meters per second.
Some reports even sug
gest that design has already begun on the
former
is
60
meters; it has a maximum diameter of
15
meters.
vehicle and
that its length
The overall weight would be 1,000
tons, and it would have
20 motors which
could build up 350 million horsepower.
The Russian literature has fully covered
lunar landings with all their attendant difficul
ties-take-off
from
this
type of
planetary
environment, crew safety, and the various
maneuvers
of
bringing
orbiting
around the Moon and back to Earth.
8
space journal
vehicles
Studies
The dog "Moduitso··, shown in the foreground, supposedly hos "iust
returned safely from the flight." This instrument and onimol container
section of a Russian experimental rocket was reported to have been
parachuted from a height of 212 kilometers. /From "Pravda")
�Another "experienced" Russian "astronaut" by the name of
"Malyshka"
and its
space
capsule (Photo
by
S.
Gurory)
launching sites for these vehicles hove been
Ironies and test equipment needed to check
pinpointed and ballistic Aights of their major
out a missile is a major engineering feat in
weapons apparently hove been tracked by
itself.
radar from Turkey.
Launching bases, missile
plants, missile schools, missile test centers and
all the attendant facilities needed for experi
mentation and production ore to be found all
over the USSR.
Quantity production is ap
parent, and we hove no reason to doubt
the quality of the products.
The strength of Soviet advances mode in
technological areas may be illustrated by the
number of production or operational missiles
in evidence.
In the IRBM category alone
In the US Atlas ICBM, for example,
there ore over 300,000 separate ports.
To assume that the technological progress
of the USSR in missilry is based only on the
World War II accomplishments of Germany
is dangerous and false, leading only to a
state of seriously underrating the ability of
their scientists.
Basic research is being ac
complished in a very scholarly manner which
may be seen by the publication of reports
from that country as translated by various
seven vehicles ore believed to be available,
organizations in the US.
More translations
and of these probably more than half ore
ore needed, and it is hoped that the long
The design of a missile system
waiting period, which invariably follows the
(as any missile engineer will confirm) is a
receipt of Soviet technical documents, con be
complicated and exacting procedure requiring
reduced.
operational.
the coordination of many highly
qualified
Although the Russians wisely ovoid giving
Thousands of com
advance data on the launching dotes of IGY
plicated components must be integrated to
participation vehicles, and hence avoid the
insure compatibility, and the necessary elec-
embarrassing spectacle of aborted launch-
scientists and engineers.
9
space journal
�COMPARISON OF AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN BALLISTIC MISSILES
100-+-------------------------,r--------------
I
I
w
w
V)
z
V)
50
z
w
0
0
GOlEM 2
T7
T2
T3
COMET 2
COMET 1
T3B
Tl
T5
GOLl!M 1
T5B
u S S R
0
2000
1000
3000
6000
5000
4000
JOO-+---------------- -----------------------------•
w
w
....
Q
V)
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z
:::E
0
REDSTONE
SERGEANT
ATLAS
JUPITER
PERSHING
TITIAN
CORPORAl
HONEST JOHN
US A
► 2000
► 1000
RANGE (MllES)
10
space journal
► 3000
► .(OOO
► 5000
►
6000
�Sputnik Ill
1. MAGNETOMETER
2. PHOTO-MULTIPLIERS FOR THE
REGISTRATION OF THE
CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
OF THE SUN
3. SOLAR BATTERIES
4. DEVICE FOR THE REGISTRATION
OF PHOTONS IN COSMIC RAYS
5. MAGNETIC AND IONIZATION
MANOMETERS
6. ION CATCHERS
7. ELECTROSTATIC FLUXMETER
8. MASS SPECTROMETRIC TUBE
9. DEVICE FOR THE REGISTRATION
OF HEAVY NUCLEI IN
COSMIC RAYS
ings, they have given details of the experi
ments to be conducted.
These include:
temperature,
pressure,
Other places visited by this group included
the Television Research Institute at Leningrad
1. Structure parameters of the upper at
mosphere,
lo. DEVICE FOR MEASURING
THE INTENSITY OF PRIMARY
COSMI RADIATION
11. PICK-UPS FOR THE REGIS
TRATION OF MICROMETERS
and
composition.
2. Movements of the upper atmosphere.
3. Study of the electrical properties of the
upper atmosphere {ionosphere).
and the Television Broadcasting Station at
Moscow.
on two 8 me wide channels.
ning indicates that
5. Study of the ultraviolet part of the Sun's
spectrum.
6. Study of the solid composition of in
terplanetary material (micrometeorites).
60,000
Current plan
kilometers of wide
band microwave circuits will be available by
1960.
4. Study of cosmic radiation.
The latter organization broadcasts
When this rate of progress is related
to the known status of this country in these
fields some ten years ago, it may be seen that
a great deal of research has been successfully
accomplished.
7. Study of corpuscular rays from the Sun.
Education is the key to Soviet progress,
A recent tour of the USSR by US engineers
and this particular basis has been firmly es
attending a radio engineers' convention in
that country resulted in their obtaining first
hand knowledge of Soviet progress in this
field. Among •he facilities visited was Pulkovo
(some ten miles �outh of Leningrad) where o
radio astronomy station is located.
length of the radio telescope is
The focal
50
and it hos a diameter 0f 75 meters.
meters
It has a
tablished.
From grade school through uni
versity, great emphasis hos been given to
scientific training.
This
approach hos
re
sulted in the graduation of these scholars
whose efforts today ore successfully keeping
the USSR ahead of us in the race to the
Moon.
Only a complete overhaul of our own
paraboloid section and l.Ses flat mirrors, each
school system, programmed to concentrate on
of which is adjustable to ,-elate these to the
the scientific areas in which we ore deficient,
theoretical contour.
can result in the negation of this lead.
II
space journal
�SPACE SYMPOSIUM
the educational challenge
By Freder ck
Frederick I. Ordwoy, Ill, was educated in
the geoscientific and geophysical fields at Har
vard University and the University of Paris
(Sorbonne). In Fronce he received four certifi
cates for work with the Loborotoire de Physique
de I' Atmosphere. He hos also studied specialized
courses at other European universities and holds
diplomas from the US Air University. He hos lec
tured widely in both the US and Europe on
rocketry, high altitude research and space flight.
He is the author of dozens of articles on these
and related subjects, At present, he is vice
president of the Notional Research and Develop
ment Corporation.
One of the most widely discussed subjects
in the US today is education. For the first
time in memory the nation has begun to think
in terms
as well
America
churned
of the quality of the "educated man"
as the quantiry (of which we in
are manifestly proud) of graduates
out by our schools and universities.
Ordway. 111
cation for a brilliant minority. We tend to
forget the supreme debt that civilization owes
to the great intellects of science, the arts, and
society, and unless we create the climate for
such talents to nurture, our way of life is sure
to wither.
On the other hand, we suffer from the
fetish of insisting on thousands of bright,
shiny and often gaudy new schools with little
or no thought for the excellence (or even living
standards, for that matter) of the teaching
staffs within them.
It has been far from
obvious to many that a school or a university
can be no better than its teachers. The phy
sical aspects may be important, but they alone
do not provide the climate of scholarship so
necessary in a creative society. Great teach
ers, rather than great buildings, are neces
sarily the cornerstone of any system that calls
itself educational.
Although there is much about our system to
justify pride, forward-looking educational au
thorities have realized there are many short
comings in our schools; and strong efforts are
In the paragraphs that follow we shall
cover various general factors applicable to
US and Soviet education, giving particular at
tention to scientific aspects and implications.
happily being made to improve them.
The availability of scientific and engineer
ing talent is a crucial factor in today's world
of ICBM's, H-bombs, and artificial satellites.
All major nations are aware of the importance
to their security of technically trained man
power, and at least some have well-planned
programs designed to encourage youth to
enter scientific fields of endeavor.
True, there is. no sea ·city of "experts" who,
while worshiping the status quo, defend their
achievements and misguidedly think that
everything American has to be best. These
people are bound to fight improvement pro
grams every inch of the way. Yet, it is clear
to most of the thinking community that some
thing has to be done, and done quickly, if
coming generations are to yield leaders capa
ble of maintaining America's position in the
world.
Our educational problems stem from many
causes. On the one hand we have been far
too eager to achieve a mediocre education of
the masses to the detriment of superior edu-
12
I.
space iournal
The US is the most important example in the
world of a nation without a definitive educa
tional program in science or technology. Some
comparative figures are informative in this
context. In 1954 American industry needed
30,000 new engineers, but only 18,000 were
graduated that year from our colleges and
universities. This shortage may or may not
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11ave been completely real, but the general
Some interesting percentages are available to
picture presented was far from satisfactory.
demonstrate the fall of interest in science.
To look at it from another direction, of the
For example, at least half of the nation's high
250 physicists graduated in 1954 only half
schools do not offer courses in chemistry, and
entered into the field of physics itself. A situa
more than half do not give courses in physics.
tion characterized by shortages has continued
In the period since
through to 1958; and while it seems somewhat
of high school students studying algebra
less aggravated today we probably will con
dropped from 56 percent to 24.6 percent.
tinue to lock highly trained scientists for many
Geometry students dropped from 27.4 per
years to come.
cent to
1900 the percentage
11.6 percent in this period; and
One prominent educator hos noted "in
physics students declined from 19 percent to
school we work so hard with the youngsters
who find learning difficult or who resist an
is the feeling of many key educators that at
education, that we fail adequately to deal
with the sparks of genius when they appear."
He went on to say that "our greatest failures
in the schools of America are those youngsters
4.5 percent.
Perhaps even more discouraging
least half a million high school students are
taught mathematics by teachers not qualified
to give instruction in the subject.
Some
300,000 students ore exposed to physics by
who have the ability to become the creative
nonqualified instructors.
leaders of tomorrow.
of the future in science, industry . . . must be
A nationwide survey by the Notional Edu
cation Association shows that only 36 percent
challenged to do their best, not merely to be
of persons who prepare to teach chemistry
better than the average."
and who receive their certificates intend going
The real major leaders
One of our main jobs is to select potential
talent early in life, and to nourish it carefully
so that it may grow or achieve maximum de
velopment.
Our leading educators are be
ginning to emphasize, more than ever before,
into the teaching field.
Furthermore, less
than half those qualified to teach general
science, biology, physics, and mathematics
will actually teach. This situation has been
described by many as "tragic." One inter
the importance of obtaining more and better
esting, though dismal, sidelight was shown by
instructors; and they warn us not to rely on
fancy new buildings and unplanned "crash
programs" to achieve our educational aims.
a survey demonstrating that the difficult sub
teachers qualified in such subjects as English,
Reduced to its essentials, an educational
system consists of: (1) schools, (2) students,
and (3) teachers. A knowledge of construc
tion techniques permits us to build an accepta
ble school. The supply of students seems both
plentiful and inexhaustable.
Teachers, on
the other hand, represent an entirely different
commodity-one difficult to create, by no
means plentiful, and decisively important.
music, social science, and speech!
We are troubled to learn that competent
teachers are becoming harder and harder to
get. There has been at least a 50 percent
drop during the past five years in the number
of college graduates whose educational pro
grams have prepared them for high school
science teaching; and of the relatively few
persons qualified to instruct scientific subjects,
only about half make teaching their career.
ject of mathematics is often being taught by
Physics
and chemistry classes ore often taught by
specialists in agriculture, physical education,
or social science! Furthermore, it has been
shown that only 148 of 303 chemistry classes
in 30 states surveyed were being taught by
teachers who had majored in chemistry! The
implications of these figures should shock
even the most complacent of an indifferent
public.
Coupled with this, we find that today well
over 50 percent fewer persons receive cer
tificates to teach science as compared with
only five years ago (the comparison would
be even more startling if longer time period
were presented.) About 51 percent fewer
students receive mathematics certificates than
only five years ago.
13
space journal
�Estimates made for the year 19 56 show
that our schools were faced with a shortage of
6000 science teachers; and at the same time
only 4000 were being graduated (out of
which only half, as we saw, actually expected
to go into teaching.) Thus, at a critical period
in the history of science 2000 teachers were
trying unsuccessfully to do what 6000 would
normally be expected to do.
Naturally, such figures as these have
evoked comment from authorities in the scien
tific and teaching fields. One important edu
cator has said that "the staggering deficiency
in scientists and engineers that confronts us
will spell disaster to the American people un
less we take action at once." Incidentally,
these words were uttered three years ago,
and it is discouraging to see that relatively
little progress has been made since that time.
Rise in Science Pupils
Changes in enrollments in mathematics and science in public secondary schools in the United
States (grades 9-12 ) and related data, 1948-49 and 1956-67.
Item
Typical
Subject
Enrollments
1948-49
Grode
1956-57
Per Cent
of
Increase
General Science ... .. .. .. .. .... . .. 9
Biology .. .. ...... .. ..... ........ 10
l1
Chemistry
Physics . ... ...... ... .. ........ ... 12
Other Science ....................9-12
1,074,000
996,000
412,000
291,000
155,000
1,518,000
1,430,000
520,000
310,000
265,000
41.3
43.6
26.2
6.5
70.9
Total .........................9-12
2,928,000
4,043,000
38.1
Elementary Algebra ... ...... .. .. .. . 9
Intermediate Algebra ............... 11
General Mathematics ... .... .... .. . 9
Plane Geometry ......... .. ...... .. 10
Solid Geometry ... .... .. .... ... ... 12
Trigonometry ........... ......... . 13
Other Mathematics ................9-12
1,042,000
372,000
650,000
599,000
94,000
l 09,000
91,000
1,518,00
484,000
976,000
788,000
160,000
200,000
275,000
45.7
30.l
50.2
31.6
70.2
83.5
202.2
Total .........................9-12
Population
Age 14
Age 15 .............................
Age 16 .............................
Age 17 ............................ .
Age 14-17 ..........................
Enrollment
Grode 9 ...........................•
Grade 10 .......................... .
Grade 11 .......................... .
Grade 12 ...........................
Grade 9-12 ........................ .
2,957,000
4,401,000
48.8
2,126,000
2,140,000
2,231,000
2,206,000
8,703,000
2,556,000
2,393,000
2,292,000
2,300,000
9,541,000
20.2
11.8
2.7
4.3
9.6
1,641,000
1,491,000
1,242,000
1,026,000
5,399,000
2,254,000
1,933,000
1,513,000
1,263,000
6,963,000
37.4
29.6
21.8
23.1
29.0
Source: Offerings ond Enrollments in Science and Mothematics in Public High Schools {Office of Education Pamphlet
No. 120).
14
space journal
..
�Moscow University students
on their woy to a lecture at the University.
Another educator cautioned that "science hos
necessary to on understanding of the times in
become a neglected subject. We hove not
which they will live and work."
prepared enough high school students in the
sciences to meet future needs."
A still more
astonishing warning come from Dr. M. M.
Boring of the Engineering Manpower Com
mission who said, "It is on incredible and
dangerous paradox that in the age of science
and engineering, secondary school interest
and activity in science and mathematics, the
necessary prerequisites to technical careers,
ore decreasing proportionately.... This trend
must be reversed, not only because our needs
for vital and professional personnel ore
bound to increase, and must somehow be
met, but also because our future citizens must
hove at least the fundamental background
The deficiency of science teachers hos led
the American Association for the Advance
ment of Science to set up a $300,000 grant
to study the shortage and the problems it
poses.
The final report resulting from the
study showed that in one recent year about
250 persons were graduated from American
colleges and universities capable and pre
pared to teach high school physics.
Of these
only half went into teaching. The situation
was shown to be very similar in other areas of
science and in mathematics.
A number of
reasons ore given for this:
l. We were faced with on increasing population,
making greater demands on our schools. This
was coupled with the fact that relotively few
15
- ·' - :J journal
�teachers were coming available (partially due to
the low birth rote of the 1930's).
2. We must consider the extremely low salaries
paid to teachers. This fact turned potential
science teachers ta other, mare lucrative, fields.
types of administrative devices to insure that
3. During recent years the high school hos changed
from on educational institution whose primary
function was to train relatively few students ta
pass college entrance examinations prior to
going to college lo o system designed to give
terminal training to students not going on to
follow university careers.
through university life.
4. It hos been frequently poinled out that many of
the persons leaching sciences in schools ore in
adequately prepared to give instruction; such
o situation can completely blunt the scientific
inclinations of the student, or al least hamper
his development.
It seems evident that, in order to improve
are
attended,
"dean's
lists",
and
other such instruments as are believed neces
sary to take care of our young as they pass
All this has resulted
in the lamentable fact that the American
student matures in his university at a far
slower rate than the European does in his.
The average university in continental Eu
rope takes little or no responsibility for the
life of the student.
There are generally no
dormitories or other special houses for stu
dents to live in.
Student unions, fraternities,
dining halls, and similar activities may very
well be absent; and, of course,
there are
unlikely to be college athletic facilities, sports
scientific teaching, we must draw from the
arenas, and so forth.
ranks of college graduates who have studied
student in Europe is a far more gruelling ex
science but who may not have received formal
courses in educational techniques.
Such peo
ple know their science even though they may
not have been trained in education.
logical
to
believe
that
qualified
It is
scientist
teachers are preferable, even though they
lack educational courses, to the hundreds of
inadequately trained science instructors pres
ent in our schools today.
Fortunately,
there
perience.
Therefore, being a
One must forage for his own, so to
speak, but the immature are quickly weeded
out from the mature.
In Europe one is unlikely to see professors
taking attendance; it is entirely up to the
student if he does or does not attend a lec
ture.
Nor are the universities interested in
his personal life, his finances, his habits of
study, and his home environment.
are
responsible
indi
viduals and organizations who have become
If he pays,
he can attend courses; if he does not pay,
he cannot attend courses.
It is his own re
deeply concerned with finding and cultivating
sponsibility to attend classes.
as much scientific and engineering talent as
his final exams, he gets credit towards a
possible.
What the future holds in store for
American education in science may be largely
left in the hands of such groups as the Scien
tific Manpower Commission, Office of Scientific
Personnel of the National Research Council,
Engineering Manpower
Commission on the
Engineers Joint Counsel, the Chief of Engi
neering Education of the United States Office
of Education, the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, and educational
committees and panels attached to industrial
organizations and scientific societies.
16
classes
If he passes
degree, regardless of whether or not he at
tended classes.
There are no warning notes,
and mid-semester grades on general course
work prior to the final examination are rare
or absent.
The European university assumes it is edu
cating an adult, not a child.
The emphasis
is on learning, not on techniques of teaching,
as was pointed out by Harvard's Professor
Howard Mumford Jones several years ago in
a leading university alumni publication.
It
is assumed that if the European student does
There is an admitted and vast difference
not take advantage of the great educational
between the European and American con
advantages given him, he is a fool, and if he
cept of everyday life at the university. Ameri
wants to be one it is entirely his own business.
can universities feel they are educating par
The American system,
tially grown children, and accordingly often
spends much time and effort trying to keep
go to extraordinary lengths to care for them.
him from being one.
Thus we find elaborate rules of conduct, all
in Europe it is universally assumed that a
space journal
on the other hand,
As Jones has said, ".
�N. s. F. Research Grants
National Science Foundation Research Grants by Fields of Science
Fiscal years
1952-56
Field
Biological and medical sciences:
18
Anthropological
70
Developmental
Environmental . . . . . . . 82
........... 75
Genetic
. . . . . . . . 181
Molecular
Psychobiology . . . . . . . 134
Regulatory
. . . . . . . . 215
Systematic . . . . . . . . . . 177
General . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
992
Mathematics, physical, and
sciences:
Astronomy
........
......
Chemistry
Earth Sciences . . . . .
.......
Engineering
Mathematics . . . . . . . .
........
Physics
Sociophysical . . . . . . . .
General ............
.
Total research grants
•
s
Total
Fiscal year
Amount
Number
1957
Number
184,800
586,182
746,860
994,700
2,748,730
1,659,550
2,921,145
1,399,080
721,510
17
32
65
41
84
54
114
89
31
S11,962,557
527
s
s
Amount
Number
s
Amount
338,300
968,932
1,524,060
1,653,950
4,533,680
2,442,650
4,791,545
2,105,655
1,224,710
153,500
382,750
777,200
659,250
1,784,950
783, l 00
1,870,400
706,575
503,200
35
102
147
116
265
188
329
266
71
7,620,925
1,519
$19,583,482
engineering
75
254
102
181
128
195
8
944
1,936
1,261,800
3,106,200
1,318,275
2,008,700
1,553,200
3,036,400
105,100
7,000
33
147
54
103
64
53
l2
4
453,900
2,653,700
770,150
1,369,950
1,038,900
1,348,300
154,100
119,000
108
401
156
284
192
248
20
5
1,715,700
5,759,900
2,088,425
3,378,650
2,592, l 00
4,384,700
259,200
126,000
$12,396,675
$24,359,232
470
997
$ 7,908,000
S 15,528,925
1,414
2,933
$20,304,675
$39,888,157
university . . . is a mature intellectual enter
prise primarily concerned with preserving and
extending knowledge and maintaining the
great professional classes . . . without which
no culture can survive."
In general it is far easier to gain access
to an American university than to enter one on
the Continent. A great many reasons exist
for this, but they are beyond the scope of
this article. However, I recall that when I
first entered the University of Paris' Faculty of
Sciences, I had to establish that my previous
American college education was equivalent
to the French Baccalaureate, or secondary
system. I was perhaps lucky to have passed
this and to have received additionally several
credits toward an advanced degree. I re-
member a number of American college
graduates whose work was not, in the eyes of
the French authorities, considered of sufficient
significance to warrant the all-important
"equivalence." Though this may seem exag
gerated, it at least affords a basis for
comparison.
When we think of the dozens of diversion
ary activities associated with American uni
versity life (being invited into the proper
fraternity, getting on various athletic teams,
participating in club life, dances, dating, etc.),
we often may wonder how academic progress
is made. Our "normal," well-rounded, over
protected student is the average student, one
whose extracurricular activities may often be
more spectacular than his academic record.
17
space journal
�He, and not the "brain," is the hero of the
US campus.
Most of these outside distractions do not
exist in the continental European counterpart,
at least not to the extent as in America.
Perhaps the great question that America has
to answer is how it can mature its under
graduate student body, how it can dispense
with its long-extended adolescence. That is
the challenge that the European education
gives the American system and is the particu
lar challenge posed by the enormous progress
of Soviet education today. The roots of a
nation's scientific and technological greatness
are found in its educational system. Our
schools and colleges must produce the leaders
of tomorrow's world of science. Our system
must become second to none if our way of life
is to survive.
Russian education is similar, but by no
means identical, to that of continental Europe.
The basic educational landmark in Russia is
the ten-year secondary school, which handles
children of the ages 7 to 17. During this
period, a student would study ten years of
Russian langauge and literature, a like amount
of mathematics, five years of physics, four
years of chemistry, six years of biology and
botany, six years of geography, seven years
of history, a year of astronomy, and various
practical subjects such as metal working and
engineering drawing. During the later years
of the secondary education, the student is
generally in class seven hours a day and has
five hours of homework.
With a 12-hour day, the student must also
count on a 6-day week and a 10-month
academic year. It need hardly be pointed
out that the US system is far more relaxed
than this extremely difficult academic grind to
which Soviet children are exposed. Another
thing one should not forget is that a student
is financed through his education by the state,
and this, of course, allows Russia to pick out
from the whole mass of its people the best
available minds. The above-average students
get the best training, while those of below•
average abilities are weeded out rapidly so as
not to pull the average down. There is ap
parently no acute teacher shortage in Russia,
18
space journal
a fact which is not surprising considering the
material benefits and prestige they derive
from their career.
It is· known that since 1927 the Russian
educational system has grown by fantastic
leaps, starting with 11 million arts and sci
ences students and numbering now 30 million.
In the higher educational institutions they
started in 1927 with a 169,000 enrollment
and now have more than two million. In
the secondary system the courses given are
far more complete and difficult than in the
US. For example, the Soviets teach algebra
in the sixth grade and calculus starts in the
ninth. A typical seventh grade student in the
USSR is likely to have zoology, anatomy and
physiology of man, mathematics, history,
geography, biology, Russian language and
literary reading, chemistry, foreign language,
physical education, technical drawing, prac
tical shop work, agriculture, and sex hygiene
on his study program.
The actual secondary school graduates per
year ore 1,500,000 versus 1,300,000 in the
US. Dr. Laurence G. Derthick, United States
Commissioner of Education, has said that "it
would be tragic ... if the evolution of edu
cation in the USSR should be considered as
any cause to question our basic concepts of
freedom in education. Rather, it should
challenge every American to re-examine the
extent to which we as a people support our
democratic system of education . . . . It
should, in fact, challenge Americans to take
new interests in meeting the needs of our
schools, colleges, and universities as they
serve the purposes of our society: freedom,
peace, and the fullest development of the
individual."
It is generally understood that to achieve
the maximum benefit from a nation's total
brain power resources, outstanding talent
must be identified at an early age, encour
aged to progress from the time it is identified,
and above all be given the best conceivable
training. Reports strongly suggest that the
embryo scientist is far more readily identified
in the USSR than in the US, and that when he
is identified something is done about him.
Outstanding students are pushed ahead
...
�Cramming for an exam in one of the rooms ol Moscow Un iversity's
student
dormitories
(Photo
by
D.
Sholomovich)
rapidly and are not forced to follow the
Republics set up the following: "It 1s the duty
pace set by their intellectual inferiors.
of every school chiId:
Perhaps the most significant thing about
l. To acquire knowledge persistently in order to
the Soviet system is its very hard schedule
become on educated and cultured citizen and
and the
fact that all students are
constant pressure to excel.
under
The leisurely pace
typical in our American schools cannot be
tolerated in the Soviet Union.
As has been
pointed out frequently in recent years, school
teachers and college professors form part
of the Soviet social and intellectual elite, an
almost diametrically opposite situation to that
which prevails in the US.
With a hard sched·
ule, excellent teachers enjoying top prestige,
and good facilities, it is not difficult to under
stand why Soviet progress in education is
evoking such interest today.
The rules of conduct applicable to pupils 1n
the Soviet Union are interesting and informa
tive.
In 1943 the Soviet People's Commissars
of the Russian Soviet Federation of Socialist
lo be of the greatest possible service to his
country.
2. To study diligently, to be punctual in attend
ance, and not arrive late ot classes.
3. To obey the instructions of the school director
and the teachers without question.
4. To arrive at school with oil the necessary text
books and writing materials; to hove everything
ready for the lesson before the teacher arrives.
5. To come to school clean, well groomed, and
neatly dressed.
6. To keep his place in the classroom clean and
tidy.
7. To enter
the
classroom
and
toke
his
place
immediately after the bell rings; to enter and
leave the classroom during the lesson only with
the teacher's permission.
8. To sit upright during the lesson, not leaning on
his elbows and not slouching; to listen atten
tively to the teacher's explanations and
the
19
space journal
�other pupils' answers, and not to talk or let his
17. To obey his parents, to help them to toke care
of his small brothers and sisters.
attention stray to other things.
9. To rise when the teacher or the director enters
18. To maintain cleanliness and order in rooms,
to keep his clothes, shoes, and bed neat and
or leaves the room.
l 0. To
stand
at
attention
when
answering
tidy.
the
teacher; to sit down only with the teacher·s
19. To carry his student"s record book with him
permission; to raise his hand if he wishes to
always, to guard it carefully, never handing it
answer or ask a question.
over to anyone else, and to present it upon
11. To toke accurate notes in his assignment book
request of the teachers or the school director.
of homework scheduled for the next lesson,
20. To cherish the honor of his school and class,
and defend it os his own."
and to show these notes to his parents; to do
all the homework unoided.
12. To be respectful to the school director ond
teochers; when meeting them, to greet them
with a polite bow; boys should also raise their
hots.
13. To be polite to his elders, to behove modestly
Russian accomplishments in both the pri
mary and secondary educational fields ore
impressive.
The best results of their efforts
move on into the universities, whose output is
also impressive.
For example, we know they
and respectfully in school, on the street and in
produce one and a half million scientists and
public
engineers out of two and a half million gradu
places.
14. Not to use coarse expressions, not to smoke,
not to gamble for money or for any other
objects.
15. To protect school property; lo be careful of his
personal things
and the belongings of his
comrades.
16. To be attentive and considerate of old people,
small children, the weak and sick; to give
them a seat on the trolley or make way for
them on the street, being helpful to them in
every way.
ates.
In the US we get about the same num
ber of technical graduates from twice the
number of college graduates, so the per
centage of science and engineering output
here is much lower than in Russia. On a yearly
basis, the Russians produce between two and
three times the number of scientists and engi
neers that the US does.
The US awards about
the some number of doctoral degrees as the
'
'
..
Moscow University's swimming
pool. /Photo by D. Sholomovich)
�Soviets, but in our case nearly 2 ½ to 1 ore
weighted in favor of the arts while in the
USSR about 3 to 1 are in favor of engineering
and science. We know that while in Russia
technically-trained students are graduating at
a higher rate than in the US, there is a de
cline in graduates from American universities
taking place (corresponding with this increase
in Russia). Dr. Alvin C. Eurich, vice president
and director of the Ford Fund for the Advance
ment of Education, made the following com
ment after returning from Russia recently: "To
me the accomplishments in the field of educa
tion which Russia has mode in a relatively
short time are much more frightening than
announcements that come from Russia con
cerning atomic or hydrogen bombs, or guided
missiles. From our point of view there is
much one could criticize. There 1s no ques
tion, however, about the speed with which
Russia has moved in the past and is now
moving with its educational system. As much
os we dislike to place our educational de
velopments ,n competition we have to be
realistic."
Last November the United States Office
of Education released an excellent report en
titled "Education in the USSR". The conclu
sions of this report are given in the belief
that it is enormously important to understand
what an important American body of educa
tional authorities thinks about the situation.
The information hos been published in a two
hundred and twenty-six page report which
represents over two years of work.
"
Text of Conclusions of the U. S. Report on
Soviet Education
Millions of school-oge children, voriety in rociol
slroins and culturol lroditions, diversily in climote and
topography, concentrated center of population and
sparsely populated remote areas ore some of the foctors
affecting educotionol policy in the U.S.S.R. and in the
the goal of education is to meet the needs of the slate.
Constitutional
representative
democracy
characterizes
the philosophical base on which the people of the
U.S.A. govern themselves.
In theory and in practice,
the individual is of surpassing worth and the goal of
education is the development of each person as an
individual with freedom and with opportunity to choose
his life's work in his best interests.
Many Entities in Soviet
The Soviet Union is on accretion of separate entities
on which there is an overlay of Russian language and
Communist porty control. As a matter of educational
policy, the U.S.S.R. one-party stale capitalites on the
linguistic and cultural heritage of minority groups which
resist assimilation. The U.S.A. is an amalgamation of
heterogeneous nationalities electing to establish their
homes in the United Stales, and of native-born popula
tion. The democratic educational systems in the U.S.A.
are crucibles in which many nationalities fuse in
language and in culture.
Neither country has o notional ministry lo control
education. In the U.S.S.R. the Communist party, con
sisting of about 3 per cent of the total population,
is the minority group which directly and indirectly
controls education through a mechanism which cen
tralizes power at the top. In the U.S.A. control of
education is vested in the people in each of the slates
al the local and state levels.
The U.S. Office of Education provides leadership
not control.
It encourages understanding of and
responsibility for policy development, management ond
operation of local and state educational systems by the
people themselves. It promotes ogreements on common
goals, and odministers grants in specific fields ond
conducts educational research. On the basis of research
findings, it provides outhoritotive information to the
profession, the states and the general public.
Differences in Scope Noted
Soviet educational-cultural planned !>udgets embrace
a range of activities which include on the one hand
schools and institutions of higher learning, and on the
other, clubs, rodio, press, television, movies, thealres,
and the like. Educational expenditures reported in the
U.S.A. relate exclusively to schools and institutions of
higher learning.
Education as it 1s understood in the U.S.S.R. hos no
exoct porollel in the U.S.A.
Preschool programs
nurseries and kindergartens--ore on integral part of
U.S.A.
the national economy of the U.S.S.R. Nurseries are
health centers for the care of children and the releose
The principle of free and universal educolion has
been odopted as o notional policy and is in process
of implementation in the U.S.S.R. today. The some
of the time of mothers for work ond other activities
in the interests of the Soviet Stole. Kindergartens ore
educational centers providing similar child core and
principle is traditional with the people of the U.S.A.,
who hove had it in practice for generations.
similar release of lhe mothers' time for productive
activity deemed oppropriole by the Sovie! slale.
Diametrically opposed are the philosophical bases
from which educational theory, programs and pro
cedures have evolved in the two countries. Authori
In lhe U.S.A. child care establishments ore social
welfare centers, including in their progroms child core
assistance to those mothers who ore breadwinners os
tarianism characterizes the Soviet philosophical base;
well as homemakers.
Nursery schools provide programs
21
space journal
�to serve the health, social and educational needs of 4
and 5 year-olds.
They are partly or entirely inde•
pendent of the public school system, though an increas
ing number cooperate with the public school system
and receive assistance in staff training, counseling and
other services.
Kindergartens are an integral part of
the educational systems in the U.S.A.
School Six Doys a Week
General primary-secondary education in the U.S.S.R.
consists of a prescribed ten-year, six-day-o-week pro
gram of studies subordinated to the interests of the
regime in the formation of a Communist society. In
the U.S.A. the prescribed elementary curricula and the
secondary curricula of prescribed ond elective courses
extend over a twelve-year period, five days a week, in
the interests of the development of educated citizens
able to contribute as individuals and in groups to their
own welfare and to that of society as a whole.
In the U.S.S.lt pupils are expected to participate in
extracurricular work-activities sometimes known as
"voluntary-compulsory" programs. These work-activities
are centrally controlled and intergrated with the
primary-secondary curricula for the benefit of the slate.
In the U.S.A. extracurricular activities ore school activi
ties which usually develop in keeping with the interests
of the children. In general, they originate spontane•
ously and result in educational dividends for the
children.
On their own initiative, youngsters who
have reached the minimum age for work-generally
16 years for non-hazardous occupations-may engage in
paid port-time work after school hours and in paid
sum mer employment.
Student Has Little Choice
The U.S.S.R. party-state aims to determine, through
its notional planning mechanism, the skills which are
needed ond the proportion of the student population
to be trained in each skill. The more brilliant student
in the U.S.S.R. has some individual freedom of choice;
the slate retains control over curriculum content and
methods of instruction and distribution of students
among academic fields, adjusting all to suit prevailing
political doctrine and current manpower requirements
of the Soviet economy.
Political indoctrination normally is included in course
content throughout the curriculum-in the natural and
social sciences, in language ond literature, in the arts
ond in other disciplines. In addition, specific courses
in the fundamentals of the prevailing political doctrine
are required of students regularly enrolled in institu
tions of higher learning. Students are expected to
interpret their studies from the point of view enunciated
by the state. Natural sciences and mathematics re
ceive major emphasis.
Students in the U.S.A. are free to explore the various
vocational and professional fields. According to their
capacities, they are free to elect any field of employ
ment in which they can meet the technical requirements;
they may change their individual jobs or positions and
shift from one field to another in keeping with their
22
space journal
own interests and desires. Under the guarantees pro
vided by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the
U.S.A., they are free to make their own political in
terpretations, whether or not these interpretations are
consonant with those of the political party in. power.
Vocational education in the U.S.S.R. usuolly is termi
nal training for a specific job or type of work needed
by the slate. Vocational education is provided in
schools administered by the Chief Directorote of Lobor
Reserves under the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers and in
schools organized by the ministries and agencies for
their own employees and for workers for whom they
are operationally responsible.
Semi-Professional Training
Vocational education in the U.S.A. is an integral part
of public school offerings at the secondary and technical
levels. Vocational training in the U.S.A. is on-and-off
the-job training provided by orgonizations and agencies
concerned with the specialized training of their em
ployees by institutions assisting individuals in their
efforts to advance themselves.
Semiprofessional schools and technicians in the
U.S.S.R. are responsible for preparing students to ren
der a single specific "support" service to persons
considered qualified in a professional field. Advance
ment from semiprofessional to professional status is
unlikely in the U.S.S.R.
Semi-professional training in the U.S.A. is sufficiently
brood to help individuals acquire professional knowl
edge and techniques essential for employment in their
chosen field and is prerequisite to study leading to full
professional status. Advancement from semiprofessional
training to professional training and stotus is common
in the U.S.A.
Higher education in the U.S.S.R. aims to prepare quali
fied speciolists-with the accepted political point of
view-to serve the needs of the state. Diploma work
for which no degree is awarded roughly approximates
the level of the thesis requirement for the first profes
sional degree in the U.S.A.
Degrees Given at 2 Levels
For researchers and teachers a degree moy be
awarded at each of two successive levels ofter advanced
or postgraduate study.
The first, or candidate of
sciences, degree may be awarded after a three-year
course roughly approximating the level of the doctoral
programs in the U.S.A. Those recognized in the Soviet
scientific and academic world may be permitted lo en
roll in the advanced postgraduate program leading to
the second, or doctor of sciences, degree.
In summary, service to the Soviet state is exacted from
students in the U.S.S.R. in return for state-provided
educational programs. As a surcharge on their economy,
the people of the U.S.A. provide educotional programs
for their own advancement and welfare and, in turn,
for the welfore of society os a whole."
Hand in hand with progressive educational
policies and superior teaching staffs go the
physical plants. The showplace of Soviet edu-
·,i
�cation is the University of Moscow, which is
ously customary, and by
certainly one of the most imposing centers of
Americans and other Western scientists are
learning in the world.
attending
The main building is
technical
meetings
and
32 stories high and it hos over 2,000 rooms.
traveling extensively throughout the Soviet
In fact, one authority hos likened it to a
Union.
typical large American hotel.
The central
building is called the Palace of Science, which
is bounded on each side by dormitories cap
able of housing 6,000 students.
The edifice
includes
classrooms,
museums,
auditoriums,
libraries, laboratories, and a wide variety of
small conference rooms.
Other buildings are
scattered throughout the city to house various
faculties.
It is suspected that already some
thing like three-quarters of a billion dollars
hove been spent on this enormous project.
The professors who teach the university's
25,000 students are well paid.
The basic
monthly salary of a professor is reported to
be
$1,500 and an additional amount of
money is earned if he writes a textbook (the
rate of compensation here is 2000 rubles, or
approximately $500.00 for each 23 typewrit
ten
pages.
This
Is
indeed
a
wonderful
remuneration.)
Evidence shows that despite the conditions
imposed by a dictatorship, the Russians are
quite strong in o wide variety of fields from
mathematics, astronomy, and solid state phys
ics to atomic energy, rocketry, and satellite
technology.
Notional Academy of Sciences he would pick
up another 2500 rubles a month.
This is more
Many Western scientists believe
that freedom in the sense we know it is not
essential to scientific progress, and such au
thorities as Dr. von Braun, of the Army Bal
listic Missile Agency, and Dr. Furnas, of the
University of Buffalo, hove clearly demon
strated that important progress can be and Is
being made in a dictatorial community.
Dr. von Braun has pointed out that the Ger
mans made enormous headway in rocketry
and aeronautics while under the political dic
tatorship of Hitler.
He emphasized that "as
far as personal freedom of movement is con
cerned, as well as free exchange of ideas
In the
Should a professor become a member of the
strictly
scientific and
technological
sphere, it would simply be misleading to as
sume that things (in wartime Germany) were
much different than in a free country."
Dr.
than $500.00 a month and is a very respect
Furnas said, at a meeting considering what
able addition to his salary. Should he be
come academician it would bring him up to
we may expect during "The Next Hundred
an even higher salary, and he may be able to
get up to $50,000 o year for all his accom
plishments (Harvard's top professorial salary
is $20,000 a year.)
It is reported that his
medical expenses are handled by the gov
..
Russian
the some token
ernment and that his children con be edu
cated at no cost, thereby affording him
Years," that he had a confession to make:
"For a long time I have felt that freedom in
initiative played o port in science. I have
heard true science could only grow in com
parative freedom. The demonstration of what
has been accomplished by Soviet science, in
terms of objectives obtained over a 30-yeor
period, have disproved this.
I do not think
further savings. Taxes and rent ore also low.
Surely the life of o scholar is attractive in
that the results obtained by the Soviets are
Russia.
ing to benefit humanity in the long run-over
Incentives are plainly high to en
courage academic careers.
the types of scientific achievement that is go
one hundred years.
Many Western authorities feel that, con
trary to popular belief, there is a considerable
amount of freedom of science in the Soviet
For this, freedom is best.
But in particular areas, science can grow and
flourish in an atmosphere not free." Western
science is beginning to heed such warnings.
This feeling has been considerably
Turning now to the diffusion of technologi
strengthened during recent years, particularly
cal and scientific knowledge, we have again
since the death of Stalin.
Russian scientists are now traveling to foreign
found ourselves in a rather awkward situation.
Since World War II we have lived in a state
countries in greater numbers than was previ-
of semi-isolation from world science, largely
Union.
It is evident that
23
space journal
�Dilia Asipova, assistant of the optics department of Moscow University's physics faculty conducting scientific
research on the influence of temperature on intensity of infrared absorption. (Photo by D. Sholomovich)
because of the partial, and temporary, eclipse
lack of knowledge of what they are doing,
of Western European scientific output.
The
and, as a consequence, there has been an
US was not immediately prepared for the post-
enormous amount of duplication in research:
war Soviet technological onslaught, and un
many things we should know we simply do not
fortunately reacted to
know of because our scientists do not read
heartedly.
MIG's, ICBM's and
Russian and translations are few.
Sputniks to change our minds about achieve
There is good evidence that the Russians
ments in science and technology in the Eura
have developed very efficient methods of
sian heartland.
translating and diffusing foreign knowledge.
In recent years, and particularly since Sput
They have a large, centralized clearing agency
nik I, American scientists have become more
which collects and disseminates scientific in
than conscious of the value and desirability
formation prepared and distributed by scien
of knowing about what the Russians are writ
tists and engineers from all corners of the
ing and publishing.
We know there are thou
world.
It is reported that Soviet scientists
sands of Soviet scientific reports and journals
often have a Russian translation of an impor
which
United
tant French, German, English, American, or
States (particularly by the Library of Con
other foreign publications before the scientists
gress), but they generally serve no purpose
in the country of its origin have read the
other than to gather dust.
original editions.
have
been
received
in
the
Few scientists in
the US read Russian, and translation facilities
The Soviet Union's All Union Institute of
This has resulted in an appalling
Scientific and Technical Information has a
are lacking.
24
it slowly and half
It took Russian
space journal
�permanent staff of about 2300 translators,
abstractors, and publishers.
These ore sup
plemented by a port time staff of 20,000
translators and abstractors.
The institute re
leases thirteen abstract journals that contain
each year more than 400,000 abstracts of
scientific articles appearing in journals repre
senting more than 80 countries.
The institute
translates, indexes and abstracts some 1400
of the l 800 scientific journals which are re
leased in the United States of America.1
Compared with this system, what have we
done in the US to facilitate the diffusion of
knowledge of foreign scientific and techno
logical progress and developments?
For
tunately, the American government is begin
ning to realize the extent of the problem and
some important efforts hove been made. There
is a variety of organizations of a public and
private nature that do some work in the field
of interest, and, while much remains to be
accomplished, we hove moved ahead. For
example, the House Subcommittee on Gov
ernment Information has held hearings on the
subject and it is expected that progress will
be rapid towards establishing a necessary
government clearing agency. The Govern
ment Office of Technical Services is planning
to increase its contributions very rapidly.
Probing efforts are being mode in many dis
tinct areas, and it remains to be seen if we
end up with a large central clearing house
run by the government, or rather, a series of
smaller, privately managed operations.
We receive about 20,000 Soviet scientific
reports and journals a year, but only a small
fraction is translated or even summarized.
An example of the duplication of work re
sulting from the lack of knowledge of Russian
scientific progress is given by a case cited by
the National Science Foundation.
It was
learnetl that several American industries spent
five years of research and hundreds of thou
sands of dollars on the design of electrical
circuits only to discover that the work had
been fully described in a Soviet scientific
publication well before the research had be
gun in the US.
By the some token, it is interesting to know
that, contrary to general belief, the radio
'Including SPACE Journal.
frequencies used in Sputniks I and II were
publicized well before the October and
November, 1957, launchings. Indeed, in the
Soviet journal Radio, the frequencies were
published at least four months prior to the
launchings of the vehicles. Much has been
made in this country of the supposed fact that
we were not informed of the frequencies prior
to the establishment in orbit of Sputnik I.
Good translation and diffusion services would
hove kept our scientists up to dote on Soviet
progress and planning. Russia may not re
lease much, but it does release something.
This "something" cannot be ignored.
Compare the Russian clearing house dis
cussed earlier with its present counterpart in
this country, called the Office of Technical
Services. This boasts a total of less than 40
persons who index and abstract technical re-
Senior student Galina Kolenchuk working on her grad
uation
paper
"Electrochemical
methods
for
defining
uranium·· in the polargraphy and ammeter laboratory
of the analytical chemistry department
University. (Photo by D. Sholomovich)
of
Moscow
�It operates on research programs
The Consultant's Bureau, Inc., yearly pub
which are carried out under contract for our
lishes about 48,000 pages of Soviet scientific
government, and releases about 700 reports
translations, which moves into a region of
a month on sponsored projects.
some 12 million words.
ports.
It translates 28 major
There is a considerable belief that the De
Soviet journals in chemistry, metallurgy, elec
partment of Commerce, which 'has the respon
tronics, biology, physics, and geology, as well
sibility
as certain books and articles of related fields.
to maintain a clearing
house
for
information of a scientific and technical na
The
ture, does not operate very efficiently. How
20,000 pages of material on Soviet scientific
ever, many officials say that, rather than build
progress in biology and medical science.
up a large government institution similar to
has a summary review of 200,000 pages and
the All Union Institute in Soviet Russia, it
during 1958 it is expected lo increase its
would be better for private groups to pre
production to 30,000 pages of material taken
pare their own journal and abstracting in
from 400,000 pages of research in geo
dices for the scientific world. Possible finan
physics, atomic energy, and electronics.
Pergamon
Institute
translates
about
It
and
In 1953 the Association of American Uni
foundations could, of course, be accorded.
versities made the following statement in a
Others feel that the government should di
series on the "Rights and Responsibilities of
rectly aid in the translation of journals and
Universities and Faculties": " ... to fulfill their
cial
assistance from
the
government
indices , particularly those from the Soviet
functions the members and university faculties
Union, thereby assuring a nationwide dis
must continue to analyze, test, criticize, and
tribution of material to contracting agencies,
reassess existing institutions and beliefs, ap
private enterprises, research centers, and uni
proving when the evidence supports them,
versities.
and disapproving when the weight of evi
2
There is some encouraging information sug
dence is on the other side.
Such investiga
gesting that more Russian material is being
tions must not be confined to the physical
translated in the US.
world.
The National Research
The acknowledged fact that moral,
Corporation of Atlanta,
social, and political progress have not kept
Georgia, has recently added to its technical
pace with mastery of the physical world shows
and
Development
staff one of the nation's leading authorities
on Soviet Russia, and other firms have taken
similar steps.
The Pergamon Institute of New
York is busy translating technical documents,
and the Consultant's Bureau, Inc., does a
considerable amount of work in this field.
The Soviet's journal of Applied Mathematics
and Mechanics is to be translated and re
sults of importance for designers of airplanes
and rockets should become more readily avail
able. Financial support to both Pergamon and
the American Society of American Engineers
hos reportedly been arranged. At the present
time up to 40 Soviet scientific journals are
regularly translated within the country, both
with government and with nongovernment
support.
�II is interesting lo know that there are about 15,000 scientific
1ournals appearing eoch month throughout the world, and ,uch
journals contoin anywhere from a few lo a hundred or more
articles and reports.
26
space journal
the need for more intensified research, fresh
insights, vigorous criticism, and inventiveness.
The scholar's admission requires the study
and examination of unpopular ideas, of ideas
considered abhorrent and even dangerous.
For just as in the case of deadly disease, or
the military potential of on enemy, it is only
by intense study and research that the nature
and extent of the danger can be understood
and defenses against it perfected." Today,
the very basis of our educational system is
being probed in this light, and current in
vestigations and criticisms across the land
give promise of producing far-reaching re
sults.
The US is now taking stock of its educa
tional situation and several foundations ore
sponsoring searching studies of our system.
Our private, and free, universities are proud
of their rich heritage and know they must
work hard and long to survive in a socialistic
�In a laboratory of Moscow University-Left to right,
Emilio Perevalova, M.Sc. Chemistry; Academician (one
of top Soviet scientists) Alexander Nesmeyonov, and
Tatyana Tolstaya, M.Sc. Chemistry. (Photo by D. Sholo
movich)
world. One of the greatest endeavors in
history to obtain privately subscribed support
is the "Program for Harvard College," which
will attempt -;o raise $82 ½ million.
First and foremost, $16 million will go to
support new faculty salaries, not including $5
million for additional professorial appoint
ments. This is a very respectable amount of
money going to further the support of teach
ers and to bring their salaries up to a signifi
For students, $8 ½ million in
cant level.
scholarships and other financial aids will be
made available. The library endowment will
be increased by $15 million, and approxi
mately $15 million will go into facilities. To
improve the so-called "climate of scholar
ship" about $25 million will be spent. There
may be some doubts as to the validity of
establishing so much money for "climate of
scholarship," rather than further increasing
the amount for faculty salaries, but at least
this is a step in the right direction, and may
be indicative of what we are to expect from
enlightened American educational circles in
the age of science and technology into which
the world has progressed.
In a commencement address at Harvard
University, President Kirk of Columbia stated
the following, "The primary function of a
great university is the pursuit and the trans
mission of knowledge, that knowledge which
is the basis of genuine wisdom because it may
be regarded hopefully as valid for all time.
A search for such truth is never ending, but
the true university . . . is the foremost in
stitution devised by man, in which this quest
can be carried on free from the limitations of
conforming in teaching or in research to any
currently accepted ideas, and free as one
may ever be from the influences of special
pleading and vested interest and selfish ambi
tions. Such a university is the arsenal-the
one greatest arsenal-with which men's minds
can be equipped to battle against the forces
of ignorance and prejudice which are forever
reaching out of the mire to clutch at the hu
man soul and drag it down. A university like
Recommendations for National Science
Foundation Research and
Amounts Voted by Congress
Appropriation
Fiscal Year
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
.s
Presidential
Recom mendotion
225,000
3,500,000
4,750,000
8,000,000
12,250,000
16,000,000
40,000,000
40,000,000
$
475,000
14,000,000
15,000,000
15,000,000
14,000,000
20,000,000
41,300,000
65,000,000
this-is the focal point of the hopes of man
kind."
With this we can close our inquiry into the
educational background to the Russian chal
lenge. We believe our great, free unive.-si
ties have no peers on the planet, but beneath
and around them lies an immense zone of
uncertainty. Will our primary, scondary and
university systems (which must provide us with
the bulk of our educated men) become suffi
ciently strong to answer the requirements of
the Space Age? We can only hope that the
many weaknesses inherent in these schools
will be discovered, analysed and corrected.
This is the one great answer to the Russian
Space Challenge to the free world.
27
space journal
�>
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- --_;._
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•
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�WE KNOW how to machine metal parts to your specifications within
.0005 of an inch.
WE WILL meet your delivery schedule.
2300 CLIFTON ROAD
30
space journal
NASHYILLE, TENNESSEE
�SPACE SYMPOSIUM
By
Col.
J.
G .
Mayton
f
I
to overtake the US in o molter of fifteen or
twenty years, according to the statements of
Col. Joseph G. Moyton 1, o graduate of
o Ru ,ion college in Monchurio
He ol,o ot
tended the Orienlol In 1,tule where ,rudent, were
trained for diplomatic service in the for Ea1I
under the Czorht regime. He received hi, A.8.
(19211 ond MA (1922) from lhe University of
Cobfornio ond his Ph.D. (1929) from the Brook•
ings Groduote School of Economics ond Govern•
menl (now Brooking, lnslitulion), Ho moiored in
economics ond poiitlcol science, with special
emphod, on Runio ond the for Eo,t. Col.
Moyton served 01 Air force liolson officer ond
interpreter In connect,on with the Big Three
Conference ot Yollo. He is a con,ultont with
Notional Re,eorch and Development Corporation.
her own leaders.
Some will argue that Soviet Russia is al
ready ahead of the US in scientific explora
tion.
The launching of the three Sputniks into
orbit is regarded os one of the foremost
achievements of Soviet scientists and engi
neers. The scientific world and the man in
the street were astounded when the Russians
achieved these magnificent feats. Undoubt
edly it was a great scientific achievement, and
In the preceding two sections of this study,
the authors surveyed Soviet Russia's technical
It was also a masterstroke politically from
advance and her educational preparations in
the Communist point of view. Russia scored a
the field of science and engineering which
psychological victory which is not likely to be
hove mode such progress possible. In this
erased.
section, the aim will be to analyze briefly and
Broadly speaking, in the general field of
concisely the political, economic, and military
science and in engineering, the US continues
significance of
to be oheod of Soviet Russia. Industrially,
Russia's
accomplishments in
these directions.
No one con deny that Russia's advance in
'J
no one con toke that "first" away from her.
Russia is still no match for the US.However,
under the stimulus of five or six Five-Year
science and engineering hos been sizeable.
Plans, the Russians have mode tremendous in
As Defense Secretory Neil H. McElroy said
dustrial progress by concentrating their man
ofter the Russians hod orbited their second
power and resources almost exclusively on
satellite: " ...the fact that they did get o
heavy industry. Since World War
couple of satellites into the air and into
USSR hos more than doubled its production
II, the
orbit indicated a degree of scientific sophisti
of such strategic key materials as steel, pig
cation which hos got to make this country
iron, crude petroleum, coal, and cement. It
respect the Russion scientific capability ...
"
claims a sizeable increase in electric power
This is especially significant considering the
production,
almost
approaching
our
own,
fact that less than fifty years ago Russia was
and shows similar advances in the produc
regarded os being quite backward by West
tion of cotton and woolen fabrics.
ern standards. The notion was then primarily
significant hos been Russia's superior position
agricultural; the Industrial Revolution, which
in the design and production of jet aircraft
by that time hod already overtaken oil of
and its use in transportation.
Western Europe, was still in its very infancy in
US, as the foremost industrial country of the
Russia. Yet, today ofter o lapse of only half
world, also shows sizeable gains in the some
a century, she is the world's second great
period, its rote of increase appears to be for
industrial notion, and entertains the ambition
less than that of Soviet Russia.
Most
Although the
31
space journal
�MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL MILESTONES
/I ;· I
, I/
I
'I
1949
---- -- 1s1
1st
1st
I
,
-----------A-Bomb
H-Bomb
Satellite
USA
1945
1952
1958
USSR
1949
1953
1957
For your future convenience-but in the meantime use our Huntsville facilities
HOLi DAY INN HOTEL
32
space journal
�2926
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-- 31
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ICBM PRODUCTION
SATELLITE WEIGHTS
• Sen, Kennedy-Aug , 1938
(Con9,,.ulo"ol Re101dJ
This hos led some observers to suggest that
behind in missile development or in the de·
if the progressive rote of industrial growth
velopment of new and more destructive or
claimed by the USSR continues, the loller
foster weapons.
could catch up with us within a decode or
two,
as
Soviet leaders
maintain.
This state of affairs hos prompted many
Should
geopolitical analysts to suggest that o stale
that happen, Soviet Russia could gain not only
mate may eventually develop in the armament
in political prestige, but also in economic
race between the US and her allies on the
power, with all the advantages that such
one hand and the USSR on the other.
power con bestow.
fear of retaliation would prove a strong de
a
formidable
She would then become
competitor
in
world
trade.
terrent.
The
This would restrain Russia for more
She could also score a tremendous victory
than the US since aggression is alien to our
through her foreign aid program, especially
military and foreign policy.
in the underdeveloped areas of the world
herence to the United Notions Charter hos
into which she is trying to penetrate.
been attested ever since that organization
This
Our strict ad•
seems to be the current direction of the Soviet
come into existence.
foreign policy with its attendant idea of gain•
we foll behind in our scientific research and
ing converts to her way of life as well as
engineering
enabling her to force other notions to become
Soviet leaders feel that their military and
Such de
industrial power is strong enough to paralyze
pendence could then be exploited by Soviet
the US and the free world, they would not
economically dependent upon her
A politically and economically strong Soviet
Russia, extending her sway over many satel
lites in both Europe and Asia (and in Africa,
too) con truly present o serious threat to the
free world.
endeavors,
hesitate to use it.
leaders politically.
In possession of the
atomic
bomb, the hydrogen bomb, and the several
kinds of missiles, Soviet leaders already try
to throw their weight around.
Accordingly,
However, if and when
and
if
and
when
That is why recent Russian
accomplishments in science and engineering,
coupled with the rote at which her progress
in those directions is going, is of such concern
to the US and the other free notions of the
world.
With the advent of the Space Age in
which Russia hos already mode a head start,
the challenge hos become even more formida
ble.
In the hands of the US, science and
engineering is used for the benefit of all
if we ore to meet the Russian challenge, we
mankind; in Soviet hands it is o means of
must maintain equal,
extending Communist control and consequent
capability.
or
superior,
military
Furthermore, we must never foll
enslavement.
33
space journal
��SPACE SYMPOSIUM
d i a Iect ic a I m a t e r i a Ii s m-t h e r e a I c h a IIen g e
of soviet science
By
Karel Hujer was barn in 1902 in Cxocha
slavakia. A graduate of Prague UniverJlty with
a Doctor of Science degree in 1932, he has
done graduate work in France, at the University
of London, and at the University of Chicago. In
addition, he has olso studied astronomy in Indio,
Chino, Tibet, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and many
countries In Europe. In 1935 he was Invited to
India by Mahatma Ghandi and stayed at Ghandi's
ashram in Wardha where he lectured at the
evening gatherings. In 19-'9 he returned to Indio
at the invitation of Dr. Rajendra Prosod, presi
dent of the Republic of India. In 1957, ot tho
reque,t of the Prague National Observatory, Dr.
Hujer rotur�od to Ctechoslovoklo for o series of
lectures on tho odvoncoment of American astrono
my. He hos taught ot Iowa Wesleyan College ond
Michigan Stole College before coming to the
University of Chottanoogo where he is now in
charge of tho Jones Observatory. An author of
mony article, on o,tronomy, Dr. Hujer ls a fellow
of the American A,tronomicol Society ond the
Royal A,tronomicol Society of Landon; o mem
ber of the A,tronomlcol Society of the Pacific and
the Societe Astronomique de Fronce, OS well OS
many honorary societies.
After the first Soviet satellite blazed the
trail into outer Space, gr�ot concern was
expressed in this country as to the status
of American science and scientific education
compared to that of the USSR. Since that
time much hos been written and continues to
be written, almost to the degree of olormism,
on the marvelous advances of Russian science
in general, and Russian physics in particular.
This concern stands in odd contrast to the
complete indifference paid Soviet scientific
activity prior to Sputnik I. We need only
remind ourselves that as early as April, 1957,
Nesmeyonoff, president of the Soviet Academy
of Science, announced that Soviet scientists
were almost ready to launch their first arti
ficial satellite. The world, particularly America,
either ignored or foiled to heed this an
nouncement.
Only ofter the Sputniks began orbiting
around Earth was this ominous American
concern directed toward the startling Soviet
Dr.
Karel
Hujer
technological accomplishment. Yet in all the
countless comments on the Soviet technology
little reference hos been mode to the curious
and perhaps all important aspect in which
Soviet education most earnestly ond meticu
lously exposes ond interprets science: the
Soviet teacher of science, whether he is a
physicist, chemist, astronomer, mathematician,
sociologist, or biologist, must know how to
interweave his subject with that specific philo
sophical outlook or Weltonschouung known os
dialectical materialism.
Whereas scientific
technology hos on immediate, sensational,
and ponderous impact on human society,
dialectical materialism cumulatively builds up
its influence with the lapse of time, the conse
quence of which portentously tends to super
sede the effects of on H-bomb or the
accomplishment of a trip to the Moon. Why?
Because it is the idea which in the course of
time shapes and motivates events in the
physical and material world.
What is dialectical materialism? In what
woy is this doctrine closely interwoven with
Soviet science and scientific instruction? At
present this philosophical doctrine is the offi
cial, authoritative school of thought behind
the Iron Curtain; and all students ore in
evitably channeled through its indoctrination
whatever their particular scientific field may
be. As on illustration, it is not unusual to find
as a foreword to a serious Communist work
on natural science Die Entwicklung im Uni
versum (Evolution in the Universe) by Dr.
Walter Hollitcher, professor of philosophy at
Humboldt University in East Berlin, a quotation
from Stalin:
Everywhere, from ostronomy to sociology, the
ideo thot in the world there is nothing eternal,
thot everything undergoes constant chonge
ond
35
space journal
�evolves,
encounters
meons
tho!
noture
from
evolution.
we
the
constont
must
look
slondpoint
confirmation.
upon
of
everything
movement
This
in
ond
This meons thot the spirit of dialectics
permeates the entire contemporary science.
Dialectics, the reality of change_ caused by
struggling opposites, although set forth in the
nineteenth century by Hegel, as an idea has
been known since the ancient Greek school
of Heraclitus. For Hegel, however, dialectics
was in the realm of theology and philosophy-,
the struggle of opposites being between the
absolute, Divine Mind and the finite mind of
man. Hegel's dialectics is, then, a dialectics
of absolute idealism. Likewise, materialism,
the belief in the primacy and objective reality
of matter, had its birth in ancient Greece.
Revived in the eighteenth century, it became
fashionable among French materialists until
it was shaped and refined into the popular
system of Auguste Compte's positivism. This
Such a concept was formed by his life
long friend and supporter Engels and con
tinued vaguely and cumulatively by various
followers, Lenin being the foremost. Thus we
have at present the dialectical materialism of
the Marxist-Leninist version that directs the
way in which science textbooks must be writ
ten wherever the Communists have political
control. The Marxists are usually inclined to
attach the adjective scientific to their system
of philosophy. After all, Marx denied the
need for any philosophy, and Engels declared
that philosophy died as science grew. But
it is evident that neither Marx nor Engels
could foresee the fruits of their own labor.
Apparently neither could have imagined on
ominous, mushroom cloud which would arise
concept occurred in the midst of the golden
on the horizon of the mid-twentieth century, a
era of physical science.
cloud which would prove beyond doubt that
The progressive
drift away from Hegelian idealism began with
science without philosophy becomes a grave
Feuerbach, Bauer, and other young Hegelians
social menace-even for the most dialectical
and continued until the arrival of two out
of materialists.
standing personalities, Karl Marx and Fredrich
Nevertheless, when the socialist panacea of
Engels, who were to formulate an ideology
Marxist philosophy was firmly fixed in the
that would shape the destiny of the twentieth
Communist state, the picture of the world and
century.
of human society was described as perfect,
The very fact that Marx and Engels
appeared at that historical moment seems
logical, and unquestionable.
Communist cul
symptomatic, for they both claimed the scien
tural
liners
tific age to be the age of the proletarians.
Marxism-Leninism into a final code and un
planners
and
party
shaped
As a reaction against Hegelian idealism,
failing guide beyond which there could be no
both Marx and Engels more than anyone else
other appeal except treasonable diversionism.
are responsible for the historic combination
In other words, Marxism-Leninism became the
In their view
one belief in the order of the Communist
of dialectics with materialism.
science and the scientific method completely
Socialist society.
justified this union.
It was in the middle of
basic articles, there is no science except that
the nineteenth century, pregnant with scien
science which serves and supports the Com
tific discoveries of the greatest importance,
munist Party.
that Marx shaped his ideas.
3b
Marx, however, never thought of constructing
an all-inclusive philosophical or ideological
system and concept of the world.
He believed he
According to one of its
In this way physical science,
particularly astronomy,
enjoys the greatest
had discovered the key to human life in the
freedom in an otherwise rigidly controlled
economic categories in which his materialism
system because it is least open to the peril
took the form of economic determinism, an
of interference from Communists cultural plan
idea strangely parallel to the present view of
ning.
the deterministic Universe of the physicist.
tronomy that is supposedly associated with
Marxian dialectics takes the form of class
the most effective means of propaganda for
struggle, and the social and historic existence
certain favorite Communist beliefs which the
of man becomes the measure of everything.
official party line considers as standard and
space journal
On the contrary, it is physics or as
�patronizing guidance for the human mosses
and the key to the promised land for the
proletariat of the world.
Thus in the USSR
the social and economic position of o good
physicist is equal to that of o cabinet minister
and indeed may be o source of envy for his
Western counterpart.
The inevitable question arises, then: What
ore these qualities of physics and astronomy
that ore so appealing to the Communist cul
tural planners?
Let us briefly look at some
of those qualities of physical science which
bolster research to such o surprising degree
in the Commmunist countries.
Above all it is
important to the state that the Universe is
knowable and deterministic-in other words,
that the Universe is dialectically materialistic.
There is nothing supernatural about it.
o Universe without God.
It 1s
This means that it
1s only o question of time before man solves
all of the mysteries which hove in the post
been described as the handiwork of God.
This, then, is basically the Communist Uni
verse.
But even more startling is the fact that
the Western world holds a view of the Uni
verse which is not too for removed from that
of the Communists.
It holds this view despite
its apparent religiosity.
Let us examine the
origin of this materialistically
philosophical
point of view.
The formative period of Marxism belongs
to the great age of physical science which
flourished in the nineteenth century. Material
istic
philosophy
received
fresh
impetus
in
1798 when Laplace published his sensational
This comero wos installed ot the Kozokh Academy of
Sciences to toke pictures of the third Soviet ortiflciol
Eorth sole/lite. (Photo by I. Budnevich)
mathematical formulation of his hypothesis on
the origin of the solar system, Exposition du
Systeme du Mende. It is said that Napo
leon, a jealous supporter of cultural activity
1n
the
growing
empire,
commented
while he was preparing to bestow the title
of marquis on Laplace that he could not
find the name of God mentioned in the book.
Laplace retorted: "Your majesty, I did not
need him."
attitudes
This incident is typical of the
found during the growth
of the
physical sciences during the nineteenth cen
tury.
Another example is characterized by
37
space journal
�the astronomer Leverrier's deterministic calcu
tions of ultimate particles of physical matter
lation of the position of the unknown planet
and that any idea that it had a divine begin
Neptune-a triumph of Newtonian mathemati
ning as the result of God's work is merely a
cal physics.
The idea was further exemplified
relic of man's primitive mythology.
The im
in physics by Kelvin and Helmholtz and their
plication here is obvious, they feel; it is only
deterministic and rather gloomy views that
a question of time and systematic research
the total energy in the Universe would even
until man's intellect, a product itself of chemi
tually be so diffused that the Sun's flow of
cal processes,
will discover these delicate
heat to Earth would eventually cease. A pic
vibrations and be able to create life in a test
ture was developed which saw the Universe
tube.
as merely a
complex
machine,
something
which could in time be reproduced on a
model scale by engineers and formalized by
the equations of mathematicians.
This, then,
The continuing success of science and lab
oratory triumphs encourage this bold assump
tion.
These
omens
have
produced
self-confidence, and the Marxist architects of
was the world view that nurtured Marxist
social reorganization feel assured that the
theories and one which reached its intellec
future belongs to them.
This same belief is
tual climax in the middle of the nineteenth
echoed by the present leaders of the Com
century with the work of such figures as Fara
munist world, as witness the Kremlin belief
day, Maxwell, and Darwin.
that "rime is on our side, we'll bury you."
Despite. all these self-confident boasts. the
Thus the triumphant march of science and
the Industrial Revolution which logically fol
lowed had a tremendous impact on the forma
tion of the philosophy and the social life of
man.
Together these two factors forecast a
free world still asks: Is dialectical materialism
the last word in human knowledge as the
Marxists so fervently believe?
Have we not
seen many times throughout the broad sweep
of
man's
histo vy
the proposal
of
similar,
new and redeeming age in which man was
categorical manifestoes?
to become the coordinator and finally the
also seen them pushed aside by circumstances
master of the laws of the Universe.
This view
and the very changes in the course of history?
is boldly set forth in the significant work
The briefest glance into the story of philoso
Life in the Universe, recently published by the
phy will show that dialectical materialism can
Soviet Academy of Sciences.
It was written
claim to be only one of many philosophical
by two outstanding Soviet scientists, the bio
systems that rose and flourished until they
chemist
completed their function or role and then
A.
I.
Oparin and the astronomer
And have we not
V. G. Fesenkov.
These two authors refer in
vanished into the dormant galleries of history
a
patriotic
and were recorded in the infinite annals of
friendly
and
manner
to
the
eighteenth century Russian scientist, M. V.
time.
Lomonosov; and they point to the fact that
among others the notorious scholasticism of
from the style of his writing Lomonosov was
the middle ages, contained an element of
tributary to the masters of his time.
Likewise
truth; but in each case the system itself was
Each of these many systems, including
Oparin and Fesenkov, in turn, ore subservient
converted to evil when it became vested in
to the new masters of this age when they
power and the idea of infallibility and per
quote from Engel's Dialectics of Nature, a
manence. The Marxist dogmatists are already
work little known to Western scientists but a
exposed to this historic peril when they speak
Bible for the Communist scientists. The views
authoritatively from the throne of their politi
of Oparin and Fesenkov coincide with this
cal sovereignty when they proclaim the in
context.
Life, they feel, including any higher
tellectual and philosophical
sovereignty of
state of consciousness and subsequent quali
dialectical materialism.
ties it involves, is only the natural result of
to that of the scholasticians confronting Gali
the cosmic evolution of matter.
leo
Both authors
maintain that life began in the complex vibra-
38
space journal
in
their
righteousness.
dogmatic
The situation is close
self-assurance
and
Now the Marxists fail to profit
�from the truth and the reality of historical
truth, and thus they sow the seeds of their
own philosophical destruction.
We cannot, however, be lulled into a
sense of false security by a knowledge of the
weakness of a philosophical system that now
governs the lives of on essentially simple
people. Marx never dreamed that his ideas,
intended for on industrial civilization, could
ever be planted in what was and still basic
ally is a peasant Russia. But they were; and
Russia is on extremely vigorous notion and so
ore the effects of on utterly Western philo
sophical system.
Before the influence of the
doctrines of dialectical materialism so avidly
cultivated by the rulers of Communist do
minions will spend itself, we hove no less than
half a century to look for immediate and
unpredictable results for better or worse with
residual vestiges lasting for centuries.
Here is something of a portentous nature
to look for, and it is of great importance to
mankind today. Although our terrestiol vani
ties may be concerned as to who will be first
to reach the Moon, it is incomparably more
important to know what our earthly mind will
carry along into the wastelands of the lunar
reaches: Will it carry the ideas of a semi
civilized and tribal caveman, or will it be
those of a man who is admittedly his brother's
keeper? In the meantime our only consolation
Viktor Spitsin of the USSR Academy of Sciences is
shown lecturing on inorganic chemistry in Moscow Uni
versity (Photo by D Sholomovich)
rests in the logical conclusion of history that
is forever valid for every civilization and for
every individual: the truth that power cor
rupts. In our case, looking across the politi
cal barrier, we slate that the authoritarian
Marxists today, no molter how loudly they
proclaim themselves the custodians of science
and scientific progress, will ultimately per
form by the very power they possess all the
acts that invariably will choke the spirit of free
scientific inquiry, the only true condition for
the advancement of science.
39
space journal
�space reporter
GOOD FOR MAN, BEAST, AND ICBM
with
on effective
exposure
time
of
five
One more guided missile headache hos
billionths of one second, hos been announced
been cured by General Electric's guided mis
by Electro-Optical Systems, Inc., of Pasadena,
sile engineers. And they cured this one with
California.
that reliable old standby Bromo-Sellzer.
GE is developing nose cones for the Atlas
Dr. A. M. Zarem, president of the com
pany and developer of the camera, said
ICBM and the Thor IRBM at its facility in
that it would prove highly valuable in helping
Philadelphia.
to solve special problems in the study of
To
house
recording
instruments
during
lest flights of these missiles, GE's engineers
intense explosions, of ultra-sonic shock waves,
and of special nuclear reactions.
developed o spherical capsule which is car
The novel feature of the camera is that
ried in the missile nose cone and is ejected
it contains o hermetically sealed, lorge-ope
before the nose cone hits the earth. Elec
ture, wide-angle Kerr cell shutter which pos
trically
sesses no moving parts. It is pulsed electroni
operated
markers
help
engineers
cally to obtain photographs of extremely brief
exposures. Dr. Zorem said that with further
development and refinement of techniques
used, the camera may be capable ultimately
of toking pictures with exposures of o frac
tion of a billionth of a second.
To illustrate the speed of the camera, it was
pointed out that the satellite Sputnik, moving
at approximately
18,000
miles per hour,
would travel only one-and-one-half
thou
sandths of on inch-a distance less than the
thickness of a human hair-during the time
of one exposure.
The camera was developed for the Samuel
Feltman Ammunition Laboratories at Picolinny
Arsenal, Dover, New Jersey.
locate
the capsule.
properly,
these
However,
lo
function
markers must be
delayed
for a few minutes before operation.
And here's where the Bromo-Seltzer comes
rn.
Bromo-Seltzer,
pocked
around
electrical
wires, delays completion of the electronic
circuit for the few minutes required for opera
The photographs show the electrical dis
integration of three aluminum wires, each
one-thousandth of an inch in diameter and
one-quarter of on inch long. Explosion of
the wires was photographed at three phases:
20-billionths of a second, 30-billionths of o
second, and 40-billionths of o second ofter
the discharge was started.
tion.
Considerable time hod been spent in per
fecting mechanical switches, none of which
worked satisfactorily. The engineering head
aches
involved
were
extremely
annoying
until GE's engineers found the answer in the
family medicine cabinet.
EXPOSURE· 5,000,000,000th OF ONE
SECOND
Development of the world's fastest cam
era shutter, capable of toking photographs
40
space journal
-· •·rTt j.• I f•·•.
Jl - I.
•• •JJI
\ ·t
I.,•....,r, 11"1
I, ·\. • • '
'\. I -::
�SPACE PROJECTION
a proposal for a village on the moon
By
H
Kumaga
rosh
examples of prefabricated structures designed
Hiroshi Kumagai was barn in Japan in
1931 and received a bachelor of engineering
degree in archi1ecture from lhe Tohoku Univer
sity in 1955. After graduation from college, he
worked in architectural and ,1,uctural design far
companies in both Jopon end the US. He ls a
member of the American Rocket Society, the
Space Travel Association of Japan, and the
Japanese Institute of Architects. He is presently
a member of the Gehre, D. Weed architectural
Orm end lives in Kalispell, Montono.
to meet unusual and rigorous environmental
conditions.
But the first scientists to visit the
Moon will be faced with conditions far more
hazardous than those existing at Earth's South
Pole.
In addition to the purely physiological
and psychological aspects of adjusting to life
on the Moon, our scientists will be subjected
to a gravity one-sixth that of Earth; bombard
If man is, as scientists and engineers spec
ulate, going to land on the Moon within the
next 30 years, it seems obvious that there
should be some preparation for habitation on
that barren satellite of Earth.
It behooves us
now to begin planning suitable structures for
ment by cosmic rays, X-rays, and meteors;
and extreme temperature changes, to name
but a few.
Their base on the Moon must be
designed and built to specifications which will
permit them to exist in such surroundings de
spite such dangers and inconveniences.
man's prolonged existence there; and the
Before we can proceed with an elaborate
problem, while being complex, is by no means
experimental program for lunar prefabrica
The solution to this
tions on Earth, we will need to know much
problem of constructing a village on the Moon
more about the environmental conditions on
completely insolvable.
lies initially in sending up prefabricated struc
the Moon.
tures or building materials by space ship or
through a continuing process of space re
Once the preliminary exploration of
search and exploration, it will be added to the
the lunar surface has been completed, space
basic architectural research which the leading
rocket.
As this data becomes available
cargo ships carrying prefabricated materials
architects and building construction engineers
can be launched from Earth and landed in se
will have undertaken.
Some of these condi
These
tions we already know, and we con begin
ships would be relatively economical in that
now to pion ways in which to cope with them.
they would not have a human crew and
For example, we know that on the Moon there
the complex and expensive equipment which
is a daily temperature differential between
would be needed to sustain a crew during the
midnoon
flight from Earth.
400 F.
lected areas on the Moon's surface.
Much valuable
basic
research
into
the
and
midnight
of
approximately
This compares with a maximum sea
sonal temperature variation, between winter
techniques of design, manufacture, and as
and summer, on Earth of only some 200 F. To
sembly of prefabricated housing has already
minimize the effects of these extreme temper
been accomplished-at least indirectly-by
ature differences, we could construct our shel
the scientific effort which has gone into the
ters underground-or undermoon, if the term
The shelters
be permissible-where the insulating proper
which protect our scientists participating in
ties of the lunar surface would lessen the
IGY activities at the South Pole are excellent
severity of such a change.
International Geophysical Year.
At least one geo-
41
space journal
�•
--
•
i
f
,... . ....,,..,
.. .
•.
♦
'
"
the consideration of horizontal loading due
,
to these forces.
-..«< ..
Since we know that the gravitational pull
of the Moon is six times less than that of
Earth, we can design structural beams and
columns with sectional areas six times less
than those required for similar construction on
Earth. This also means that we can erect taller,
relatively
heavier,
and
more
imaginative
structures within the limitations imposed by
the use of materials such as concrete, steel,
lead, lead glass, etc., which are necessary to
block out cosmic rays and X-rays.
For the moment, we must assume that the
early colonization of the Moon will be done
by scientists who will live in prefabricated
shelters built partially or wholly below the
lunar surface.
Architect Kumagai suggests that one of the Moon's
craters, such as Copernicus shown here, would be the
logical choice for a space station or his proposed village.
(Photo by Yerkes Observatory)
But later buildings for more
permanent residents need not be subsurface.
As our knowledge of lunar environmental con
ditions and the techniques of building con
struction on the Moon increases, we can build
bigger and more complex structures.
graphical feature of the Moon, the Ariadaeus
Rill near the lunar equator, suggests itself as a
possible subsurface site in which to construct
the first shelters.*
If no natural declivities,
overhangs, or caverns are to be found in the
rill, then it would be necessary to prepare
artificial ones by blasting them out of the
walls.
In addition to simplifying the problem
of temperature control, such a subsurface shel
ter would offer some protection against the
smaller of the meteors which our scientists must
expect.
Moreover we know that the Moon has
practically no atmosphere (about 1 0-4 of that
of Earth).
This fact simplifies at least one of
our problems: with little or no atmosphere,
heat from the Sun is for all practical purposes
by radiation only.
The problems incident to
the control of heat within our shelters are
then reduced.
For example, our structure
need
constructed
only
be
of
a
material
opaque to radiant heat in order to reduce the
temperature within. With no atmosphere there
con be no high winds, hurricanes, or torna
does such as we have on Earth.
42
The walls of
Once
the geology of the Moon is definitely known,
it may be possible to use indigenous material
for such construction purposes.
For those shelters to be built above the
lunar surface, we must rely on a plastic dome.
This dome will actually consist of a dome
within a dome.
The outer one will be com
posed of triangular plastic units, approxi
mately six inches thick, assembled with special
expansion joints. These units will be made
of a plastic which is strengthened by radio
activity, and they will contain lead.
Thus the
outer dome will be effective in stopping me
teoric ash and small meteors.
offer
It will also
some protection against cosmic
X-radiation.
and
It will be coated to reflect heat,
but it will allow some light to enter. Since the
outer dome will be a rigid structure, it need
not rely completely on an internal air pressure
to support it.
Three feet within the outer
dome will be a flexible, one-inch thick, inner
dome.
This dome must be airtight and must
be supported entirely by internal air pressure.
Since the stresses in it would be tensile rather
than compressive, it will consist of several
layers of plastic film reinforced by fiberglass.
our structure then can be designed without
The space between the two domes will be
*Eric Burgess, Satellites and Space/light, p. 120
filled with air at a pressure lower than that of
�,-- .,-:e journal
�the inner dome. This pressure differential will
balance the negative vertical force and the
gravitational force. Provided the outer dome
is large enough, it should be seen from the
Earth as a gleaming mirror when the Moon
is between the full and crescent phases.
Inside the dome, walls and roofs ore un
necessary for the individual buildings, but
these structures ore designed for special
function. Walls ore needed then for tempera
ture control or protective reasons. The atomic
power station must hove walls to protect
nearby buildings from thermal radiation, even
though the power station itself is located
within a crater the sides of which shield other
THE SIGHT in my opinion is
the source of che greatest benefit
co us, for had we never seen the
scars, and the sun, and the heaven,
have spoken about the universe
none of the words which we
would ever have been uttered.
Bue now che sight of day and
night, and the months and the
revolutions of the years, have
created number, and have given
us a conception of time, and the
power of enquiring about the
nature of the universe; and from
this source we have derived
philosophy, than which no great
er good ever was or will be given
by the gods co mortal man.
-Plato.
installations from radioactivity.
The solar
power building will hove walls consisting of
semiconducting units and these units will move
like louvres, always following the Sun. In the
daytime these units will produce electricity.
Cone-shaped reflectors around the building
will be used as refractory furnaces for the
smelting and refining of metals from ores
mined on the Moon.
For structures outside the plastic dome, the
walls must be both airtight and capable of
reducing cosmic and X-rodiation as well as
offering protection against meteors.
Such
walls could be made of concrete, plastics, or
steel. When concrete is utilized, as in the
WITH THE FLIGHTS of m
strurnenc-carrying
rockers
co
these nether reaches of the earth's
atmosphere-and
beyond-all
our old assumptions are bound co
be challenged. This is no time
for dogmatism.
-The Christiall Scie11ce Monitor.
It is the scars,
The scars above us, govern our
conditions ...
-King Lear.
43
space journal
�'
'
.
.'
. c:::::::J . : .. .
. · ,.. �-:
'I
,•
:
SITE & FIRST FLOOR PLAN
SCALE l"
200' 0"
VILLAGE ON THE MOON
FOR SCIENTISTS AND VISITORS
DESIGNED BY: Hiroshi Kumagai
t. ATOMIC POWER STATION
2. SOLAR POWER STATION
3. COMMUNICATION AND ASTRONOMICAL
OBSERVATORY BUILDING
4. CARBON DIOXIDE AND WASTE PRODUCTS DIS.
POSAL BUILDING
5. WATER, AIR AND MINERAL SUPPLY AND
REFINING PLANT
6. VEGETABLES AND PLANTS SUPPLY BUILDING
7. CHLORELLA REARING BUILDING
44
space journal
8. FISH REARING BUILDING
9. ROCKETS AND SPACESHIPS STANDS AND
PORT
I 0. ADMINISTRATION AND LIVING CENTER
I I. SPORTS CENTER
13. LUNAR TRANSPORTATION BUILDING
12. LUNAR PHYSICS AND MINERAL LABORATORY
14. BUILDING FOR AIR, LIGHT, TEMPERATURE AND
WATER VAPOR CONTROL OF DOUBLE PLASTIC
DOME
�case of the communication and astronomical
yond the immediate biological needs of our
building, both the inside and outside must be
scientific outpost, both the oxygen and the
coated with a lead plastic.
hydrogen obtained from the water could be
blocking
radiation,
this
In addition to
protective
coating
would also help retain the moisture in the
-
used as rocket or space ship fuels and oxi
dizers.
concrete and thereby strength'en it. This same
In the final analysis, while the landscape
technique of plastic-coated concrete will be
of the Moon may look rugged and forbidding
used in the lunar transportation building and
through the observer's telescope on Earth, it
the water, air, and minerals supply and re
may not present as formidable an obstacle to
fining building.
the architect as it appears. Its geography of
The lunar physics and mineral laboratory
fers almost unlimited possibilities for the archi
°
tect with imagination, resourcefulness, and a
Since the Moon's gravity is
knowledge of the environmental conditions
1 /6 that of Earth, this would be relative to
which will be supplied to him by the lunar
will be constructed with a floor inclined 18
to the horizontal.
a floor on Earth which has a 3
°
slope.
The
purpose of the inclined floor is to give the
probes and pioneers of the not too distant
future.
occupants of the lunar buildings a feeling akin
to that which they had on Earth. The furniture
for the buildings will be designed on the same
inclined principle.
The net effect will be to
give the scientist who works at a desk, sits at
a table, or lies in a bed approximately the
same gravitational orientation that he would
have in similar activities on Earth.
The problem of supplying oxygen for an
atmosphere within both individual buildings
and the plastic dome can be solved in two
ways.
3" ASTRONOMICAL REFLECTING TELESCOPE
60 to 160 Power-Famous Mt. Palomar Type! An Unusual Buy!
One is to cultivate ponds or tanks of
algae ch/ore/la pyre noidosa, a tiny water
plant.
See the Stars, Moon, Planets Close Up!
The other is to dissociate the water of
crystalization which may be present in the
rocks of the Moon.
Dr. Harold
C.
Urey be
lieves that at least some of the lunar minerals
are like the magnesium silicates which can
contain as much as 13 percent water of crys
talization.
If this is true, then 100 tons of
rock will yield 13 tons of water.
Heat from
the Sun can be utilized to obtain this water,
and electrolosis can then break the water
down into oxygen and hydrogen.
However,
not all the water thus obtained would be used
for the production of oxygen.
In addition to
that needed to sustain life, some of it will be
used to grow the ch/ore/la algae which will
produce oxygen; and some of it will be used
in hydroponic agriculture.
Further uses would
be in raising fish which would serve as an
economical supplement to the lunar diet. Be-
,..,-<-,,
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vt,\
.,
Assembled-Ready to use! You'll see the Ring8
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coated :l" diamete,· high-speed f 10 mirro1· .
Telescope comes equipped with a 60X eye
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liO to !GO power. An Of)tical Finde1· Telescope,
always so essential. is also included. Sturdy,
hardwood. po,·table tripod. Valuable STAR
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With this scope you can sec everythinii: as above
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gua1·anteed to give Lheoretical limit of resolution.
Rack and pinion focusing, hardwood tl'ipod, real
equatorial mounting only one adjustment follows
stars! Aluminum tube. G-power finder Lclescope.
2 standard size ey<'pieces and mounted Barlow lens
gi\'e you powers of 40X. HOX, 120:X. and 270X.
Free handbook and Chart. Shipping weight 25 lbs.
$74.50 f.o.b.
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We n,onuiocture the Satellite Telescopes used at Moonwatch Stations throughout America.
O,der by Stock No.-Send Check or M.0.-Sotisfa<tion or money bock!
WRITE FOR FREE GIANT CATALOG-HB
Over 1000 Optical Bargains
We are Astronomical Tele�cope headquarters l 80 page cata
log shows huge selection of Microscopes, 13inoculars,
Satellite Scopes, Solar Furnaces, lnfrared Sniperscopes,
Telescope Cameras, Camera Holde1· attachments. Magni
fiers, Lenses, Prisms, etc., optical parts and accessol'ies.
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.,
BARRINGTON, NEW JERSEY
45
space journal
�--METEORITES
GLOBAL REPORTING
United States
The 3-cent IGY commemorative stomp placed on first-day sole in Moy in Chicago depicts on
area of intense solar activity of a type which is currently being investigated during the IGY.
Superimposed above the solar disk is a detail from Michaelangelo's fresco "The Creation of
Adam."
Ervine Metzl, designer of the stomp, explain ed that "In the small confines of a postage stomp
we have endeavored to picture man's wonder at the unknown together with his determination to
understand it and his need for spiritual inspiration to further his knowledge."
Japan
Japanese and American scientists estimate that the launching site of the Soviet satellites and
intercontinental missiles is located in the Karakorum desert (Turkmenistan) at 41 ° north latitude
and 61 ° east longitude.
These figures were derived from calculations of the orbits of the
first two Russian satellites.
Russia
Under a recent picture in a Soviet newspaper was the following caption:
ship needs to circle the Earth is l
½
hours at the most.
"The time a space
The round trip to the Moon will require
10 days; while the trip in on elliptical orbit, intersecting the orbits of Venus and Mars, giving the
possibility of a return to the Earth, will toke at least one year."
46
space journa!
�United States
The journalism faculty of the University of California recently published the results of an in
vestigation into the treatment which the launching of Earth satellites received in the world press.
According to the survey, the average number of printed lines per newspaper is
Explorer II ... ........ .
Vanguard I ...........
Explorer Ill ............
Sputnik I ............. 700 lines
Sputnik II ... .... .. ... . 300 lines
Explorer I . .. .. .. ..... 75 lines
60 lines
55 lines
20 lines
England
•
The British Interplanetary Society, which is second largest of the national astronautical
societies, celebrates its 25th birthday this year. The organization now has 2500 members.
Its Journal of the British Interplanetary Society has been published for 17 years. In October,
1956, the society began publishing its very popular magazine Spaceflight.
Japan
According to a recent Japanese announcement, rocket engineers In Akita have developed
a "supersound [sic}" rocket. The rocket has two stages and will be launched during the IGY
for research purposes. The first test flights have already been made. The rocket weighs 300
pounds and is approximately 25 feet long. The first stage is reported to boost it to on altitude
of 1 2,000-15,000 feet.
Czechoslovakia
Loiko makes a reappearance in the form of Soviet propaganda. Sputnik ll's little canine
recently cropped up as an epitath on a card printed in Prague and widely distributed in eastern
Europe. Note the misuse of interplanetarian.
,·.
47
space journal
�-SPACE BOOKS
& FORTHCOMING
-
-----=- e w e d
Re v
by
J e n n i n g s
R a I p h E
D a n i e I s . J r .
J a m e s L
M .
D a v i d
Spacepower.
Stoiko.
By Donald Cox and Michael
262 pages.
Philadelphia: The John
Ray m
s
A k
n d
e n s
0
In his introduction to the book by Williams
and Epstein,
Dr. Wernher von Broun aptly
states: "With the advent of manmade satel
C. Winston Co. $4.50.
Messrs. Cox and Stoiko raise some pointed
lites, it is quite appropriate that there be a
example:
new edition of The Rocket Pioneers ... In cov
"What must I do now to prepare for the
ering the last 150 years, the authors take the
Space Age?" and "Where do
I go from
reader
here?"
convincing
astounded the conservative military men of
questions
answers.
in
For
Spacepower.
They
also
offer
some
This is not a technical book nor is
it space fiction.
It is a thoroughgoing and
thought-provoking
book
that
analyzes
changes about to take place.
the
It analyzes
from
Sir
William
who
Napoleonic Europe with a war rocket to the
present day Explorers and Sputniks. The au
thors ore interested in
the pioneering of
rockets, and they steer away from space
the changes that many men now alive will
travel.
undoubtedly see.
been achieved thus far.
It tells how information
Congreve
Their purpose is to show what has
They show how
gleaned from satellite-tracking systems will
Konstantin Ziolkovsky, physicist and mathe
begin having its effect on our civilization and
matician, provided theories that led to the
how every facet of our society will be affected
belief that space ships would have to be
-our farms, factories, jobs, travel, medicine,
powered by rocket motors; how Robert Hutch
homelife,
The
ings Goddard, father of American rocketry,
with
bridged the gap between theory ond accom
authors
our
probe
international
deeply
and
relations.
examine
startling clarity the hopes, needs, and prob
plishment
lems in the fantastic new world which man
rockets; how Hermann Oberth designed the
is building for himself.
first rocket ship,
sprinkled
with
The book is liberally
illustrations
created
in
the
by
actually
making
and
firing
though it never left the
ground; how Wernher von Braun and his team
fertile imagination of N. Stonilla.
designed the supersonic rocket-V-2.
The Rocket Pioneers. By Beryl Williams and
of course, the book tells of the VfR, the
Samuel Epstein. 241 pages. New York: Julian
German Society for Space Travel; the Ameri
Messner, Inc. $3.75.
can Rocket Society; the Peenemuende Group
48
space journal
And,
�-of oil who deserve to be known as the
to do.
great rocket pioneers.
guard in America's space program results in
They deserve it be
This emphasis on the role of Van
cause their dreams and their achievements
little
will hove led to the fulfillment of space travel
Force programs which hove proved to be
when it becomes on accepted transport opera
more reliable and more rewording.
tion in the not too distant future. Amateur
space
travel
enthusiasts
and
professional
documentation of the Army and Air
The book opens with the modest news re
lease with which Tass announced the birth of
a
rocket men alike will find this revised edition
Sputnik I and closes with a paraphrase of
of The Rocket Pioneers to be informative and
quotation from N. J. Berrill's Man's Emerging
well written.
Mind.
In between there is a wealth of ma
By Homer E.
terial concerning the more recent history of
Newell, Jr. 114 pages. New York: McGraw
rocketry and its use in warfare, the many and
Hill Book Company, Inc. $2.95.
various problems which must be solved before
Space Book For Young People.
Dr. Newell's Space Book For Young People
offers a clear and dramatic explanation of
the Earth and its position in the Universe
otmosphere, the Moon and satellites, the Sun
and the other planets of the Solar System,
galaxies,
comets,
meteors,
asteroids,
and
eclipses.
It supplies the mathematics which
space Aight becomes a reality, ICBM's, and
a resume of the history of the American Rocket
Society.
However, there is a great deal of
information in this book for those interested
in the background of just what is going on in
Space.
-M. Raymond
is necessary for o real understanding of space
distances, rocket speeds, and the like. With
exciting
bring
block-and-white
everything
into
illustrations
easy focus
that
for
the
reader, it is a highly readable book on a
subject vital to today's young scientists.
A REDUCED
It
is also the answer to the harassed parent's
prayer.
Dad con now ovoid embarrassment
by referring Junior, with his unanswerable
questions, to this book.
-Rolph E. Jennings
What's Going On In Space. By Commander
David C. Holmes, USN.
New York: Funk &
Wognalls. $3.95.
Perhaps the only Aow in this summary of
what is going on-and what hos gone on
in outer Space is that it was prepared a little
prematurely.
Commander Holmes has done
a good job of summarizing the many projects
and problems which lead up to the present
state of affairs in outer Space.
But, perhaps
out of loyalty to the Novy, he hos devoted o
considerable amount of verbiage to the Van
guard Project.
Apparently relying on pub
licity
Commander
releases,
Holmes
gives
a fairly complete story of what Vanguard was
designed to do but, unfortunately, hos failed
Gift Subscription Rate
of $1.60 per year
CAN BE ORDERED WITH EACH REGULAR
$2.00 SUBSCRIPTION.
ORDER NOW AS
CHRISTMAS GIFTS.
Rising costs have increased our regular sub
scription rate, but we are holding down our
gift rate until after Christmas.
Complete post-paid card and put in return mail.
49
space journal
�..
Rocket Experiment Safety, Safety Suggestions
Relativity for the Layman.
for the Rocket Hobbyist.
man.
Atlantic
Research
Virginia.
Prepared by the
Corporation,
Alexandria,
19 pages.
By James A. Cole
New York: Mentor Books. $.50.
This reprint of Professor Colemon 's popular
and widely acclaimed introduction to relativity
This small pamphlet,
prepared and dis
should be of great interest to the nontechnical
tributed free of charge by the Atlantic Re
devotee of space travel. It is a well-organized
search
two
book in that it begins with the experimenta
It is an excellently organized and
tion leading up to Einstein's special and gen
well-written booklet for the serious amateur
eral theories of relativity, then reviews the
of any age, and it illustrates the concern that
experimental proof of the theories and ends
a progressive manufacturer has for the safety
with the relationship between the theories and
of those interested in rocketry.
the nature of the Universe. The author has
Corporation,
reasons.
is interesting for
The pamphlet contains much valuable in
formation concerning the manufacture, test,
and firing of small rockets.
It also includes
details for making simple but reasonably ac
curate instruments for measuring rocket per
formance.
In addition there is on excellent
bibliography and many suggestions for or
ganizing o rocket club.
The attitude which the Atlantic Research
Corporation hos shown in preparing this timely
little publication is commendable.
It is also
in sharp contrast with the attitude of one of
the nation's second string aircraft industries
which has taken a "public be damned" view
toward such projects.
Satellites and Spaceflight.
159 pages.
By Eric Burgess.
New York: The Macmillan Com
pany. $3.95.
purposefully kept his text free of mathematical
formulae-and to good advantage.
He ex
plains relativity by analogy and example.
This method of explanation is done in terms
which are familiar to the layman, and thus his
explication succeeds rather than further com
plicates a subject the layman has long con
sidered
to
be
the
epitome
of
scientific
confusion.
-M. Raymond
The Space Encyclopaedia.
Spencer Jones & Others.
Dutton and Co.
By Sir
Harold
New York: E. P.
$6.95.
From ondromedids to zodiac, this Space
Age
compendium
unsophisticatedly
defines
and describes those astrophysical, astronauti
cal, and astronomical things and ideas stum
bled over and mumbled over by the average
Earthman in his newspapers and magazines.
This book 1s reminiscent of Willy Ley's
Although its definitive essays on the more
Rockets, Missiles and Space Travel, but 1s
complex and often less common terms are
not as broad in scope as that book.
As its
apparently authentic, the book commits in
title implies, Mr. Burgess's book is limited to
excusable oversights in the case of the more
satellites and spaceflight.
It is a well-written
Earthy entries.
For example, the entry on
book which will serve the serious student of
Theory of Relativity neatly equates energy to
space travel as a valuable text.
In addition
mass times velocity of light squared, and
subjects as instrumented
explains some common applications of the
satellites and space stations, it also has two
theory; yet the entry for Redstone on the
timely chapters on lunar exploration and the
opposite page says it is now called Jupiter
to
covering such
construction of a base on the Moon.
At a
competely false.
A brief check even in a
first glance the book appears to contain a
daily paper would have corrected the entry.
bewildering assortment of mathematical charts
Regardless of some such errors, the book's
and figures.
However, as the reader pro
informative entries on comet, galaxy, meteor,
gresses, it becomes apparent that Mr. Burgess
rocketry,
has done on excellent job in simplifying the
many others make this a handy volume for
recondite mathematics of rocketry and space
the armchair spaceman.
travel.
50
space journal
spectroscopy,
star,
sunspots,
and
-James L. Daniels, Jr.
�AT LAST -The
Complete
International Story of
ROCKETRY
AND SPACE
EXPLORATION
By Andrew G. Haley
President, International
Astronautical Federation
HERE JS the whole exciting story of
modern rocketi·y f,·om its earlie�t hel{in
ninl{s throu1th Wol'ltl \Vnr II, l'iu:ht up tu
todny's lnunchim:s of missiles anti satel
lites.
Here nrc the fnnrnus men and
milestones in the ,lcvelopment of rocketry
. .
fa,•ts <111 rocket pro,ha•tion in the
U. S. and abrnnd, nntl a lllimpse of the
funtnstic future of )-Jan':; conquest of
space.
How Rockets Work
This huge book I nlmm,t n foot hillh ! l
tells you the complete history of rockett·�·
its o•·hrin, the ''b•1ck-�•Rrcl" rm·ketc>er,,
of the :W's the Gernrnn V-2, nnrl \Vol"ld
War II' ,; contribut ion. With 170 ,lrnmatic
illustrations anti authorita1h·e text. it ex
plnins in simflle. nontechnicul terms
C'.\Rctly how r<>ckcts operate. Descl'ibes
the Atl11s, Titan, Thm·, Nike, X-li>. rnchel
airplunc of the future. the Sputnik, the
Vang11ard, and the Explorers.
A Glimpse of the Future
This up-to-the-minllle hook look:; ahead
to rockets pro1wlled hy ions. nuclear
enerl{y, and e,cn lif.tht it,;elf: lo mnnn.e,l
,mtellites nnd s1rnc1· ,·raft : nntl to the in
credible explorations ur the universe thnt
now ap1war within rench.
Examine it Free for 10 Days
Simply mail cuupun ln exnmine book
for l () day�-FR�;�;. l f nut ilt>j�htccl wn:,
the book, return it: owe nothin:.:;. Olher
in�tnlln1ent.-;, if' yo 1
\\isc, send onh SH.7� tor ea
wish). I), I'll;, .\'011trand Co., /)1•11I. 11111111. UO ,t/1•.,·11111/,,r SI.. f'ri11t't'/011, .\' ,/. (/��/. /SIS).
Going Into Space.
By Arthur C. Clarke.
117
pages. New York: Harper & Brothers. $2.50.
It is not surprising that Mr. Clarke once
again crowds into o small book a large
amount of space. "If you simply sit bock and
wait, you will reach your destination in due
course, assuming, naturally, that you hove
started off in the right direction,
11
writes the
author, with typical poignancy of the British
and obviously of Mr. Clarke, too.
As with his Exploration of Space, and Inter
planetary
Flight,
the
author's
presentation
though scientifkolly accurate is nontechnical
and interesting. "Imagine that you were out in
space and that floating beside you was some
large heavy object. If you could b•oce your
self against this object and then give a good
kick, you would move off in one direction and
the object would move off in another.
11
Thus,
Mr. Clarke summarizes jet propulsion.
In a book well illustrated, Mr. Clarke pro
jects space travel for into time and Space.
It is a book definitely worth reading, not only
for the amateur but for the more knowledge
able reader.
-David S. Akens
r------------------0. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Dept. 4010
120 Alexander Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Send me-for 10 days' FREE exominotion-Rockelry
And Space Exp/oration . If not delighted, I will return
book; owe nothing. Otherwise, I will remit Sl .75, plus
small shipping cost, ond S2 .50 o month for 2 months.
Nome, ___________
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY
Address,__________________
City·_______ Zone _ Stole,______
In Conodo, Address D. Von Nostrand Company ltd.
25 Hollinger Rood, Toronto 16, Canada {Price slightly
higher)
O SAVE-Check box if enclosing full payment ($6.75)
with this coupon. Then WE will poy oil shipping
costs. Some return-for-refund privilege applies.
51
space journal
�REACT'ION
VOX POPULI
.....
Dear Editor,
. .. I wish to congratulate you and your
associates upon the publication of this journal.
I shall read it with much interest.
Alabama Polytechnic Institute
Auburn, Alabama
Ralph B. Draughon
President
Dear Editor,
After reading Dr.von Braun's article "The
Acid Test" in the summer issue of SPACE
Journal, I would like to say that I think that
it is the most sensible piece of writing to come
out of the Sputnik scare. He stated exactly
what this test facing us consists of and does so
with better qualifications than many others
who write on the same subject. He is right
all the way in stating that this test involves not
only our scientific and technological capabil
ities, but "every facet of our civilization, every
part of our society: religion, economics,
politics, science, technology, industry, and
education." In other words, probably for the
first time in our history, our very way of life,
our system of accomplishment, our whole way
of thinking-is being challenged.
Dr. von Braun states, "The acid test of men
and nations is the measure of their courage
and resourcefulness in the face of adversity
and peril." We here in the West must realize
that today we are faced with a powerful and
determined foe far more formidable than
any other in the history of the world. What
52
space journal
kind of courage and resourcefulness shall we
show in the face of this great peril? It must
represent the ultimate in the reasons our fore
fathers had in founding this country on the
democratic principle. If it is, we will meet
and beat the challenge of the Soviets.
I wish to congratulate Dr. von Braun on his
wonderful insight into the problem at hand.
Is man, when he is on the verge of the most
superb and exciting venture he has yet em
barked upon in his existence, to bicker and
fight with his fellow men when he is at the
bounds of the Universe? Let's hope not.
Bert Sardello
Trinidad, Colo.
SPACE Journal 1s glad to see that the
man in the street, if we may so call
reader Sardello, realizes that the fru
ition of man's conquest of Space must
cut across all arbitrary and chauvinistic
obstacles. In the broadest sense, the
race for Space is not really for Space at
all-it is a political and technological
contest between nations with all the at
tendant hoopla and publicity. It should,
of course, be a world-wide race of man
against time. In the final analysis, we
feel that it will be the conquest of
Space which will unite mankind. Once
man is convinced of the ultimate neces
sity of Space travel, we believe that he
will forget the purely political, racial
and economical views which have kept
�him in a state of physical, mental, and
when the Sun burns out.
moral turmoil for so many years of his
to justify space travel on the grounds that it is
brief span on Earth.
Editor.
There are attempts
necessary to undertake this difficult chore to
insure man's survival in case of such an event.
May I remind your readers that man in
'
Dear Editor,
Space will still be man with all his unsolved
... We have long recognized the need for
education in a self-governing nation, but
have only recently realized that it must be a
continuing process. Adult education comes
largely from current publications that express
the learning of men in every field. Since the
pages that can be utilized by educational
articles are limited, it seems wasteful to print
more fiction.
problems. Space travel will not empty the
It is good that our best space and rocket
scientists can put their knowledge in words
the layman can understand. Today when we
are bewildered by the bombardment of con
flicting opinions of men in high places, it is
good to have the truth from those who speak
with the authority vested in them by reason of
their advanced work and superior knowledge.
For these and other reasons we are sin
cerely grateful for SPACE Journal.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Mrs. E. D. Gooch
Perhaps the important thing is not that
our scientists can put their knowledge
into words the layman can understand
but rather that our scientists are free
to put their words before the layman.
Today, more than at anytime in history,
we are wrestling ", . . not against flesh
and blood, but against . . . spiritual
wickedness in high places." With this
realization, we believe that it is the
right of all scientists to speak openly
not because of their advanced work
and superior knowledge, but for the
reason that science must be free in
order to flourish and that the scientist
must not be denied his inate dignity as
a human being. Editor.
insane asylums of the world, deal with para
noids on all continents, provide food for the
starving, or any other of a thousand measures
which will contribute toward survival of the
species.
While an increased knowledge of the
heavens holds great fascination for me, I still
feel that physical knowledge is not any sub
stitute for the spiritual knowledge contained
in the great religions or that escape from the
realities of Earth will bring any happiness to
anyone, including the pioneers of Space ...
San Jose, Calif.
,
Richard W. Lundberg
SPACE Journal does not advocate space
for
man's ills or as an international form of
group psychotherapy. We agree most
wholeheartedly that "man in Space
will still be man." We do not negate
the basic truths of the world's religions
by holding them up to modern science.
Indeed, we believe that it will be the
courage man derives from his religion
or philosophy and the knowledge that
he derives from his sciences which will
ultimately place him in Space. Editor.
travel
as
the
absolute
panacea
Dear Editor,
In his stimulating article "The Purpose of
Man in the Universe," summer issue of SPACE
Journal, John Hulley raises a number of ques
tions which we have been discussing under
the heading of theoretical anthropology. Our
analysis, however, has been along slightly
Dear Editor,
In looking through the summer issue of
SPACE Journal, I was struck by the fearful
attitude of some of the author.s. Two articles
were concerned with the far distant times
different lines, and we submit the following
ideas in the interest of furthering careful spec
ulation on man's future possibilities.
A. We take the distinguishing character
istic of Homo sapiens to be symbol-behavior,
following Sir Julian Huxley and others. (See
53
space journal
�o +--- E
"The Symbol: The Origin and Basis of Human
Behavior" and "On the Use of Tools by
Primates" in The Science of Culture by Leslie
A. White.)
Note that symbols are used freely
and arbitrarily, whereas the signs used by
lower animals have a single, fixed signifi.
II. But at the human level a new factor
enters the evolutionary process. Sapience is
semoplastic adaptation:
cance.
0 -<->
B. We posit a symbol-continuum (or
semop/asm) which serves as an instrument of
communication both between contemporaries
and between generations. In addition it has
properties which make it an increasingly effi•
cient instrument of understanding.
C. We hold that any extraterrestial organ•
isms likely to be of great interest to most
human beings must employ this same adaptive
mechanism.
Otherwise we would be unable
to communicate with them and learn from
them.
D. We propose calling such organisms
sapients. The present terminology covering
our possible analogs on other planets is im
possibly confused. To call them human, as
Mr. Hulley does, seems to us to predict too
much, since they may not even be primates.
They are frequently called sentient beings,
but this fails to distinguish them from, for
example, earthly cows.
Sapients seems to us
both simple and clear.
(S equals semoplasm)
This being the case, perhaps we should
make it our business to search out other
sapients and add our total of the symbol
continuum to theirs. Eventually our combined
understanding might make it possible to ap
proach the riddle of the Universe without the
overwhelming modesty which Mr. Hulley ac•
curately perceives to be appropriate for the
present.
Society for Theoretical Anthropology
John F. Collins
New York, N.Y.
Corresponding Secretary
While SPACE Journal feels that it may
be unfair to the earthly cows to assume
that they are purely sentient rather
than sapient-after all, communication
In his discussion of man's place in nature,
with the cow is difficult-we believe that
Mr. Hulley invokes the ecological balance
reader Collins and his group have a
among lower organisms..•. Finding that man
legitimate point, and we earnestly urge
does not fit into the earthly ecology, Mr.
them to submit an article to SPACE
Hulley prescribes for him the mission of inter•
planetary landscape gardener, whose "dis•
Journal
seminating agency would contribute to the
profusion of life on the planets he reaches."
But we would suggest that a more accurate
appraisal of man's place in nature and a
more inspiring purpose can be found in the
following formulas.
I. In subhuman species, evolution is an in
terreaction between organism (0) and
environment (E) which con be divided into
outoplastic
phases:
54
space journal
( � }
and
alloplastic
( �)
putting forth their views-in
language the layman can understand.
Seriously speaking the problem of com
munication with extraterrestial beings
is a problem which is worthy of scien
tific
investigation;
and
the
problem
must be approached from the philo
sophical rather
than the mechanical
direction. We can build an efficient elec
tro-magnetic transmitter, but can we
adapt the intelligence of the receiver
to it? Editor.
�Dear Editor,
In trying to help my childr1:n understand
One of the most striking articles I hove
ever read, and I do mean striking, as it is
electrifying in its meaning ...was John Hul
ley's "The Purpose of Mon in the Universe."
Here at lost in block and white is the theory
I personally hove held for a long time; but
laymen cannot always put such thoughts into
prose,
though
they ore
locked
within
us.
Beautifully thought out, forcibly written, clear
as crystal, and as grand as the majesty of the
Eternity above us, it hos more meaning than
a thousand sermons.
the most recent one, inertial guidance, a new
way of presenting the concept occurred to me
that they found very helpful, and which we all
feel should be shored with others.
This
is to
consider
inertia
as ontiwork
which brings it into o parallel relationship
with concepts already fomilior in the area of
atomic particles. Considered as onfiwork, it
is easy to understand the concept of quantity
as applied to inertia. Essentially, then, the
amount of inertia, or ontiwork, of o system is
the amount of work which it con neutralize or
render ineffective.
. . . Hulley doesn't soy it, but I hove often
We would appreciate your comments on
wondered, what with man's ten-thousand year
the validity and usefulness of this concept.
history, where all his fossilized remains ore.
Boston, Moss.
Couldn't the answer lie in the fact that Homo
sopiens was indeed only fairly recently dis
on
seminated
another
from
living
This may sound startling to one
world ... ?
reading it
Earth
for the first time, but when one
calmly mulls it over and eliminates any inborn
or acquired prejudices, the possibility carried
tremendous weight.
Mudelein, Ill.
Mrs. Olive
D. Smith
Dear Editor,
. . . My special congratulations on the
superior articles by Mr. Hulley and
Dr. von
Broun. Mr. Hulley's article hos a depth in
(almost) religious philosophy which hos great
appeal and value. I certainly wish the US
Dr. von Braun's
would listen as seriously to
views-as
presented
in
his
article-as
it
admires his material accomplishments. . .
Thanks for a fine journal.
Birmingham, Alo.
Miss Onnis Waid
We hope that readers Smith and Waid
will enjoy John Hulley's next article in
a future issue. Editor.
Dear Editor,
Along with most other people, we ore a
family of space enthusiasts, and so tend to
follow and try to understand each new de
velopment.
William Gray, M.D.
Rather than get involved in physics and
the laws or inertia, we offer as an al
ternative an article on inertial guid
ance by Mr. Paul Weinschel in the
Spring 1959 Edition. This article is writ
ten expressly for the purpose of simpli
fying some of the techniques of and
advances in inertial guidance for space
Articles in future issues will
travel.
deal with the problems of navigation
and propulsion. Editor.
FOR SPACE ENTHUSIASTS
w�c
Jti/1
�ave tittre tc lau9�
YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO MISS
EARL TUCKER
AT LEAST TWO COLUMNS IN HIS
RAMBLING ROSES AND FL YING BRICKS
ARE STAR GAZERS:
Somebody's Up There Except Me
How to Treat the Martians if They're Well
Read the book then give it to someone for
Christmas
For your illustrated, 130 page edition of
Rambling Roses and Flying Bricks
Published by The STRODE Publishers
Send $2.50 to
ROSES
Box 82
Huntsville, Ala.
55
space journal
�carried as a payload a special packet of
Dear Editor,
I
just
bought
the
first
issue
of
SPACE
Journal to reach the newsstands in Havana.
SUPERB.
No doubt many armchair rocketeers like
me hove been waiting for a serious magazine
in layman's language ..
When I was about 1 0 years old, I remem
ber watching a newsreel which, among other
things, showed two unsuccessful attempts to
launch model rockets from a lake in New
York ...I also remember the laughter of the
audience and their comments ...About that
time, a local (and short-lived) rocket society
did launch a small power rocket from Havana
to Guines, some 30 miles to the south, which
"rocket mail" ...
Best wishes for your continued success.
Antonio V.Alvarado
Havana, .Cuba
SPACE Journal is interested to hear of
this early attempt at organized rock
etry in Cuba. Similar attempts in rocket
mail were made at approximately the
same time in the US and Europe. And
SPACE Journal is glad to hear that we
have readers in Cuba now. Incidental
ly, we have heard from readers in New
Guinea, Venezuela, Canada, and Bul
garia, to name but a few countries.
Abstracts from SPACE Journal are also
printed by the Academy of Sciences of
the USSR. Editor.
.
(_
.,.
i
�Q�
�
. ,\;,/,�l
�
.1\
�
(;r
� .
dJ� dJlJ
56
sp ace journal
�TO
PAST
PARTIAL CONTENTS
Introductory statements by;
President Dwight D. Eisen
ho\, er and Gen.James H. Doo
little; Fore\\ ord by Donald
W. Douglas; Early Attempts
to Fly; Balloons and Gliders;
Civil War; Wright Brothers
Era; First Successful Flight;
First Army Plane; a val Av
iation; Beginning of Airmail;
Early Factories; W.W. I;
F'lightsof theTwenties; Great
Flights Around the World;
First Airplanes; Commercial
Aviation; Ai rcraftManufact•
urers; Hindenburg Disaster;
Scientific De velopments; W •
W II; Postwar Era; Future
in the Air.
PRESENT
ow for the first time, the full story of man in the Air is presented m
a huge and lavishly illustrated volume. The Editors of YEAR have worked
closely with scores of aeronautical experts in the U. . and abroad gathering authentic documents and little kno,, n aviation lore. From the
thousands of rare aviation photographs and early drawings unearthed
all over the world, the Editors have carefully chosen 1.000 of the most
important and unusual. Herc is the whole magnificent story, the facts,
the inside stories, the personalities, from Icarus to the early Balloonists,
from Da Vinci's winged machines that never left the earth to current
plans for space stations.
Here then is the story of men of courage and vision and faith, men who
dared to cut their earthly bonds, often with nothing but danger and
loneliness as their reward.
Fill in the coupon below to receive your copy of FLIGHT.
r---------------------------------
YEAR
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Please send me -- copies of YEAR's Pictorial History of FLIGHT
on a 10-doy free examination bosis. Please indicate binding.
0 Standard Binding @ 7.95 per copy
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NAME
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The need to know-
"Within a short time, our missiles and satellites
programs involved hundreds of thousands of
people-ranging from Senate Finance Committee
members to the girls who type invoices for
materiel suppliers. Sputnik I brought an interested
and enthusiastic public.
Some textbooks were available for the engineers.
There was almost no literature for the layman,
other than science fiction.
Out of this need to know came SPACE Journal,
conceived by the Redstone Arsenal scientists who
launched the Explorer satellites.
SPACE Journal is a progress report of a ne,v,
furiously expanding field. It interprets for the
layman the theories and philosophy of space,
interplanetary flight, astrophysics, and the actual
accomplishments. Begun as an amateur effort,
SPACE.Journal's first issue was 5,000 copies. An
additional 15,000 copies were printed to satisfy the
demand, and sold at the newsstands o( twelve
cities. A company was formed to continue its
publication as a quarterly.
The print order on the second edition was
100,000. There was an instant demantl for copies
from government agencies, the armed forces, the
press, educators and industry. To fill an order for
Stars & Stripes in Europe, 2,500 copies had to be
taken off the newsstands.
The print order of the third issue was 120,000.
SPACE .Journal is distributed nationally by the
Independent News Company.
The importance of space flight is emphasized by
the current appropriations of $510 millions for
space flight research. SPACE Journal is read by
the people who sign the orders; the designers,
engineers, manufacturers; the technicians and
servicers who operate them, and a large portion of
the educational world. It offers a tremendous
new and unduplicated potential for your
advertising effort.
And SPACE Journal's general readers are an
enormous plus value, an audience appreciative of
your efforts, a potent nucleus of informed
opinion; and include the young people who will
be responsible for the future of space flight.
SPACE Journal advertisers include:
Brown Engineering Company, Inc.... Chrysler
Corporation ...General Astronautics Corporation
. . . Glen L.Martin Company ... North American
Aviation, Inc., Rocketdyne Division ... Precision
Engineering, Inc.. . . Reaction Motors, Inc. . . .
Reynolds Metals Company ... Robbins Aviation
. . . Sperry Rand Corporation, Ford Instrument
Company Division . . . T hiokol Chemical
Corporation, Redstone Division.
SPACE-Journal
published by Space Enterprises, Inc., Tuck Building, Nashville , Tenn.
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES:
Hale Carey, 420 Lexington Avenue, New York City.
MacDonald-Thompson, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle,
Portland, Denver, Houston, Tulsa.
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�
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Serials Collection
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Serials Collection
Dublin Core
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Title
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<i>Space Journal</i>, vol. 1, no. 4, Fall 1958.
Subject
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Ballistic missile defenses
Cold War
Dialectical materialism
Life on other planets
Science--Study and teaching
Sputnik satellites
Technology--Soviet Union
Space race--United States--History--20th century
Description
An account of the resource
This issue discusses at length the competition in science, technology, and engineering between the United States and the Soviet Union, including comparisons of developments in missiles, satellites, and educational systems. This issue also includes plans for a village on the Moon. Includes the subscription card inserted in the center of the issue.
Creator
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Rocket City Astronomical Association
Space Enterprises, Inc.
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Serials Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
Date
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1958
Language
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en
Type
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Periodicals
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spc_mitc_001_062
Temporal Coverage
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1950-1959
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This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
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http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/43/517/vbas_space_journal_055_116.pdf
666cb80156bd4f9fcd547072c1e77879
PDF Text
Text
JOURNAL
n r.
MARCH-MAY
C A T E D
PROJECT STAR
•
e
T 0
e
T H
ASTRO -SCIE
�r.i:-�
WINTER • 50t
LANDING ON PLANET ONE HUNDRED MILLION YEARS YOUNGER THAN EARTH
WILL SPACE TRAVEL BE MANKIND'S SALVATION?
LAWS OF PROBABILITY SHOW BEINGS ON OTHER PLANETS1
•
HOW SPACE TRAVEL WILL ANSWER THE RIDDLE OF LIFE!
8
WHAT ARE MENTAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR SPACE PIONEERS?
�ARMY's HERCULES
MISSILE
scores Perfect"
against
speedingjets
High over the Gulf of Mexico off the
Florida coast, a flight of F-80 jet drones
streaked through the stratosphere in a
simulated attack on Continental U.S.A.
Forty-seven miles away a mobile unit of the
Army's Hercules missiles quickly went into
action. The first shot brought the leading
jet down in fragments. The second, fired to pierce
the first one's blast, was right on target.
Its payload of instruments telemetered information on
the blast to scientists and engineers at the firing site.
In all, six of the Nike missiles were fired, and all six were
"right on the button." Developed and built for
the Army by Western Electric, Bell Telephone Laboratories
and Douglas, Nike Hercules is already augmenting the earlier
Nike Ajax in the defense of our cities. An even more
advanced version, the much-discussed Nike Zeus
anti-missile missile, is under development
at Douglas and Western Electric.
Not only did. recent tests prove the
accuracy of the Army's Nike Hercules,
but firing from a Field Army type
mobile system proved its flexibility.
The Armed SerV-i es'
Partner in Defense
�Please [enter] [renew] my subscription: For one year (4 issues) at $2.00
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at the Gift Rate of only $1.G0 Lor 1 yr. (in
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Nashville, Tenn.
SPACE JOURNAL
P.O. BOX 94
NASHVILLE
TENN.
�JOURNAL OF THE ASJRO-SCIEHCES
BOARD OF CONSULTANTS
i
'
t
I
Professor Hermann Oberth
Helmut Hoeppner
Dr. Eugen Sanger
Frederick I. Ordway 111
Dr. Karel Hujer
Ronald C. Wakeford
Dr. Siegfried Gerathewohl
No. 5
Harry H.-K. Lange
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR
Ralph E. Jennings
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
James L. Daniels. Jr.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Mitchell R. Sharpe, Jr.
ASSISTANT EDITOR
[DITO RIAL
2
2
5
9
14
GRAPHICS DIRECTOR
33
Harold E. Price
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR
David Akins
STAFF ARTISTS
Thomas Spencer
Con Pederson
Ernest Harper
Clarence E. Brown
F. Harold Eaton
BUSINESS MANAGER
Richard T. Heagy
PUBLISHER
Hale Carey
SPACE JOURNAL STATEMENT OF POLICY
MECHTA AND OPERATION SCORE
ARTICLES
24
LAYOUT DIRECTOR
March-May 1959
Interstellar Space Ship Astra-Alpha Lands on Planet "X."
Harry Lange's Imaginative Cover Combines Ideas from
"The Ultimate Necessity of Space Travel" and "Project
Star," Articles Appearing in This Issue.
David L. Christensen
Lee R. Moore, Jr.
CONTENTS
C O V ER
ART DIRECTOR
B. Spencer Isbelt
I
-4
Vol.
42
44
THE ULTIMATE NECESSITY OF SPACE TRAVEL
Dr. Philip N. Shockey
SURVIVAL IN SPACE
Dr. Siegfried J. Gerathewohl
REALITY, RELATIVITY AND COMMON SENSE
James P. Gardner
DESIGN CRITERIA FOR BUILDINGS ON THE MOON
Dr. John S. Rinehart
DYNAMICS OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
John Hulley
RADIATION AND SPACE TRAVEL
Dr. Jan S. Paul
PROJECT STAR
Helmut Hoeppner and B. Spencer Isbell
FEATURES
4 OTHER BEINGS ON OTHER PLANETS?
30 METEORITES
43 MEN OF SCIENCE
32 SPACE POETRY
: D E P A RT M E.N TS ··
51 SPACE BOOKS
53 REACTION
55 INFORMATION FREE
CREDITS
Photographs on p. 39, 40, Yerkes Observatory; p. 37, 38, Nation al Geographic Society; photograph of Dr. Shockey by Keith
Barrette;
CONTRIBUTORS
Mary Jane Day, M. Raymond, Anne Billings, Ruth Sauma, M oily Scott
SUBMISSION OF MATERIAL
The submission of material to this Journal is always welcome; short articles of 500 to 3000 words are preferred. Send the
original on white bond paper, typewritten, double spaced; plus two carbons. Leave at least a one-inch margin on all
sides and key all illustrations with the text. Photographs shou Id be 8 x 10 inches on glossy stock. The author's name and
title should be on the manuscript. A picture of the author a nd a short biographical note are required for publication.
Security clearance for all material submitted is the responsibility of the author. Please send material to SPACE Journal
P. O. Box 82, Huntsville, Alabama. All material accepted fo r publication becomes the exclusive property of SPACE Journal.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
United States and Canada $2.00 per year (four issues). Foreign $3.00 per year. Please send all subscriptions to SPACE
Journal, P. 0. Box 94, Nashville, Tennessee.
ADVERTISING
Advertising rates will be furnished on request to Space En terprises, P. 0. Box 94, Nashville, Tennessee. New York and
eastern states: Hale Carey, Mgr., Room 447 Graybar Bid. 420 Lexington Ave., New York City; western states: Douglas
Lance, 1948 Highland Oaks Drive, Arcadia, California.
PUBLISHING
SPACE Journal is the official organ of the Rocket City Astronomical Association, Inc. a nonprofit, nonpolitical, scientific
and educational organization in Huntsville, Alabama. © by SPACE Journal. All rights reserved. The Journal is published
quarterly by Space Enterprises, Inc., in Nashville, Tennessee. Application for second-class mailing permit pending at Nashville,
Tennessee. Space Enterprise, Inc.; Fred D. Wright, Pres, George J. Merrick, V-Pres, Richard Heagy, V-Pres; Thomas Schlater,
General Counsel, J. M. Summar, Treas., L. E. Nordholt, Director.
I
space journal
�ST ATEMENT OF POLICY
The immediate and eager acceptance of SPACE Journal by scientists and technicians,
business and industrial leaders, students and educators, as well as the general public, has brought
into focus the wide recognition by the American people of the total challenge presented by
the problem of Space exploration.
Such general acceptance has placed SPACE Journal in the
unique position of interpreter of ideas in all fields even remotely related to Space travel.
It
is the interpreter which translates the individual languages of the various specialists into a uni
versally understood "layman's English"-this role is vital, since in this highly specialized age
even the scientists are often laymen i(I fields other than their own.
SPACE Journal is rapidly becoming the forum wherein the exchange of ideas
among industry, science, education, and the public can be made. It is bringing to
view the resources of all the arts and sciences bearing on the problem of Space ex
ploration.
Thus SPACE Journal as a universal medium of communication promotes the overall objec
tive of the exploration of Space by helping the specialists to understand each other, the scien
tists, engineers, businessmen, and educators to understand each other,
and the taxpaying
layman to understand them all.
In such a role, so greatly expanded in scope from that of its beginning, and so
vital to an uninformed public, SPACE Jou rnal has deemed it advisable to disavow
any connection with the Army, Navy, Air Force, or other military and civilian seg
ments of the government and to terminate its affiliation wih the Rocket City As
tronomical Association.
In pursuit of our broader aims, we announce that, begin
ning with the next issue, this magazine w ill no longer be published as an official
organ of the Rocket City Astronomical Association.
We believe that this action will afford us the liberty of presenting all views without the re
strictions that exist when a publication is acting as the voice of any type of organization.
SPACE Journal will continue as an independent publication "dedicated to the Astro-sciences"
and to the peaceful exploration of Space for the benefit of all mankind.
MECHTA AND OPERATION SCORE
The year 1958 closed with a significant advance in Space technology, but the year 1959
opened with an even more significant one.
Th e old year closed with the successful launching
of the United States Air Force's Atlas in Operation Score; and fhe new year began with Mechta,
the spectacular Lunar probe of the Soviet Union, which is now in orbit around the Sun. However,
more lies between the two events than a mere two weeks.
Both Operation Score and Mechta bring u p a question about the direction in which Amer
ican Space technology is advancing.
While w e know relatively little about the technical details
of Mechta (and there is no reason to assume t hat we will ever know the complete details), we
know at least one thing about the Atlas and Operation Score.
It worked.
It was successful.
The magnitude of its success was made all the greater because of the faith the Air Force had
in its product. In the not too remote past, th ere were rumors that the Atlas guided missile,
still having its growing pains, would be cancell ed in favor of a more "sophisticated" missile
system.
This attitude toward sophistication in our present missile and satellite design bears
closer scrutiny.
Project Vanguard is not so recently dead that one cannot remember the reason
given for accepting it over the Jupiter-( was that it was more sophisticated.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines sophisticated as "Deprived of original sim
plicity; made artificial, or, more narrowly, highly complicated, refined, subtilized, etc .• • . "
Surely the very definition, when applied to our present position in Space technology, begs the
question: What price reliability?
Without belaboring the obvious, it does seem that there is more than a trace of sophistry
in such views of sophistication when the term is used as the last word and final criterion for
judging the absolute value of a guided missile o r a satellite vehicle. And Mechta should make us
wonder, too, just how sophisticated it and the Sputnik vehicles are.
2
space journal
��OTHER BEINGS ON OTHER PLANETSt:
Today man is looking out at the star-filled heavens with new curiosity, asking if tomorrow's
space explorers may find other beings on other worlds. Based on science's rapidly expanding
knowledge, the answer is "Yes." Eminent astronomers ore sure conditions suitable for life exist
elsewhere.
Our galaxy, called the Milky Way galaxy, contains roughly 400 billion stars and Dr. Gerard
Kuiper, director of the Yerkes Observatory, believes that about 10 billion of the stars do have sets
of planets orbiting around them. These are invisible to terrestrial telescopes because planets are
cold masses emitting no light of their own. Assuming that our planetary solar system is typical,
Dr. Kuiper estimates that there are about 100 billion planets in our own galaxy alone. In the entire
universe there may be over 100 billion galaxies like ours and Andromeda.
If other solar systems are like ours, about 1 0 ¼ or 10 billion planets in our galaxy are orbit
ing in a temperate "life zone," at just the right di stance from their sun where liquid water, air and
vital chemicals could exist. Where these ingredients do exist, so may living cells. "Life is probably
the inevitable consequence of chemical evolutio n wherever physics, chemistry and climatology
are right," Harlow Shapley of the Harvard Univer sity Observatory maintains.
To support their conclusions, astronomers tur n to the mathematical theory of probability which
holds it inconceivable that out of 10 billion "inhabitable" planets in the galaxy our earth is the
only one where conditions are right for the evolution of life. In fact, though man's 5 ½ billion-year
old earth is actually middle-aged by celestial standards, there may well be a multitude of other
planets on which life has been evolving millions of years longer than on earth. If spaceships which
approach the speed of light could be built and if man ever reaches distant planets, he may, on
arriving, find himself to be just a primitive Johnny-come-lately compared to the local inhabitants.
*Reprinted by permission, from LIFE Jon. 6 Mon's New World. Co
pr. 1958 Time Inc.
�the ultimate necessity of
space travel
BY PHILIP N. SHOCKEY
good it is to go to the Moon, but the very fact
that we don't know is reason enough to scien
tists for going."
It appears that the brilliant men who will
make Space travel possible are too close to
their subject to see its most practical side. Per
haps a more reflective view can be provided
Philip N. Shockey was born in 1931 and
attended s<!condory schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl
vania. After receiving his BA and MS degrees
in geology from West Virginia University, he
attended Cornell University and earned his
doctorate al that institution in geology. He hos
taught at both of these colleges. A former field
geologist for the West Virginia Geologic and
Economic Survey, he hos also been on assistant
geological consultant for the South Pennsylvania
Gos Company. He hos also worked as o geologist
for the United Stoles Geological Survey. A
member of the Geological Society of America
and the Society of Sigma Xi, he is presently the
chief geologist and vice president of the Penn•
Idaho Mines, Inc. He lives in Salmon, Idaho, the
western locotion for Penn•ldaho Mines, Inc.
by some of the older sciences-geology for
example.
Geology deals with the history of Earth,
and because this history covers billions of
years, geologists are used to thinking in terms
of billions of years.
Apparently, most rocket
scientists and engineers, like most people,
conceive of time in such short duration as to
be only an instant, geologically speaking.
In conjunction with the other sciences, geol
ogy has made increasingly rapid strides for
ward since the turn of the present century. All
News reports concerning this country's ef
of this new knowledge makes more secure
forts toward the conquest of Space are alarm
man's climb to outer Space.
ing in several respects. The most alarming
subsequently, specific geologic contributions
As will be shown
fact, however, is not that we may be lagging
appear to be: (1) more reliable and detailed
behind Russia but that our engineers and
interpretation of past Earth environments, (2)
scientists have difficulty justifying Space proj
more exact dating of past Earth events, and
ects more ambitious than the establishment of
(3) corroboration and augmentation of cos
an Earth satellite. There seems to be general
mogonic data.
Although far more remains
agreement that these satellites will have at
to be learned about Earth than is known, some
least a half dozen practical uses.
pertinent conclusions can
Yet, when
a trip to the Moon or some more ambitious
be drawn from
available geologic and allied data.
Space project is mentioned, the men who will
Earth formed, more or less synchronously,
make that trip operational must struggle for
with the other planets of our Solar System
justification of their plan.
some five billion years ago. This figure repre
For example, in a story from Newsweek
magazine (Dec. 16, 1957, pp 66-68), the
American
have
Rocket
sent
Society was
reported
to
sents a currently acceptable age to geoscien
tists.
During the past
few billion years,
life
President Eisenhower a 20-year
evolved on Earth from nonplant-nonanimal
project proposal the goal of which is to place
ancestors of the most primitive marine organ
American scientists on the Moon. This program
isms; to terrestrial plants and animals; and,
was authored by a 15-man group, which in
finally, though not necessarily ultimately, to
cluded
man.
Krafft
Ehricke
of
Convair-Astro
Therefore, it may be said that life on
nautics and Dr. Wernher von Braun, the Army
Earth has struggled for billions of years to
missile
reach the prevailing state of awareness.
expert.
Ehricke,
architect
of
the
program, said, "I really don't know what
This state
of awareness permits limited
5
space j0urnal
�WILLIAMSONIA
PTERANODON
BRONTOSAURUS
NEOCALAMITES
LEPIDODENDRON
HORSETAILS
prognostication.
FAN PALM
COMPSOGNATHUS
Cosmogonists have presum
ably worked out the evolutionary development
ASTRA--ALPHA
CYCADELLA
the present rate of progress, this would seem
to be far more than adequate time.
Human
By projecting the Sun's
frailty may, however, precipitate through war
development, cosmogonists predict destruction
another and successive Dark Ages so that
of Earth through gradual "burning out" of the
we can never achieve this goal.
of stars like our Sun.
Reportedly, effects from changes in the
Thus, the question is no longer why must
Sun will become significant within 50 billion
years. 1
rather where do we want to go in Space.
Whether figures and hypotheses cited here
We must escape beyond our Solar System to
Sun.
are absolutely correct is not important. Cumu
lative evidence clearly points to the fact that
we become proficient in Space travel but
environments approximating that of Earth.
In this regard, some cosmogonists, perhaps
Earth had a beginning some billions of years
the majority, think that planet formation is a
ago, and it shall certainly have an end some
natural result of star formation.
billions of years hence.
possible that many stars, when formed, de
This conclusion im
That is, it is
mediately answers the question of why we
velop a system of planetary satellites like our
must venture into Space.
own Solar System. Therefore, it is reasonable
When o.ne considers that our planet is
to believe that there are many billions of
doomed, at least as far as life is concerned,
planets, because there are many billions of
it is impossible to put meaningful value on the
stars in our galaxy alone.
titanic
through
forward
billions
struggle
of
of
years.
life
on
This
Earth
struggle,
The nearest star to Earth is in Centaurus
4.3 light years away.
Available telescopes
whether conscious or not, appears agonizingly
cannot define planets orbiting about this or
futile if the gigantic mass contribution can not
any other star.
Fortunately, this contribution can be per
petuated regardless of its development on
doomed Earth.
The obvious answer is that
all achievement must be transplanted from
Earth prior to a significant change in our Sun.
If
this appears impracticable, it should be
recalled that billions of years ore available
to achieve the proposed gool.
In view of
'See "'life on Other Stors," SPACE Journol, spring issue, 1958,
p. 16.
space journal
However, the probability of
other solar systems is so high that we can
be perpetuated.
6
ARAUCARITES
safely assume their presence and let actual
discovery and the means of reaching them
await further technological developments.
By the time escape from Earth is practicable,
cosmologists will have chosen a star in our
galaxy similar to our Sun and with a satellite
planet much like Earth.
The important differ
ence will be that the new Sun will not be so
far along in evolutionary development as the
Sun we now have. Geologists will be able
PLATEOSAURUS
HORSETAILS
�to assist in selecting the plant by extrapolat
gists chose a planet only some four billion
ing knowledge of the Earth.
years old but otherwise identical to Earth. In
It is interesting to speculate on the surface
this event, it is possible that the new planet
,appearance of our proposed new home. If
the cosmologists ore able to find o planet
would have about the appearance of Earth
virtually identical to Earth in so for as gross
one billion B.C.).
properties are concerned, adjustment of life
the simplest forms of marine organisms in
during late Pre-Cambrian time (approximately
During this period only
there to the overall environment should be
habited Earth; land surfaces were barren of
simple.
plants
Assume, however, that the cosmolo-
and
animals;
and
the
atmosphere
7
space journal
�1_
On the
democracy, will survive scrutiny by a world
other hand, if 1 0 planet about five billion
population applying the scientific method to
years old were chosen,
all phases of life.
probably was deficient in oxygen.
it possibly would
Maximum freedom of
appear similar to present-day Earth, having,
fidelity and self-expression will be demanded
among other forms of life, intelligent beings.
by a scientific world population, and de
1
Thus, if the cosmologists con determine ac•
mocracy is the only form of government that
curately the age of the planet to be colonized,
satisfies these requirements. When, through
it may be possible for geologists to predict
education, superstition and fear are replaced
approximately,
historical
by truth and courage, a new world religion
geology, the environment to be expected by
based on fact and closely allied with nature
the colonists.
will replace present religions.
on
the
basis
of
For further illustration, assume
that in the year 2500 A.D. all is ready for
In addition to the harmony required to
colonization of 1 0 carefully selected planet.
make interplanetary colonization possible,
there may be another good reason for its
achievement.
Whichever major theory of
Assume also that by this time the age of
Earth has been determined as 5.5 billion
years, plus or minus several million years, and
that the age of the Earthlike planet has been
determined as 5.4 billion years, plus or minus
several million years.
Then, other things be
ing similar, the colonists might encounter an
environment like that on Earth around 100
million B.C., when reptiles ruled the land.
Dinosaurs, flying reptiles, and other terrestrial
and marine animals and plants might confront
the colonists, who, through geologic deduc
tion, would be prepared for such a spectacle.
In addition to assisting in selection of plan
origin of the Universe is accepted, there is
no reason to believe that we are the most
intelligent life in our galaxy, to say nothing
of the Universe. (The existence of extra-Earth
intelligence is considered to be about as prob
able as the existence of other solar systems
and only awaiting discovery.) On the one
hand, life may hove been in existence for
an infinity of time, or as long as there has
been a Universe. On the other hand, life
may be on the order of the age of Earth.
Granting the first possibility, some universal
make
intelligence may be unbelievably greater than
other important contributions to the conquest
of Space. Ores from which Space vehicles
our own. Granting the second possibility, en
vironmental differences may have promoted
will be made and some of the fuels which will
far greater development of intellect on some
propel them will be found and produced by
planet other than Earth.
employing geologic principles.
advanced intellects plan and may even have
carried out interplanetary colonizations for
ets for
colonization,
geologists
will
Furthermore,
firsthand geologic examination of any visited
Space target will be most important in estab
lishing suitability of these bodies to human
purpose.
Consequently, geologists will be
among the first scientists landed on Space
targets.
This necessary endeavor should have a
profound and beneficial effect on the human
r·ace. The project is so huge in scope that
Presumably, these
the same reason that we must.
As a planet,
we will have to be acceptable at least to
galactic society; or we may not be permitted
to survive.
In conclusion, it appears that we have ade
quate resources and more than adequate time
to make Space travel a certainty. The weak
est rung in man's ladder to outer Space is the
no single country will be able to carry it
human element, whereby fanatics may re
through; the physical and mental resources
peatedly obliterate progress by plunging the
of all the world will be required. This unified
effort should produce nonviolent political and
religious revolutions terminating in world
wretchedness. Annihilation of the human race
harmony. These revolutions
on education, and they have
It is difficult to see how any
formal religions or political
8
space journal
will be based
already begun.
of the existing
plans, except
world into war and physical and intellectual
seems possible.
Clearly, education is the first
duty of all concerned-everyone on Earth.
Although education cannot eliminate fanatics,
it certainly can prohibit their rise to power in
a world of enlightened people.
�....
survival
1n space
•
By Siegfried J. Gerathewohl
Siegfried J. Gerathewohl wo, born
in Ebersboch, Saxony, Germany, in 1909. After
,tudying physiology, psychology, and education
at the Institute of Technology, in Dresden,
ond at the University of Batavia, in Munich,
he received hi, doctorate at Dresden in 1936.
He also holds o degree as o Diploma P,ycholo•
gi,t from the University of Munich.
As o Captain in the Germon Air Force on
1940, he become chief of the Psychological
Te,ting Center at Homburg. He ho, also been
chief of the Deportment of Industrial P,ychology
for the Bavarian Motor Company in Munich.
In 1946 he joined the Aero Medical Center in
Heidelberg, Germany, and, in the next year,
was transferred to the School of Aviation Medi
cine at Randolph Air Force Bose in Texas.
The author of two books and more thon 70
articles on military psychology, aviation psy
chology, and aviation medicine, he is a member
of the Notional Academy of Sciences, the
Aeromedicol Association, the American Psycho•
logical Association, the ScientiAc Society for
Aeronautics, and the Germon Rocket Society.
He is also on associate professor of experimental
psychology at the United Stoles Air Force·, Air
University. In 1958 he received the Arnold D.
Tuttle Memorial Award for his re,eorch into
the problems of weightles,neu.
telecasts, and along Sunset Boulevard, but
recently into big business. Since the exploita
tion of this idea proved fairly profitable, the
eyes of all sorts of adventurers were magically
drawn toward the stars and the infinity of
outer Space.
While the lay public followed this develop
ment with enthusiasm, the majority of scientists
looked upon it with either awe or contempt.
The rocketeers, of course, propagated the
idea of Space travel from the start with a
sense of mission which-as astronaut Frederick
I. Ordway put it-"aroused a vaguely un
comfortable recollection of some of the Bibli
cal prophets."
Ever since Lucian, the satirical Greek writer
who lived about
1 800 years ago, let his
Mooomen set out to vanquish the inhabitants
of the Sun, the imagination of Earthlings has
been inflamed again and again by the dream
Now, that the technological
disciplines have finally recognized their new
born child, astronautics, as being legitim<Jte,
the medical, social, and psychological sciences
are moving to claim it slowly and somewhat
reluctantly.
of interplanetary travel. Space flight has be
Never in his history of existence has man
come one of the fascinating subjects under
been faced with a more fateful decision. The
discussion
venture into Space is more revolutionary and
today.
It
appeals
to
everyone
regardless of age, sex, or profession. It is the
hazardous than the invasion of land by the
thrill of the ice-cream counter in the drugstore
aquatic animal in the Paleozoic Era. For these
as well as of scientific panel discussions at the
creatures were merely migrating from one
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Publica
terrestrial habitat to
tions on this topic can be found everywhere
million years for adaptation. But the Space
another,
having
100
from the comics to science fiction, from pulp
invader is leaving Earth altogether; and he
magazines to learned journals, from novels to
seems to be in quite a hurry, too. In prepar
research reports in the Pentagon. Although
ing himself for this gamble, he must overcome
authorities on this subject have written obit
a variety of novel and difficult problems of
uaries for one reason or another, Space flight
body and soul engineering. As he usually does
just refused to stay dead. Moreover, it made
in case of serious trouble, he turns to the
its way not only into radio broadcasts, TV
doctor.
9
space journal
�has
higher intelligence and greater versatility are
nor con it be expected to do so in the future.
environment along on his trip. As a matter of
Unfortunately,
the
human
organism
changed but little during its known existence;
Breeding on entirely new crop of Space travel
ers seems too lengthy and cumbersome in
this time of ours. Hence, we must think of
assets for his survival. He can take his own
fact, rocket power, pressure breathing, 0xygen
systems, temperature control, sealed cabins,
meteor bumpers, power steering, antituml,ling
more practical and effective means for fitting
devices, ejection capsules, artificial gravita
not constructed to expand into verticality, he
periscopes, radio, radar and television, elec
If man should wander unprepared into the
-just to mention a few requisites of futuristic
Homo sapiens to his expedition. Since he was
must be redesigned for survival.
tion, astro-navigation charts, telesc0pes and
tronic computers, univacs, and skywatch men
would suffocate within
travel-already have been tailored to his de
blood would boil in the vacuum. Mercilessly
automation that he may even be bored to
and the bombardment of cosmic rays and
To be a little more serious, the success of a
void
of Space
he
seconds because of a lack of oxygen. His
mands and will be brought to such a state of
exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the Sun
death on his venture into Space.
meteorites,
Space pilot is about
his
burned
and
riddled
body
90
percent purely an
would be torn to bits by pressure differentials
engineering problem, although natural ability
debris" into the darkness and silence of in
rest.
and
would
drift
weightlessly
as
"Space
finity.
and training skill may well account for the
Let's be more specific about this matter. As
The question of protecting man in a Space
was indicated before, we seriously believe
volved in S p> ace travel. Its solution begins
higher form of conventional flying, but some
venture out.
rocket craft cannot take off or land whenever
environment, then,
is the primary one in
with the selection of the specimen who is to
Many answers have been given, by more
or less qualified men, to the question of what
that Space travel per se is not just a somewhat
thing profoundly different.
and wherever he desires.
The pilot
of a
He cannot get
out of his ship in an emergency. More than in
makes a Space pilot really successful; and
any other type of piloting will he be told from
gent, and sincere. But some of them just miss
the air and guided automatically along a
of the comic strips upon American civilization,
nor will he be allowed to control his vehicle
have been centered subconsciously on such
input and feedback are mostly absent or
most of the answers are well-meant, intelli
the ground what to do. He will be fired into
0
the point. Because of the tremendous impact
predetermined course. He is neither capable
the thinking of some of the contributors must
during certain phases of the trip.
famous personalities as Buck Rogers,
qualitatively different.
Flash
Gordon, and the Space Cadets. Granted that
Control
During conditions of
sub-gravity and zero-gravity there is no fly
picking the right man is one side of the story,
ing by the seat of the pants. Actually, gliding
And this training can be done in many ways.
anonymous push-button affair
and cruises out into open Space, the walls
when he plunges back into the disturbing tur
terrestrial atmosphere. _Only if his ship is
his flying skills be required.
then training him to perfection is the other.
through Space is not flying at all. It 1s an
The moment man leaves the air behind him
pletely unfamiliar type of locomotion. Only
and a com
of his cabin must contain an approximation of
bulence of Earth's atmosphere will some of
equipped with all the necessities of life and is
We are not even sure whether or not a
protected against the hostile environment out
good jet pilot will be a good Space pilot.
side will man be able to survive. The many
Things are too different out there.
be reproduced artificially .w.ithin the Space
Space flyer is his environment. If the engineers
more sensitive,
there is no reason to assume otherwise-the
functions of Earth's atmospheric shield must
ship. Although the human organism is much
demanding, and vulnerable
than that of many other living beings, his
10
space journal
Thus, the main requirement for a successful
succeed in constructing the hardware-and
problem of Space travel is near its solution.
�tors, the significance of which has never been
actually established, is purely academic. And
so are the statements about preliminary
elimination percentages which say that "of
every 1,000 persons who can meet the initial
rigid educational, physical and age require
ments for space training, only five will ever
enter Space-just enough for one rocket
ship crew." How can we know? To publish
such data before even knowing what tasks
will actually be required of the pilot seems to
be putting the Space cart before the horse
Dr. Gerothewohl in the F-94 croft used for experiments
on weightlessness.
Although there exist only a few hints about
the actual working conditions of Space crews,
some rather general conclusions about the
job requirements can be drawn. Some pre
liminary designs suggest that the actual Space
craft will be much like the imaginative rocket
ship. Admittedly, the quarters will be neither
spacious nor luxurious, but working and living
facilities are expected to be reasonably habitable and utilitarian.
Instruments may be
numerous and complex, but every effort will
be made to take the load off the pilot. Once
launched with a catapult-like acceleration
which may increase his weight ninefold, the
pilot will have to monitor the ship to a cer
tain degree during the cruise, which will
include periods of sub-gravity and complete
weightlessness that may exert some strain
even on previously conditioned crews. Descent
and landing, after an extended glide, will be
like that of a large jet aircraft or glider plane.
In none of the many scientific and semi
scientific treatises on Space travel has the task
of the crew been specified in SOP (standing
operating procedures) terms. This, of course,
is a remarkable lapse. Perhaps the designers
still do not know what it will be. It may be that
they are still working on cybernetics and auto
mation. It is not easy nowadays to make
things simple. But only if we can formulate a
realistic job description for the Space pilot,
can we reason intelligently about the specific
difficulties with which the future Space ship
skipper will have to cope. And only then can
we arrive at a set of physiological and psycho
logical requirements. The selection of rocket
pilots and Space crews by means of predic-
power.
Fortunately enough, there are some men
who have already flown rocket planes. They
are not actually Space flyers, but they have
reached the border of Space, at least. They
do not claim to be supermen, nor do they
believe their problems to be unsurmountable.
They have made this point clear in many a
conversation, and some of it was brought to
light in a panel discussion on "Sky Unlimited"
a few years ago. Their main concern is techni
cal. Only if provoked do they touch their
body and soul problems. This is what test pilot
Scott Crossfield thinks about selection:
As far as selecting pilots during the war,
for two years I was on carrier-type training
in the Navy. I spent that whole two years
trying to find men whom I could pick for
my students. Everytime I was made out a
liar.Who can tell who is going to be a good
pilot, or the best pilot?
And he underlined
statement:
General
Flickinger's
The process of selection is a natural one
in which those individuals with the requisite
flying schools, motivation and technical
knowledge gravitate toward the work •..•
That is probably the oldest method of selec
tion we have for test pilots ••• . A good
quality to look for in a research pilot is
successful tactical experience. A man must
know his airplane and be interested in what
he is doing.
And Major Arthur Murray says:
••.as was pointed out, pilots just gravi
tate into these jobs . . • • We rely on a
man's aggressiveness, rather than his in
herent ability, physiological age and other
factors ....We work with pilots such as you
see here today.
Thus it seems we do not have to worry
about the selection of Space pilots today be
cause there are enough candidates who are
eager to apply whenever the need arises.
Even if we wanted to, we cannot do very much
about this problem because there are no tests
I I
space journal
�available which would select the successful
off Phenomenon,"
test pilot or Space cadet.
The Air Force tests
scribe this effect as "a feeling of being
ore of no help either. There is no known ex
isolated, detached, or separated physically
ample that they ever succeeded in picking the
from the Earth." (J. Aviat, Med.; vol. 28,
best, or the most capable, or the outstanding
man for a particular job. They come out with
a usuable average, at best, but Space ships
need more than statistical probabilities. 0n
the other hand, there exists quite a reservoir
of capable, experienced, and highly motivated
combat, test, and research pilots. Take Scott
Crossfield, who said recently on TV, that he
would give his left arm if he could fly the X-15.
Perhaps we start at the wrong end again. It
seems more important to pick the right men to
direct the program than to pick at our ever
Clark ona Graybiel de
pages 1 21-1 26, 19 57 .) They let test pilot Bill
Bridgman describe his sensations during a
flight at the borderline of Space while he ex
perienced the break-off:
Fifty-nine thousond, sixty thousond, reel
ing off sixty-one thousand. I hove left the
world. There is only the ship to identify
myself with. Her vibrations are my own,
I feel them os intensely as those of my
body. Here is a kind of unreality mixed
with reality that I cannot explain to myself.
I have an awareness that I have never ex
perienced before, but it does not seem to
project beyond this moment . . . .
This is interesting; but, although this effect
eager pilots.
Being finally afloat in Space, the crew may
was experienced by about 35 percent of the
face grove psychological adjustments. Some
jet pilots interrogated, it was not considered
doctors think that "by for the greatest prob
generally to have a signifkont influence on
lem involves the implications of a seemingly
their ability to operate a plane. Captain Ivan
complete break from the Earth and the protec
Kincheloe, who held the altitude record, did
tive societal matrix in a small, isolated, closely
not think much of it either. And Lt. Col. David
confined container with a few companions.
Simons, who rode in a small gondola longer
little is known today about the effect of
than any other person, was scored only when
confinement and social isolation on individual
he struck an electrical storm. Nobody will
and group behavior, particularly under the
deny that the experience of being high up
hazardous
of
in a small capsule may produce uncomfort
flight." In a recent publication on the "Break-
able feelings, but it does not make much
and
threatening
conditions
Mojor H. D. Stollings, Dr. H. Strughold, and Dr. Gerothewoh/ discussing experiments in front of the Air Force T-33
used for eorly experiments on weightlessness.
A
�difference whether one is l 00,000 feet or
miles from the ground, if the chance of sur
vival is about the same. The Space flyers will
be in continuous contact with Earth. They con
listen to the radio, coll whenever they feel like
it, hove radar pictures and eventually televi
✓
.�\ _;)
sion for their orientation and entertainment.
r ,,.,�Jc
Hundreds of small boats, submarines, light
houses,
observatories,
and
outposts
//
}
------· ✓• )
ore
'-/
manned and maintained under extreme con
ditions of isolation and danger; but their un
"
selected inhabitants do not crock. It seems
that Columbus was more detached and des
perate in his trip across the ocean than the
Moon traveler will be five hundred years later.
Moreover, the point is not that people get
scared, but that they snap out of it. Most men
con adjust to a certain degree of danger,
and only a few crack up; but again we are
facing a dilemma because there is no test
that would predict them with certainty. Says
Scott Crossfield:
If o test pilot hos real pyschologicol prob
lems he would never be in this business. I
hove never been able to get anyone to tell
me what they are. You're darned scored.Un
fortunately, perhaps, it seems to be the
characteristic of most aggressive pilots that
they more or less sustain this apprehension.
To my knowledge, in the post, none of the
flight test pilots hos hod o physical checkup
prior to o mission, unless there hod been
some reported difficulty. All pilots ore re
quired by military regulations to obtain
physical examinations.
And Crossfield is completely normal. So are
the others who have seen blood, sweat, f1ak,
and disaster. However it seems that the people
on the ground are more inclined to worry than
the men in the air. How did Lindbergh feel
when he mode his way over the northern seas?
Of course, we can spend a million dollars on
soul searching, but there seems to be some
Dr. Gerothewohl's ideal space man, having four arms
and hands /two hands developed into tools) lo do the
many things necessary for survival in Space, would
include antennae instead of ears, telescopic eyes, direct
01cygen supply from built-in tonk, rocket fuel intake,
and legs which act os flns during flight.
task, however, may be modern man's real
crossroads of decision. It seems unlikely that
we will hove any real test other than letting
him try it. It is a test of courage, not of skills.
This thought is like that of Tony LeVier who
said about the requirements of flying the
F-1 04:
This bird is easy to handle and can be
flown by a child. But you must be condi
tioned to it. I hove looked at the faces of o
bunch of test pilots when they saw the bird
for the first time. Some just liked it. Some
looked pleased. But some looked terrified.
They were frightened. I could have picked
the ones who can fly it just by looking at
their expression.
To condition these men seems to me the most
important thing of all ...
No better comment can be mode than this:
other worthwhile projects to sink the money
We have the men and they ore eager to go.
in. The soul is not the weakest link in Space
They will be thoroughly conditioned through
Oight.
tlieir experiences of test and research flight.
What is most impressive of all these pre
They ore ahead of the engineers and the
liminaries is neither the human factor nor
fiction writers. They do not take these stories
interplanetary Space, but the powerplant that
seriously about the "psychotic Russian Space
will make the ship akin to a celestial body.
girls," who ore said already to hove on edge
Seeing a rocket on the test stand is a unique
on them; and they ore not alarmed about
experience; it is terrific and horrifying. To
manning the Space croft "with male and
imagine that a man will ultimately walk over
female pairs of unmarried psychotic midgets.'·
to such a three-stage, man-mode volcano,
(Time, September 16, 1957.) They know that
board it through on elevator, calmly check
they are the crop to choose from, and that
his instruments a hundred feet atop the deadly
one day they will toke off. But this will not
furnace, and launch it with a roar, has still
toke place before they hove at least a 99
something of the science fiction about it. This
percent chance of returning safely to Earth.
13
space journal
�reality,
relativity
and
common sense
BY JAMES P. GARDNER
James Patrick Gardner was barn in Win•
nipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and grew up in
Granite City, 1 llinois.
He was educated at
Parks College of Aeronautical Technology of St.
Louis University and at the University of Alo•
bomo. His field was aeronautical engineering.
Since leaving college, he has been employed by
the Missile Design Section, Future Projects De
sign Branch of the Structures and Mechanics
laboratory at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency.
in the ultimate sense.
With these things in
mind we are ready to re-examine our ideas
of space, time and motion.
We think of everything that moves as hav
Common sense is that layer of preju
dices laid down in the mind prior to
the age of eighteen.
-Albert Einstein
ing some sort of conveyor.
A train moves
along a track with some velocity relative to
the track.
A ship moves through the water
with some velocity
relative to the
water.
Sound waves travel through the air with
some velocity relative to the air.
say something has a velocity,
No individual was more aware of the in
we usually
importance of
herent difficulties associated with the accept
the relative velocity concept may be illus
ance of a new idea than was the creator of
trated by the following example.
the theory of relativity.
The more basic the
idea, the greater the difficulty.
14
mean relative velocity. The
When we
Probably the
Suppose we have two rifles, each of which
fires a bullet with a muzzle velocity of 1,000
foremost cause of this difficulty is the tendency
feet per second.
to confuse reality with human experience.
In
we will assume that sound waves travel at
early childhood we begin to form positive
ideas in relation to space, time and motion.
exactly 1,000 feet per second. The two rifles
are mounted on a stationary bench and are
Anything that challenges these fixed notions
equipped with a mechanism which will allow
To simplify the experiment
is considered a violation of common sense
us to fire them simultaneously, and a metal
and therefore unreal.
drum is placed 4,000 feet down range to
Fortunately there is a way out of the dilem
serve as a target. When the guns are fired the
ma if one is willing to take the necessary
bullets will travel down range, strike the drum,
steps.
and the impact sound will travel back to the
The first step is the recognition of
man's place in the world as a casual observer
starting point.
with rather limited equipment. The second
step is the acceptance of the fact that man
impacts at exactly the same time, or eight
seconds after we fire, since the time required
does not have the capacity to conceive reality
for the bullets to travel to the target will be
space journal
In this case we will hear both
�exactly equal to the time required for the
sound to travel back lo the starting point.
Now let us repeat the experiment in a
Now let us try another similar experiment.
This time we will replace the rifle on the car
with a horn. We will let the car travel in the
slightly different manner. We will mount one
some direction and with the some speeal as
rifle exactly as before, but we will mount the
before, and we will assume that the sound
other on an
from the horn will bounce bock from the
automobile
which is moving
toward the target with o velocity of 115 feet
target like on echo. As before, the instant the
per second.
Both rifles ore fired the instant
car posses the stationary bench the horn is
the car posses the stationary bench and again
sounded and the bullet is fired. In contrast to
we wait for the impact sound waves to return.
the previous experiment both sounds will re
This time the sound waves will return approxi
turn to the starting point simultaneously. The
mately
Although both bul
reason for the different result is as follows:
the
lets
½
left
second apart.
muzzle
A bullet moves independently of any medium
velocity, they each hod a different velocity
the
rifles with
with whatever velocity it is given unless it is
relative to the ground. The bullet fired from
acted upon by some external force. A sound
the moving rifle hod a higher relative velocity
wove is dependent upon some medium of
(muzzle velocity
transportation.
+
same
car velocity) therefore it
must arrive at the target first.
is propagated by the air which may be con-
r::::.r.�==:Jl-(-(-(-(-(- ==-
�-;::::::;-
In this case the sound wove
�
FEEJ':>
( (-(-(-<-(-(-(-
- (- (-(- (- (-(-( - (-(- (-( -(-(- ( _\-<,-:..'c-=.! (-::::..!;=.!.:::.,!
17'/i
i"::.J.,..§
SECOND
�-:==,- -(-(-(-( -(-(-(-<-,-,_ <-r-,
..:-
1
_,_
'--·--·-· ..,...eC
-··
-,
,
'
1
(
(
((-((-(-(-(-(-(:
(--:)
(�
�
�
J ------- 41
➔
I 15 FEET PER SECOND
�
c_1):.--'1;.- i("" e
"--- --�"'fill
-o':'�
---.
�
,1x-,
.. , .. ----- ·- ... �
B
H-(-(-(-(-H-c-r-c-(-(-<-c-,_r
l
l-H
Hl.
�-(��=
(
(-((
C
--,--, ___ ,_'=
(-l-,-l-
,-·-�
�
=,;
=1;�3Ml -····-. ;//
.l--�iC- 1!> -=(-) •
_ ___.,
("'
-�&Y:-�-:::;;-;�----tf
.... _,. ...... ---
.,,,If&-
C
..
FIGURE I
15
space journal
�sidered at rest relative to the earth.
So we
find that the sound wave moves with a con
stant velocity relative to the air and is inde
pendent of the velocity of the source. This is
an important point which will be referred to
later.
We are now ready to perform an hypo
thetical experiment which will be helpful in
explaining the Michdson experiment which
opened the door to the theory of relativity.
The experiment is shown in Fig. 1, and pro
ceeds as follows. Points
A and B are located
on a river 100 mi•les apart. We will assume
that the river is flowing from A to
velocity of 10 miles per hour.
Our boat has a speed in still
The basic equation of motion is:
=V
or
distance
time= -- velocity
On the downstream trip our velocity relative
to the shore will be equal to the sum of the
16
space journal
V(<lown�tr('l\111)
therefore:
= 20 + 10 = 30 mph
100
tcA to Bl =
30= 3.33
hr
On the upstream trip our velocity relative
to the shore will be equal to the difference
between the velocity of the boat in still water
and the velocity of the current.
= 20 - 10 = 10 mph
Therefore: tcs
= 100 = 10
V(upstr('n111)
to A)
100
=-= 10
10
We wish to
water of 20 miles per hour.
t
velocity of the current.
B with a
travel by boat from A to B and back to A,
and would like to calculate the time required
for the trip.
velocity of the· boat in still water and the
hrs.
hrs.
The total time for the trip is:
10
+ 3.33 = 13.33
hrs.
Now let us stop the current and repeat the
experiment.
V(downstrcnm or upstrl'am)
Total time
= 20 mph
= -20- = l O
200
hr.s.
We have a time difference of 3.33 hrs.
�This time difference will vary proportionally
propagating through empty space, so they
to a factor involving the ratio of the current
decided that space must be filled with some
and boat velocities.
mysterious substance.
By the use of some
The mysterious sub
simple algebra we can derive the equation
stance was called ether and was endowed
for the time shift and time shift factor.
with some unique characteristics.
It could
propagate a wave, but it could offer no re
sistance to motion.
The next step in the ether hypothesis was
obvious.
If
space is filled with this ether
which propagates lightwaves, and it is at rest,
then it should be a simple matter to find our
(the Earth's) velocity through this medium.
This is what Michelson set out to do.
Since light must move through the ether
much as sound moves through the air, we
know from our experiment with the rifle and
the horn that the wave velocity is independent
of the velocity of the source. We also know
from the boat experiment that velocities meas
ured in opposite directions through a moving
medium will result in a time shift.
With these
assumptions Michelson set out to measure the
Earth's velocity through the ether.
His ap
paratus is shown in Fig. 2, and operates as
follows.
Two
arms
of
equal
length
are
mounted perpendicular to each other on a
table which may be rotated about a vertical
axis.
A light source is placed at S, a half
mirror at the axis A, and an optical instrument
is mounted at the observation point 0.
A
mirror is placed at the end of each arm at
8 and C. The optical instrument at O is called
It is clearly seen that a time shift is intro
an interferometer which is an instrument which
performed
can be used to measure the slightest shift in
which involves motion in opposite directions
the fringe pattern resulting from two interfer
through a medium which is in motion.
With
ing light beams. For instance, if a light beam
this in mind we are ready to review the fa
is split into two beams, allowed to travel a
mous Michelson experiment.
given distance, and then re-united, an inter
duced
when an
experiment
is
In the last half of the 19th Century there
was much speculation in regard to the method
of propagation of electro-magnetic waves, or
more specifically light waves.
As was men
tioned before, we think of everything that
moves as having some sort of conveyor and
ference pattern will be observed. If the ve
locity and therefore the travel time of one
of the beams is slightly altered, a different
interference pattern will be observed.
This
change is referred to as a shift in the inter
ference fringes.
it is reasonably assumed that light was no ex
In the Michelson experiment, if we con
It can be easily proved
sider the Earth at rest and the ether flowing
by experiment that light does not use air as
by, we have a situation similar to that in the
a conveying medium.
If air is not the con
boat experiment. We are substituting a light
veyor, what is? This is essentially the problem
which confronted the 19th Century physicists.
river. The light beam starts at S and proceeds
They found it difficult to imagine light waves
to A where it is split into two beams, one of
ception to the rule.
beam for the boat and a flowing ether for the
17
space journal
�6-
MIRROR C
1
-
!:.
-
MIRROR A
.,.
J
MIRROR B
LIGHT SOURCE S
NOTE:
HALF SILVERED MIRROR (A) SPLITS LIGHT BEAM
INTO TWO BEAMS; ONE (SHOWN BY BLACK
LINE) PASSES THROUGH AND OTHER (SHOWN
INTERFEROMETER o BY RED LINE} IS REFLECTED.
FIGURE 3
which passes through A and proceeds to B,
upon existing fundamental concepts which
and the other is deflected 90 degrees and
proceeds to C. The two beams are reflected
were the very foundation of modern physics.
Many leading physicists of that day took up
at B and C, re-united at A, and proceed to 0
the challenge and attempted to explain the re
where they enter the interferometer. If the
sults of the experiment by slightly modifying
entire apparatus is rotated 90 degrees so that
or extending present views, but this path
the light beam from A to B is first moving
usually led to further complications and con
parallel to the motion of the ether and then
tradictions. Of these attempts probably the
perpendicular to the motion of the ether, we
most brilliant was made by H. A. Lorentz in
would expect to find a time shift as we found
the field of electro-magnetics.
in the boat experiment. In this case motion
that the negative result of the interference
perpendicular to the ether stream is compara
experiment could be explained by applying
He showed
ble to motion with no current in the boat ex
a theory previously advanced by Fitzgera Id
periment.
Michelson performed his experiment with
which stated that the physical dimensions of
a body are altered if the body is in motion.
extreme accuracy, and several variations were
This change in dimension is known as Fitz
introduced to eliminate the possibility of error
gerald contraction, and is described in the
due to external influence. To his amazement,
following manner. If a body is in motion its
in each case no appreciable shift in the in
length measured along the line of motion
terference fringes was observed, and no time
will be decreased by an amount proportional
shift could be recorded.
to the ratio of the velocity of the body and
The results of this experiment had a greater
effect on physical science than perhaps any
the velocity of light. As the velocity of the
body approaches the velocity of light it will
in history, for they cast a shadow of doubt
gradually become shorter until at the velocity
18
space journal
�of light its length will become zero. If this
theory is applied to the Michelson experi
ment, we see that the arm of the apparatus
which is parallel to the Earth's motion will be
shorter. When the apparatus is rotated 90
degrees, the other arm will be shorter. The
equations of Lorentz show that this change
of length due to velocity is the right amount
to cancel out the effect of the time shift and
cause the observed negative result. Lorentz
believed this shrinking to be a physical reality
resulting from magnetic field interactions
within the atomic structure of the material.
He compared this effect to that which can be
observed in certain electrical phenomena in
volving charged bodies moving in electric
fields.
The electro-magnetic theory necessitated
the introduction of new hypothesis and heavy
restrictions, and therefore could not be fully
accepted as an explanation of the experi
mental results.
One other possible explanation was
brought out. This was the theory that the ether
moved with the Earth thereby eliminating the
ether stream. This possibility was disproved by
experiment.
As one attempt after another failed, the
scientific world wondered what to do with
these experimental results which seemed to
violate every rule of science and common
sense ever laid down by man.
The answer came in a short paper written
by a 26-year-old physicist, Albert Einstein,
who was then employed as a patent clerk in
Switzerland. In his paper entitled "The Prin
ciple of Relativity", Einstein introduced a
whole new concept of the physical world. He
showed that the difficulties encountered in
explaining the results . of the Michelson ex
periment were due to false concepts in regard
to space and time. He showed that the con
cept of space and time as individual and
absolute entities was completely meaningless.
He interpreted the results of the Michelson
experiment as indisputable proof of the fol
lowing statement which is the basis of the
theory of relativity.
"The velocity of light in vacuo is the same
in all reference systems moving uniformly,
relative to each other."
This sounds like a harmless statement at
first, but let us examine it closely with the
aid of an example to see what it implies.
Suppose we have two rocket ships A and
B which move at very high velocities. We will
assume that A moves with ¼ the velocity of
light, and that B moves with ½ the velocity
of light. The velocity of light is approximately
l 86,000 miles per second. We will use the
Solar System as our reference System, and all
velocities are relative to this System. We will
let A and B travel in parallel directions and
assume that they are together (passing each
other) at our starting line. At the instant A
and B cross the starting line, a light is flashed
which sends light waves in all directions. Each
rocket ship is equipped with a stop clock
which is started the instant the starting line
is crossed. We will introduce a third observer
C who is also equipped with a stop clock.
The third observer will start his clock the in
stant the rocket ships cross the starting line,
but will remain at the starting line as a sta
tionary observer. We will ask C to calculate
his distance from the light wave front after
his clock indicates a passing of five seconds.
He knows the velocity of light is constant and
is equal to 186,000 miles per second relative
to any reference system, so he simply multi
plies l 86,000 by five and reports that the
wave front is 930,000 miles distant. We will
ask A to perform the same calculation. He
is also familiar with the hypothesis of rela
tivity and therefore knows that the velocity of
light is constant relative to his system, so he
performs the same calculation as C did and
reports that he is 930,000 miles from the
light wave front. Finally B is asked to report
his distance from the wave front at five sec
onds and on the basis of the hypothesis of
relativity he arrives at the same answer as
did C and A.
Now we must ask how three different ob
servers each with a different velocity and
each starting from the same point at the
same time can be the same distance from a
point (the light wave front) the same number
of seconds later? Apparently the wave front
is in three different places at the same time.
This certainly is a violation of common sense!
19
space journal
��In search of an explanation, we are con
meaning. It is only the combination of the two,
fronted with a choice. We either must accept
or the defined point at the defined time which
this result and look deeper for the cause, or
can really describe an event. Because of this
we can forget the hypothesis of relativity and
interlocking of space and time, comparisons
go back to the old method of adding and
of length, distance, and velocity cannot be
subtracting velocities. The Michelson experi
made between systems which are moving
ment has shown the disastrous results of the
relative to each other unless the lows of
old method, so we will take the first choice.
transformation, which were first derived by
We must accept the fact that the wave front
Lorentz, are applied. These laws enable us
1s where the observers say it is since their
to calculate the length of a body which is
calculations are based on the hypothesis of
relativity, but we cannot accept the possibility
in motion relative to a given reference system.
of the wave front occupying three different
positions at the same time. The answer to
the puzzle lies in our concept of time which
are stated as follows:
we have considered absolute, or the same,
for all observers regardless of their state of
motion. We are actually forced to give up
the concept of absolute time and accept the
fact that it is impossible to compare time
measurements directly between systems which
are moving relative to each other.
In our
rocket ship experiment we can consider the
time measured by the stationary observer C
as our basic time for comparison. I do not
wish to give the impression that there is
anything special or absolute about the time
measured by C. We only use this time as a
basis for comparison because we considered
C to be at rest in our reference system.
Since A is moving with some velocity rela
tive to C, we must assume that his clock runs
somewhat slower than the clock at C. Since
B is moving at a higher velocity than A rela
tive to C, his clock must run slower than A's
clock. So we hove three observers performing
on experiment based on time, and each ob
server hos a clock which is running at a dif
ferent rate. No wonder our results were
ridiculous!
Actually the wove front was much closer to
A and B than it was to C when C's clock
showed a passage of five seconds since they
were traveling at high velocities in the direc
tion of the light wave. The clocks carried by
A and B were running slower, so when they
finally recorded a passage of 5 seconds the
wave front was the some distance from them
as it hod been from C.
In the theory of relativity, time by itself
has no meaning, and space by itself hos no
These laws ore in the form of equations, and
-
. t,
Where:
Lo=Length of a body at rest relative to a
system.
L'=Length of a body in motion relative to C3
system.
t'=Time lapse of a clock in motion relative
to a system.
to=Time lapse of a dock at rest relative to
a system.
v =Velocity of a body or clock relative to
a system.
c =Velocity of light in any system.
These laws which ore based on the con
stant velocity of light as given in the hypo
thesis of relativity completely explain the
results of the Michelson experiment. If these
same equations are applied in the boat ex
periment, we see that the change of length
and time will exactly compensate the effect
of the moving current. As stated before, in
this case the boot represents the light beam,
and the current represents the relative ve
locity. If the contraction and time change
equations ore properly combined they result
in the time shift factor which was derived in
the boat experiment.
At first the theory of relativity strikes most
of us as, at best, on interesting philosophical
diversion, but if we seriously ponder the sub
ject we become aware of the significance of
it's implications. In certain areas these impli
cations seem to border on the supernatural.
A good example of this is the slowing down
21
space journal
�of time. Time, which is usually taken quite
is illustrated by the classic example of the
for granted, is actually somewhat of en ab
Space traveler who leaves the Earth, flies
straction in itself. When we think of time we
about in Space for a few weeks with a velocity
usually think of a clock which is a periodic
near that of light, and then returns to Earth
mechanical device which is calibrated to the
to discover that several hundred years hove
rotation of our planet. If the rotational speed
elapsed. During his voyage his clock was
of our planet should suddenly increase or
almost stopped due to his high velocity rela
decrease, we would be forced to throw away
tive to the Earth. He was of course completely
OIi of our clocks.
unaware of this slowing down of time since
So we see from the preceding discussion
that time is meaningless unless it is associated
all of his physical and mental processes were
slowed down in the same manner.
or interlocked with physical events. The theory
Examination of the transformation equa
of relativity shows that the velocity of light is
tions shows clearly that relativistic effects do
the upper limit or maximum
with
not come into play unless velocities near that
which any physical body can move since to
of light are attained. We do not experience
velocity
exceed this velocity we would find ourselves
such velocities in everyday life, but as man
dealing with negative time or clocks running
moved into Space such velocities must be ob
backwards.
tained if we wish to travel to another solar
An interesting result of this time dilatation
system within an individual's life span.
"Doggone it! Are they THAT hard up for Space Cadets?'"
22
space journal
�I
EDITOR'S NOTE: Recent investigations in
kinetic energy; or, in formula LE=Eri+E k.
astronautics have resulted in a new concept
But this is true only in a state of equilibrium;
which may help relate the macrocosm to the
for example, a satellite in orbit around Earth
microcosm, with the tie between them being
or one of its sister planets, the swinging
time.
pendulum of a clock, etc. But if we consider
Briefly the idea is this: in basic physics we
the total energy required to bring a mass into
learn that the total energy of a mass is equal
a new state of equilibrium, then this formula
to the sum of its potential energy and its
no longer holds true-according to the new
concept of "displacement energy" or LiE.
To illustrate, let us analyze the football
quarterback who makes a "jump" pass. Be
fore he leaps into the air, his body possesses
potential energy. As he springs into the air,
two things happen: time elapses and his
potential energy is converted to kinetic ener
gy. However, during the time he is moving
upward, energy must also be expended to
lift his energy needed to throw the ball. This,
then, is the "displacement energy," and it
must be accounted for in any computation of
the total energy needed for such a pass. Thus
the formula must now become: �E=E p +Ei. +
LiE.
The same holds true for launching a
satellite into orbit around Earth, lunar probes,
and interplanetary Space flights.
Within the microcosm the concept of
E
may also have far reaching consequences.
It may even impinge upon a unified concept
of universal occurrences. In this respect,
E
seems comparable to Maxwell's "displace
ment current," which explains, among other
things, the action of a capacitor (condenser)
in an electric circuit. Indeed, there is a
striking similarity between the two concepts
in that both involve the consideration of
time as the essential determinant.
The discovery and formulation of this im
portant concept was made by Helmut Hoepp
ner, formerly of the Army Ballistic Missile
Agency and now Senior Scientist for As
tronautics at the Chrysler Corporation, and
his co-worker at ABMA B. Spencer Isbell, also
editor of SPACE Journal. Both Hoeppner and
Isbell credit Professor Hermann Oberth with
assistance and encouragement during their
work on L'iE.
-Mitchell R. Sharpe
23
space journal
�design criteria for buildings
on the moon
By John S. Rinehart
John 5. Rinehart, o physicist, received his
Bachelor of Science degree from Northeast Mis
souri State Teachers College in 1934, his Moster
of Science degree from California Institute of
Technology in 1937, and his doctorate from the
State University of Iowa in 1940. He hos taught
at Kansas Stole College, Wayne University, and
Harvard University. A former associate director
of the Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory, he
has also worked for the Naval Ordnance Test
Station ond the former New Mexico Experimental
Range. He is presently a professor of mining
engineering al the Colorado School of Mines
and director of the Mining Research Laboratory.
A member of Sigma Xi, the American Physical
Society, and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, he is the author of
War Weapons for Air Warfare and The Behavior
of Metals Under Impulsive loads. for his serv
ices during World War 11, he was awarded o
Presidential Certificate of Merit.
During this revolution it turns exactly once on
its own axis so that it always presents the same
side to Earth (but the Sun illuminates all points
on the Moon at some time during this revolu
tion.) The Moon wobbles a bit so that actually
we see about
¼
59 percent of its surface.
Its diameter is 2160 miles, approximately
that of Earth, but its mass is only 1 /81
that of Earth; thus its density (pounds per cubic
feet) is only 0.61 times that of Earth or about
280 pounds per cubic foot.
From this we
derive, from Newton's universal law of gravi
tation, a most significant and important result,
namely, that the gravitational attraction at the
Man will, within the foreseeable future, con
Moon's surface is only 0.165 (approximately
struct permanent buildings on the Moon to
serve as living quarters for Moon explorers,
1 /6) that on the surface of Earth. Thus on the
surface of the Moon every object will weigh
laboratories for astrophysical and astrochemi
only 1/6 as much as on the surface of Earth.
cal research, maintenance shops for the ve
hicles of the Space traveler, stations for
The mass of each object is, however, inde
communication networks, and numerous other
tinually keep the distinction between mass and
structures.
weight clearly in mind.
built?
24
How are these buildings to be
pendent of its location. In design one must con
What are the basic design criteria?
The environment of a building on the Moon
How do they differ from those applicable to
Earth-situated buildings? What special facil
The Moon has no observable atmosphere.
differs markedly from its environment on Earth.
ities must be provided that are not needed on
There is no haze, no clouds, no winds, no rain
Earth? What are the environmental differences
and hazards? What determines the material
or snowstorms. The building is either bathed
in intense sunshine or looks upon stark, black,
we use? What problems must the architect and
cold Space. It will be continuously plagued
the construction engineer face? How are the
by a great gnat-like rain of interplanetary
materials to be transported?
dust.
The Moon is a large, essentially spherical
body which moves in a slightly elliptical orbit
had any, because of its small size and, hence,
around Earth in accordance with well-estab
low gravitational pull. The velocity of escape
The Moon has lost its atmosphere, if it ever
lished physical and astronomical laws: New
from the Moon is quite low, 1 .5 miles per
ton's
laws
of
motion;
Newton's
universal
second, as contrasted with 6.9 miles per
gravitation law; and Kepler's laws. Its mean
distance from Earth is 238,857 miles, and it
second for that of Earth. The gravitational at
takes 27.3 days to revolve once about Earth.
hold to it the nitrogen and oxygen molecules
space journal
traction of Earth is strong enough to grip and
�This is not the
They probably do not present a health hazard
case on the Moon. The thermal velocities of
but they may be sufficiently abundant to dis
the gas molecules are sufficiently high that if
color glass or plastic after long exposure.
that form our atmosphere.
gas molecules were ever present, they would
It is also not possible to define accurately
long since have wandered off into Space. A
enough the nature and distribution of meteoric
few molecules of heavy gases such as carbon
matter to estimate it as a potential hazard
dioxide, krypton, and xenon may have re
to lunar structures.
Extraterrestrial material
mained behind or may be seeping out from
exists in three forms: the most abundant by far
the Moon's interior but these are not signifi
is interplanetary dust, the dust which forms
Thus the atmospheric pressure is zero,
the zodiacal light, a faint band of light seen
cant.
and any building constructed there must be
extending from the Sun at the end of twilight;
internally pressurized with an atmosphere ,n
the next is debris from comets, which, when
which human beings can survive.
they streak through our atmosphere produce
The Moon's surface, unshielded by an ab
intensely
luminous
trails,
called
meteors,
sorbing atmosphere, con feel the full force of
and, lastly, the meteorites, probably great
the Sun's rays and become extremely hot on
masses of stone and iron and fragments of
one side while the other side will quickly hove
planets which once resided between Mars and
radiated its heat into Space and become ex
Jupiter in our solar system. The interplanetary
Day and night on the Moon
dust ranges in size from 1 to 300 microns
ceedingly cold.
ore each about two weeks long.
in diameter; meteors are fragile, porous bodies
The temperatures on the surface of the
of low-gross density; and meteorites are solid
The velocity with
Moon have been carefully measured, using a
chunks of iron and stone.
telescope equipped with a vacuum thermo
which any of these might strike the Moon
couple. On one occasion this was done during
ranges from 1.5 miles per second to about
an eclipse and it was found that the surface
44 miles per second. There will be no atmos
of the Moon cools very quickly, reaching a low
phere to check its velocity as is the case with
temperature in 20 or 30 minutes after the Sun
Earth,
stops shining. The temperature at lunar mid
the meteors are rendered impotent.
day is 214 °
F; at sunset-32
°
°
F; and at
where
the
interplanetary
dust
and
The fall of a meteorite is a relatively rar"'
F. It is possible to guess the
event: about five per day reach Earth. Inter
sort of temperature environment, maximum
planetary dust is by far more abundant in
of
changes in temperature, any structure placed
Space with the abundance of this dust in the
vicinity of the Moon being about 5 x 10-21
on the Moon will be subjected to. Any structure
grams per cubic centimeter. The Moon sweeps
placed there must be able to withstand these
up this material at the rate of 110 tons in
extreme temperatures and especially the tre
a 24-hour period.
midnight -243
and
m1n1mum
temperatures
and
rates
mendous temperature gradients.
Thus the chance of a large building being
The ultraviolet radiation, normally absorbed
by Earth's atmosphere, will be sufficiently in
tense to render panes of glass or plastic use
less as
windows.
Thus,
shutters
for
such
windows must be provided.
struck by a meteorite or a meteor is negligible,
one hit in perhaps several thousand years.
lnterplanentary dust is the real hazard, and
we do not know how great it is. The particles
ore small; and even though of great velocity,
The Moon is continually bombarded by
they could be easily warded off with an um
particulate matter: cosmic rays, charged par
brella-like shield. The best estimate is that
ticles, and meteoric particles. Not much is
about three or four particles, with diameters
known about the rote of influx of cosmic rays
ranging from 0.0002 to 0.0004 inches, would
Ill
strike each square yard of exposed surface
indicate that they are considerably more
abundant in space than we have thought.
per day. A meteoric shield must be a part of
any structure built on the Moon.
although
recent
records
from
Explorer
25
space journal
�-
Scale model of a Moon building designed and built by the Wonder Building Corporation of America, as a permanent
structure for our Moon explorers. The plastic bubble-type ob servolory in the foreground is protected from ultraviolet radi
ation by sliding metal doors. The overhead structure is a meteorite shield to protect the building proper. The dome
in the center of the barrier is a traffic control tower. The proposed building would be 340 feet long, 160 feet wide,
and 65 feel high.
From a practical viewpoint, the exact nature
of the surface of the Moon is our greatest
unknown. On a grand scale we know that the
Moon's surface is covered with large and deep
craters, huge mountain ranges, and vast flat
areas. But we can not look at the Moon in
the intimate detail needed to provide us with
realistic design data for construction. Resolu
tion with our best telescopes is about one
mile.
Opinion is now divided as to the nature of
the Moon's landscape. At an Air Force sym
posium on this subject in April 1958, three
eminent astronomers summarized their variant
ideas:
1. The maria (large dark flat areas) are
almost certainly covered with lava and will
make flrm landing spots for Earth's space
ships.
2. The rock has turned slowly to dust by
bombardment of rays and particles from the
Sun and Space. The dust, kept stirred up by
the same agents that formed it, has flowed like
a slow liquid into the Moon's low places so the
26
space journal
maria are not filled with lava, but with dust
perhaps several miles deep. Dust near the
surface may be as fluffy as baby powder.
Unwary ships might disappear in dry quick
sand.
3. Although the Moon may have plenty of
dust, its surface has been solidified. There may
be a thin layer like dust on a grand piano,
but the underlying material, cemented to
gether (not stirred up) by bombardment from
Space, is probably "crunchy" and strong
enough to support air alighting spaceships.
With this lack of knowledge and great
divergence of opinion, we can only design
for the worst condition: a sea of dust upon
which we must float our structures.
Without defining the specific function of
the building we know that it must provide for
the following:
1. Living quarters, including rooms for
sleeping, cooking, eating and recrea
tion.
2. Physics, chemistry, and biological
laboratories.
�become important in design of the heating,
3. A control tower for communication,
studies,
power, water, sewage, and ventilating system.
tions, traffic control, etc.
cause man will be able to lift himself with l /6
meteorological
servations,
earth obobservaastronomical
Ramps and stairs can be much steeper be
4. Air conditioning, heating, power and
the effort required on Earth. A crane designed
refrigeration plants, oxygen produc
for a one ton load on Earth can be lift at least
tion units, extreme-temperature regu
six tons on the Moon. We must, on the other
lating devices, water supply and sew
hand, be careful with our elevators for here
age disposal plants.
we are accelerating and decelarating masses.
5.
A machine shop and equipment main
No consideration need be given wind or
tenance area. Further, we know that
snow loads since they will not exist. Our major
the structure must be built as on in
stresses now come from the artificial atmos
tegral floatable unit.
phere contained within the hermetically sealed
We assume the following: (1) that the loca
tion of the building on the Moon will be fixed;
(2) that the building will be constructed from
materials brought from Earth; (3) that the
building will provide the functions listed above;
building. Normal atmospheric pressure, 14.7
pounds per square inch, is a realistic figure to
use for design purposes; 1 0 pounds per square
inch would be sufficient. The problem is not
unlike that enco-untered by the designers of
high-flying aircraft except
perhaps in one
and (4) that it will be a permanent-type build
respect which could be significant. On the
ing in the sense that it will be occupied on a
Moon we can play the gravitational forces
continuing basis for several years.
against the air pressure forces, achieving some
A Moon building presents its own peculiar
problems, and first is the matter of gravity.
The force of gravity on the Moon is approxi
mately l 6 that of Earth. This means that the
deflection of a cantilever beam or any other
load-supporting beam or column will be only
l /6 as great as it would be on Earth. Changes
in gravity will not affect the strength proper
ties of the materials. For design purposes we
can,
in static
situations
only,
replace
the
gravity of 32 feet per second which repeatedly
appears in our strength of materials formulas
by 116 its value, say five feet per second.
A whole new field of design is opened up.
It is as if we hod an exceedingly high-strength,
lightweight construction material.
We must, however, be wary of any dyomic
situation. We do not change the mass of our
material by transporting it to the Moon. It
would be just as difficult to accelerate a car
kind of equilibrium which may gain us an ad
vantage.
This is a matter that needs look
ing into. Broad expanses of curved structures
can be used, but we must tie the whole to
gether with rods or similar means so that it
does not explode.
Rapid, intense heating and sudden, severe
cooling present difficult but certainly solvable
design problems. The parts of the structure be
coming shaded will immediately become very
cold, while those in the Sun will remain heated
to a high temperature. During the lunar day,
when the Sun is upon the structure, devices
must be provided to regulate the influx and
efflux of heat. These should be tied together
to the heating and ventilating systems. But
we must also be prepared to be without our
principal energy source, the Sun, for two
weeks at a time. This means providing energy
storage facilities of no mean proportion.
on the Moon as it is on Earth. Thus, designs
The potential hazard from cosmic rays,
involving vibratory or rotary motion must con
while still one of the big unknowns, is proba
form to the normal Earth pattern. An electric
bly not great enough to warrant modifying
generator designed for Moon use would not
building practices. Eventually the living quar
appear substantially different from an earthly
ters may be lined with thin sheets of lead.
one.
The bombardment by meteoric matter is
Reduction in gravity will influence the con
serious but can be dealt with. The best ap
vective flow of air and the rate of flow of
proach is to use the scheme long in use by
liquids downhill. These changes are likely to
tent dwellers to protect themselves from the
27
space journal
�fury of rainstorms; o canvas canopy covering,
need not be built to withstand the tumultuous
placed above and separated some distance
forces exerted by a watery ocean. The dust on
from the roof of the lent, which dulls the force
the Moon is as calm as o mild pond.
of the impact of the raindrops and diverts the
According to Archimedes' principle o body
material away from the roof of the tent. On the
immersed in o fluid is woter buoyed up by a
Moon, the conopy must be of o metal, with a
force equol to the weight of the fluid it dis
thickness sufficient to stop meteoritic dust. A
places. A 10,000-ton ship, for example, hos
1 /32-inch thick aluminum shield should be
320,000 cubic feet immersed when it is float
sufficient. We cannot hope to protect against
chance encounters with large meteoric bodies
ing. Now, how will the dust oceon oct in this
respect? We ore sofe in concluding that it will
anymore than o canvas shield protects oginst
act os o fluid of low density: for design pur
large hailstones. Provision should be mode
for replacing sections of the shield as they
poses, obout
Finally, we ore concerned with foundations
for the building and here is the greatest
30 pound per cubic foot. Thus the lower port
There seems to be but little else
the volume, V, so covered being given by
V (ff1 )
Totol weight of building (pounds)
30
to do but lo design the building as o structure
which floats in a stationary ocean of dust,
The dust will tend to support the lower floor
anchored in place by large, heavy blocks
or hull. At o 6.6-foot depth, the pressure act
suspended by long cables from the body of
ing on the floor will be just equol to atmos
the structure. In many ways its construction
pheric pressure. If the hull is embedded to
will resemble that of a ship at anchor, o freely
depths greater thon this it must be designed
flooting,
self-contained
t
I
times the density of water or
of our building will be covered with dust,
become damaged.
difficulty.
0.5
unit.
The
building
need not be streamlined. Fortunately, olso, it
so os not to be crushed by the weight of the
dust.
Cutowoy view of the ,nteroor of the Moon building shows c omportmenls for reseorch, liv,ng quorlers, observotoroes, etc
The enlronce ,s of the right end of the building where there is on arr Ioele Pressure doors separate the ma,n oreos from
eoch other and prevent loss of internal oir pressure in cose of o puncture of the overhead sh,eld ond bu,/ding by
meteors
eruov ANO READING
C.OMPA.R.TMENT
ME.5S HALL
SHOPS
LAB.
LIVING QUARTERS
LAB
E.MERGE.I\IC.Y OXYGEN
28
space journal
J
I
�Heres a full scientific report
on ·space flight-its past,
present . . . and future!
Since the building is floating, weight must
be fairly uniformly distributed if it is not
to topple over or settle unevenly.
If the Moon's surface proves to be suffi
ciently solid, it will provide normal support for
the building and may be used as foundation
blocks.
There is no one building uniquely qualified
for placement on the Moon. Design require
ments allow as well as demand a diversity of
structural types, proportions, materials and
SPACE
FLICHT
forms. The Buck Rogers portable and infla
table plastic balloon house is o perfectly
practical type of temporary housing.
Permanent housing must be fabricated from
more durable materials. Aluminum suggests it
self immediately because of its high strength,
Satellites, Spaceships, Space Station and
Space Travel
low weight, and ease of fabrication. Aluminum
also provides a good reflecting surface which
Bv CARSBIE C. ADAMS
aids in cooling problems.
President, National Research and Development
Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia
The basic elements of the Wonder Build
ing
Corporation of
America's "Truss-Skin"
NOW-the exciting and factual account
of what is involved in space flight
-and how our scientists and
engineers are bringing us into
this new era-is given by ex
perts.
roof system ore well suited for construction of
Moon buildings because of its great flexibility
and
versatility.
Some
details
hove neces
sarily been modified, including the develop
ment of means for hermetically sealing the
structures.
The basic scientific information needed to
complete first designs of functional and at
tractive buildings for use on the Moon ore at
hand. Our task has been the very specific one
)
of taking these scientific guide lines and pro
From man's earliest skyward thoughts to today's ACTUAL 7>/cms
for Jl,iaht in spare . . . the men, discoveries, and lechnologlral
advances responsible are now brought berore you In a striking
review.
The treatment is soundly technical, fully annotated, and fasci
nating In Its portrayal or far-reaching concepts and the growth
or the means or thelr realization.
Here Is an Integrated picture or the ways In which the many
fields that lend their knO\\'ledge to astronautics are working
together to make spaee flight a reality. You learn about the
<'Ontrlbullons made by:
ACT NOW
Keep up with the fast changing
and swiftly moving field of space
l
l
and space science.
Fill out the enclosed post-paid card
and become a regular reader of
SPACE Journal.
-material,
-space medicine
-<hemistry
-and olher fields
-astrophysics
ducing a practical model.
-<ommunications
-geophyucs
-psychology
Dr. Wernher von Braun says
of the book in his preface, "I am
certain that il will soon attain
the stature or one of the few
great classics on this fasrinal!n�
and many-faceted subject." It
thoroughly covers the theories,
methods, equipment. and pivotal
scientitlc and human factors
for everyone with either a Cun<'
lional or general interest in any
aspect or the development of
pracllcal space fl lght.
:J.,,ee
:Je,,-day
Gxaminalion
----,I
r------------------
1
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
327 W. 41st St., N.Y.C., Dept. SJ-59-1
Semi me .\<la111,·
81'.\('E FLl(:IIT
tor l(J dU,\'.'\. CXltolllli.H 1011 un 8JJ
1)10\lll. fn Ill cl,1\:-, I \\ill ,emit
$Li .iO, plW! ft•\\ c·t.•nls th•lheo. or
rc1u111 book 1,0!-o.tpai tl. f\\e oa�
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For 1.11-fce, 011t,l<lt.> l '.� ..
wil1e �kl:1a\\ 11111 1111·1. X. Y
l'o ilioo
:<J-5!1•1
29
space journal
:
�--METEORITES
GLOBAL REPORTING
*
Russia
Soviet cosmic ray studies are being pursued at a new Pamira Mountains scientific center in
Central Asia. The center is equipped with a 70-ton electromagnet, a cloud chamber, an ionization
hodoscope, and automatic control equipment. When the apparatus is assembled, Soviet scientists
will be able to detect the flux of cosmic particles over a wide area. Studies of nuclear interac
*
tions at energies of 50-billion electron volts ore going on, too.
A Soviet satellite for relaying TV broadcasts appears to be in the planning stages, with
scientists anxious to carry out preliminary tests of both the rocket vehicle and the broadcast relay
apparatus. The decision to push ahead with such a pion was mode lost January by the TV section
of the USSR Scientific and Technical Society of Radio Technology and Electrical Communications.
It is claimed that a steady reception would be assured throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. Thus,
the TV satellite would give the Russians on "electronic foot" in the door of countries inhabited by
*
some
2.2
billion persons.
The Moscow City Council is sponsoring a contest among Soviet sculptors for the design of
a monument in commemoration of the launchin g of Sputnik
I.
Many models and designs hove
been submitted and ore currently on view in Moscow for public reaction. Visitors to the ex
hibition ore asked to write their comments on v arious designs as on aid to the panel of judges
that will make the final selection.
*
Great Britain
A Space medicine symposium, organized by the British Interplanetary Society and the
Royal Air Force, Institute of Aviation Medicine, was held on 16 October 1958. The subjects
discussed included the effects of conditions Ii kely to be encountered in Space (excessive ac
*
celeration, weightlessness, radiation, temperature extremes, etc.) and means for their mitigation,
food supplies, psychology, current research pro grams, etc.
The new British rocket testing center "Spadea dam" is now under construction near Carlisle,
Cumberland. The project, which includes a complete settlement with restaurants, recreation halls,
stores, hospital, fire house, is being erected with g overnment funds. After completion it will be mode
available to the rocket and missile divisions of Rolls Royce and de Hovillond.
*
FRANCE
The French atomic scientist C.-N. Mortin hos come to the conclusion that the Russian Sput
niks were not launched from the Caspian Sea a reo but from the Ukraine. He reports his reasons
in
30
Les Satellites Artificiels.
space journal
•
�*
United States
The United States Air Force recently disclosed that it has been recovering recorded scien
tific information from outer space with some of its Thor and Atlas missile flights that carry op
erational nose cones.
The nose cone, developed by General Electric, is equipped with a "messenger" that records
data during flight. Before the nose cone returns to Earth, the "messenger" is ejected from it
by a small jato unit. The "messenger" itself is a small plastic sphere 18 inches in diameter.
It contains a tape recorder, a junction box, a battery pack, dye markers, and a sofar sounding
bomb. The plastic is strong enough to protect the instruments yet light enough to allow the
*
"messenger" to float in water.
4
A four-man experimental Space station, launched by an Atlas missile and orbiting 400 miles
above Earth, has been proposed by the Convair Division of General Dynamics Corporation.
According to the proposal which the firm says could be a reality within five years from the starting
date, an Atlas without nose cone or associated weapons gear would be fired into orbit. The shell
would be equipped as a Space station. Escape gliders are fastened to the back for return to Earth.
*
United Nations
The abolition of national claims to the Moon and the planets of the Solar System is expected
to be a major issue on the provisional agenda of the United Nations Assembly. Secretary General
Dag Hammarshkjold voicing the proposals of the United States and Russia has called for inter
national agreement which would rule that outer Space should be a community affair with individual
power claims to celestial bodies illegal.
31
space journal
�INT 0 SPACE
The Moon has beckoned for ten thousand years
To tribes and generations of mankind;
And now this world is ringing loud with cheers
As men set out, another world to find.
The Greeks before us watched the stars, and dreamed
Of travellers beyond this earthly sphere;
They gazed enraptured ot the Moon, which seemed
To beckon-and which filled their souls with fear.
The Middle Ages came and passed, devoid
Of any hope, beyond the realm of dreams
That men could ever travel in the void
Through which the Moon sends down its golden beams.
For space flight once was just a prayer, but now
We stand upon the verge of knowing how.
by Wade Wellman
"Through science we seek to owoken man to his philosophical significance in
the setting of the Universe. This activity of science hos never been more dominant
than ii is today. for, whereas the men of yesterday were interested in extending
their frontiers merely over the face of the Earth, we ore today extending our fron•
tiers into Outer Space, thinking not of one world but of many."
ANDREW C. IVY
"I believe that the time hos arrived for
medical investigation of the problems of
manned Rocket flight, for it will not be the
engineering problems but rather the limits
of the human frame that will make the
final decision as to whether manned Space
flight will eventually become a Reality."
WERNHER von BRAUN
�dynamics of life
in the universe
By John Hutley
John Hulley was barn in Florida and edu•
cated in Europe and the United States, gradu•
ating mo9no cum laude from Harvard in 19AA.
A veteran of World War II, he has worked far
the Office al Strategic Services as a historian
and was chief of the European Regional Stoll
in the Washington headquarters of the Marshall
Pion. Al present he lives in Washington, D. C.
where he is doing original research into Space
philosophy from the ecological approach.
The preceding article (Space Journal, Sum•
mer,
1958) described human activity
from
on ecological aspect: seeking expansion and
survival, humans may carry life from planet
to planet.
Illustrations were taken from na
ture os we observe it on Eorth 's surface. The
next step is to examine the hypothesis from
the point of view of nature os we observe it
in the Universe around us. At this level, the
interacting forces ore simpler ond more
fundamental.
During most of recorded history, men have
gazed upon the heavens with a mixture of
wonder and foreboding. In the heavens they
personified forces which could give, alter or
remove life. These personi.ficotions represented
a view of reality which approximated the
truth. One important error, however, was the
shortness of time-concepts; the end of the
world hos been anticipated on specific dotes
which turned out to be incorrect.
In recent centuries, the pendulum hos swung
the other way. The extreme view was adopted
that the present order of things is eternal.
The first telescopes revealed only stable
revolutions in our planetary system. Discarding
historical beliefs, early scientists substituted a
relaxing view of invariable and perpetual
motions in a calm Universe.
Today we have bigger telescopes, as well
as spectroscopes and radiotelescopes, sup
plemented by increasing microscopic observa
tions and a growing kn0wledge of Earth's
history. The application of physical sciences
takes us out of static analysis and introduces us
to the dynamics of the Universe. In the words
of C. Payne-Goposchkin,
Ten years ago in our hypotheses of cosmic
evolution we were thinking in terms of
gravitation and light pressure.••. Tomor
row we may contemplate a galaxy that
ts essentially a gravitating, turbulent
electromagnet.
(Scientific American, September, 19 53)
Modern astronomy is approaching a, middle position between the extreme views of
earlier times. We live in a cosmos, the forces
of which can indeed create, change or remove
life.
All bodies in the Universe-stars, comets,
planets, asteroids, meteors, cosmic clouds and
dust-are composed of the same atoms; all
are radiant, but in different degrees. Stars rep
resent the highest degree of atomic activity.
Nuclear fusion occurs at temperatures ranging
from thousands to millions of degrees. This
process transforms an original supply of hydro
gen into other types of atoms. In their forma
tive stages, stars may cast off the aggregations
of matter which form the lesser bf>dies of
the Universe. While the degree of stellar
radiation varies, it is always intense.
On smaller bodies, atomic activity is sub
stantially below the level of nuclear fusion.
On their surfaces, the relative coolness permits
33
space journal
�the stability of atomic structure. Under certain
limited conditions, a planetary surface may
support processes which cannot occur in the
nuclear furnace of a star. With the right
combinat· ion of atoms, with sufficient gravity
to retain atmosphere, and under the stimulus
of stellar radiation, complex transformations
and activities may develop on the planetary
surface.
Chemists have long since shown how the
more complex inorganic compounds arise from
simpler ones. In recent years, American scien
tists have also shown how molecules essential
te organic life may develop. They have at
tempted to simulate the conditions and stimuli
occurring on our planet several hundred
million years ago.
At that time, the surface probably consisted
of oceans of the simpler atoms. Without plants,
there could be no oxygen or ozone shield.
Consequently stellar rays would beat directly
upon the oceans. The resulting reactions have
been partly reproduced in the laboratory,
with various groups of atoms and electrical
stimuli. The product was amino acids. These
are key acids necessary to the build-up of
proteins, which in turn ore essential to organic
life.
What has particularly interested scientists
is the fact that varying combinations of atoms
under varying stimuli produced amino acids.
The tendency to evolve molecules essential
for the life process occurs in varying con
ditions.
Together with other finds, these experiments
narrow the gap between chemistry and
biology. The bridge between the two has not
yet been found, but the continuing progress
sustains scientific opinion that it exists: life
naturally evolves in appropriate situations.
So far as we can observe, the evolutionary
process may be taking place on at least one
other of the planets in our solar system. Ob
serving the uniformity of the Universe and
the commonness of our Sun, leading astronom
ers today infer that similar processes are occur
ring on a proportionate number of the bil
lions of planets estimated to be in our galaxy.
On the basis of our present understanding
of Earthly evolution, it appears that plant
life must come first, because it depends direct-
34
space journal
ly on Solar radiation. Once it appears, it
discharges oxygen. The resulting build-up of
atmosphere absorbs or scatters back about
30 percent of the Solar energy, including
particularly the ultraviolet. This protection
both preserves life and slows down the rate of
transformation at the planetary surface.
The evolution of species occurs through
genetic mutations. These may be stimulated
by residual radioactivity at the surface; by
such radiation as pierces the atmosphere; by
thermal, chemical and unknown forces, inter
nal or external. Experiments have shown that
mutations are induced by such stimuli.
Radiation from stars like our Sun changes
susbtantially. In the long run it rises steadily.
Medium-term fluctuations raise or lower its
intensity. These changes in stellar radiation
not only determine whether life will evolve,
but also the rate of duration of its evolution.
The long-run trend determines how long a
planetary surface will be favorable to organic
life. According to E. J. Oepik (Scientific
American, June, 1958), Solar radiation be
came sufficiently intense for continuous life on
Earth about 750 million years ago. Prior to
that date, medium-term fluctuations may hove
stimulated the origin of life several separate
times before continuous life became possible.
About one billion years in the future, similar
discontinuities may result from fluctuations
around the long-term trend toward excessive
radiation.
Fifty million miles further from our Sun,
Mars now receives much less radiation. Ob
servations indicate that only primitive forms
of life, such as algae, lichens and fungi, have
developed on its surface thus far. Provided
the water shortage is not prohibitive, it should
become more favorable as increasing radia
tion makes Earth less so.
Conceivably the ice-laden surfaces of Jupi
ter and the further planets may in turn become
more hospitable to such life as can adapt to
their gravity. At some point, however, the long
run curve of solar radiation will begin to
rise sharply. Our Sun's expansion will reach
explosive proportions, and lif�, y,,ill no longer
be possible in this planetary system.
During the hundreds of millions of years
that the long-term trend favors life on a partic-
��ular planet, the medium-term cycle markedly
hod acted as barriers to its earlier ver
affects it. Oepik attributes Earth's 250-million
sions. (Scientific Monthly, Moy, 19 57)
year recurrence of Ice Ages to periodic de
Mobility is essential to this process. The
clines in Solar radiation.
During the six mil
lion years of an Ice Age, the ice cap may
advance and
recede.
Such
glaciations
as
doily weather. As new species evolve, capable
of utilizing environmental forms of energy
well as other crustal disturbances select those
more effectively than others,
species which can adapt to them.
through migration. Plants ore as migrant as
they expand
The evolution of new forms may also be
animals in the long run; the seeds of most
affected by fluctuations in radiation. Paleon
botanical species ore adopted to transport
tology divides the history of life on Earth
by wind or water, on the fur or feathers of
into a series of ages. Ages are characterized
animals and birds as well as in their intestines.
by the prolonged stability of their various
Over
periods of time,
continuing
inter
species; the rate of evolution is slight. Shorter
change of species permits those best adopted
intervening periods separate the ages; during
for any locality to displace those less adopted.
these, the extinction of old species and muta
The result is the development of interdepend
tion of new ones apparently occur at a massive
ent ecological communities which take maxi
rate.
mum advantage of the solar and other energy
Changes of temperature and radiation
may account for these simultaneous extinc
tions and mutations.
continuing process. The origin, rate, direction
and possible conclusion of evolution are forms
of interaction between variable stellar radia
tion and planetary enviroment.
The tendency of evolution is to absorb on
increasing amount of Solar energy through
the activity of increasingly complex forms of
life.
available in any particular climatic region.
Occasional natural calamities may denude
Elemental sensitivity to radiation is thus a
Simple forms, like algae, utilize Solar
energy directly. A fuller use is achieved by
interdependent organisms. Plants, insects, birds
and other animals are able to absorb more
energy by specialization and exchange.
Through mutation, these complex interde
pendent forms evolve. In the words of H. J.
Muller,
whole areas. Migration permits species to sur
vive such events and subsequently to revitalize
those areas. Land which hos been laid bore
by fire, flood or other local catastrophe re
ceives solar energy only to dissipate it into
Space. Gradually the seeds of cru�e plant
forms, borne by wind, birds or other carriers,
take root. Certain types of insect life migrate
into the area, attracted by the plants. When
they have adequately developed the top-so-ii,
more advanced plants move in,
displacing
the previous inhabitants and making possible
the arrival of higher types of animal life. Thus,
over a century or two, the area progresses to
what ecologists coll a "climax" community
a close-knit and delicately balanced system of
plants, insects and animals.
Living matter, unlike non-living, is by rea
son of its doubling and redoubling al
36
environment varies with seasons, latitudes and
Oce0<1s bar mig�ation of most land species
other than man.
Until
times,
the
ways tending to expand, not like a gos
separate
that becomes more dilute and feebler
varying in their degree of
in the process, but with increase of its
energy-utiHzation. As a general rule, larger
moss and no relenting of its pressure out
areas developed more advanced forms of life
ward
and
because they afforded greater opportunity
crevices. In fact, the pressure of the liv
for variation and selection. In the Americas
ing matter tends to increase with its ex
and in Australia, species were fewer and often
and
into
diverse
corners
continents
modern
supported
communities
adoption and
pansion, since at the same time, by
more primitive than those of the Afro-Eurasian
means of its mutations, it is trying out all
land moss. They were still sparser on islands.
sorts of new versions of itself and per
About a million years ago our highly-spe
petuating and sending furthest forward
cialized form of life evolved on the large con
Physically weak and dependent on
those that con expand the fastest and
tinent.
that con enter regions and situations that
other species for the conversion of
space journal
Solar
�energy, man has an intelligence which per
mits the use of tools. During 99 percent of the
period from then till now, our ancestors ex
perimented with stones, sharpening them for
use in catching and processing other animals;
their societies receded and advanced in the
face of the cyclical glaciations of the present
Ice Age. Then about 10,000 years ago, they
developed carpentry. They began to ex
ploit the environment, and gradually became
the most mobile of species.
During the last five centuries, men have
overcome the ocean barrier. As they crossed
the seas with increasing frequency, our fore
fathers carried other forms of life. In part this
process was intentional: they took their favorite
trees, flowers and pets, as well as the plants
and animals they wanted to consume. Probably
to a greater extent, it was unintentional: seeds,
insects and sometimes even larger forms of
life chanced to accompany the voyagers. Dar
win, among others, noted the beneficent
effects of human mobility in advancing the
levels of organic life on areas previously cut
off from one another.
Transoceanic mobility was a big step when
it occurred. But it has become evident that
human powers far exceed this accomplish
ment. Men explore the highest mountains,
descend to the oceans' depths, balloon into
the atmosphere. The development of aerial
Aight and the first probings of outer Space
have led to preliminary experiments in the
direction of interplanetary exploration. There
seems to be no limit to our mobility so long
as environments at both ends of the trip are
hospitable.
To expand our efficiency we have exploited
other organic life and reduced the net absorp
tion of Solar energy. But the cost is small com
pared to the possible gains. The achievement
of interplanetary mobility would make it possi
ble to expand wherever the temporary condi
tions in a variable Universe permit.
Here on Earth, we are familiar wit-h minor
variations and disturbances. Atmospheric
changes give us cloudy or clear skies, wind,
rain, snow, hail, lightning and the like. We
adapt to these. The tilt of our planet's axis
gives us seasons, and we adapt to these.
Occasional disturbances include local hur
ricanes, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes.
Photograph by Dr. V. Ben Meen
CHUBB CRATER FROM THE AIR-The crater, perfectly round and
more than two miles across al the rim, is an unmistakable landmark
from the air. It was explored and proved to be of meteoritic origin
by a Notional Geographic .Society-Royal Ontario Museum expedition
during July and August, 1951.
Our mobility permits us to min1m1ze losses and
afterwards to restore life to demand areas.
On a larger scale the cosmos offers many
hazards, as well as stimuli, to planetary life.
These occur at • a leisurely pace, spanning
millions of years. But they are correspondingly
much greater, and sometimes destructive to
celestial bodies. Long as are the time-periods,
they are only fractions of that needed for the
evolution of advanced life. Consequently an
effective organic response must include suffi
cient specialization and mobility to adapt to
them.
In addition to the cycles of Solar radiation,
other events occur. As yet we know too little
to predict them all; but the time spans between
major events appear to be much longer than
between minor ones.
Some of the hazards of the Universe are
relatively small-useful as reminders that they
do exist. Perhaps a few thousand meteors
strike our atmosphere each day. Occasionally
one is large enough to come down to the
surface and even more infrequent ones are
37
space journal
�A National Geographic Society-Royal Ontario Museum Expedition under the direction of Dr. Vidor Ben Meen,
Museum geologist, in 1951 probed the mysterious crater daily for four weeks and concluded that it was formed by
the crash of a meteor some 30 to 150 centuries ago. Frederick Chubb (above, left), pro$tpecfor and explorer who
first spotted the crater, and Dr. Meen (right) describe their field procedure to a visiting scientist, Dr. I. W. Jones,
chief of the Geological Surveys Branch of the Quebec Dep artment of Mines.
large enough to mark the surface. Canyon
Dioblo in Arizona is ¾-ths of a mile across
and 600 feet deep. Chubb Crater in Canada
is bigger. Other craters may have been
formed and subsequently erased by wind,
rain and organic life. The 30,000 craters on
the earthward side of the Moon may illustrate
what our planet would look like without these
erosive forces.
Asteroids are much fewer and less likely
to collide with our planet. On the other hand,
their size-up to 400 miles in diameter
would end life over a substantial area. Comets
range from 4 to 20 times Earth's diameter;
but they are so thin that collision would or
dinarily have little effect.
Collisions between planets or other large
objects may occur. The asteroid belt, the
38
space journal
meteors and the bodies reflecting zodiacal
light are all thought to be remnants of a
planet which used to circle at one remove
from us, between Mars and Jupiter. We do not
yet know the cause of its break-up; it hos
tentatively been attributed to collision.
Another possible type of planetary dis
turbance is a shift of axis while remaining in
orbit. Magnetic analysis of ancient rocks in
dicates that Earth's polarization has been at
various times opposite and perpendicular
to its present direction. The location of ice
cap remnants below, and on, the present
equator may be interpretec' in support of
what Gold and Hoyle call "polar toppling."
However, there is no agreement yet on the
evidence or on the internal or external forces
which might cause such shifts.
�On a water-dominated planet like ours,
polar toppling would induce continental floods.
A Great Flood, the story of which is told in
most ancient sacred/epic works, perhaps really
happened. As those oral traditions indicate,
however, partial survival of animal life is
likely, especially if preparatory measures have
been taken.
The chance of collision between stars of
different galaxies seems to be greater than
it is between
stars of the same galaxy.
Galaxies are quadrillions of miles across, and
move at thousands of miles per second. In con
sequence, their paths occasionally intersect.
Members of the Coma metagalaxy, for in
stance, are sufficiently close together that in
tersection of two or more of its galaxies must
occur every 150 million years on the average.
Several galactic intersections are currently
under observation (a most striking one at
NGC 5128). But they are too far away for us
to ascertain much about them, except that they
are the loudest transmitters of radio noise in
the Universe. Stars are so widely spaced that
galaxies probably pass through one another
with only a few actual collisions. Near misses
might affect stars and their planets in various
ways.
Such effects could stimulate life on
some, retard or destroy it on others.
These are the types of turbulence which
Comparison of the enlarged view of the Moon's crater
Copernicus indicates striking similarities to craters on
Earth.
© National Geographic Society
�·::es--
Locking the Earth's dense atmospheric protection, the Moon hos been scarred by a perpetual deluge of meteorites.
scientists
are
investigating
today.
Natural
simultaneously,
conditions,
stimuli,
events disrupt the courses of celestial bodies,
planets
just as hurricanes and other phenomena oc
disturbances
casionally overwhelm localities on Earth. liv
ing organisms must be especially sensitive to
will vary. Some variations will encourage the
growth of advanced forms of life. Others will
such events.
not. Some areas may be relatively rich, others
The variable character of the
Universe
probably makes the advancement of evolution
and
intervening
time periods
relatively barren in the evolution of plant and
animal communities.
size, age and radiation. Their planets may
The evidence of this planet suggests that
hundreds of miltions of years are required
vary in size, composition and distance fr<>m
to reach our level. Over so long a period
different on different planets.
40
their suns. If evolution proceeds on billions of
space journal
Stars vary in
�environmental changes may exceed favorable
limits. Radiation is a principal determinant.
A planet now well-suited for life may, in a
preceding age, have undergone an excessive
drop or increase in radiation. Fire or ice may
have left only primeval organisms to take ad
vantage of the intervening favorable period.
Other hazards may have had similar effects.
More often than not, the evolution of life
on a planet may be interrupted before it
reaches advanced stages. This conclusion par
allels biological observations here. Nature's
lavish method is to initiate far more life than
need ever reach maturity.
On the other hand, some planets may sup
port a more luxuriant variety of life than has
evolved on Earth. These would offer species
which could advantageously be transferred
to less developed planets. Somewhere, too,
beings may hove evolved at least as complex
and as mobile as ourselves. Possible relation
ships between such beings from different
planets stretch our imagination (and may
stretch theirs also).
Among planets, differences would probably
be much greater than those which our ances
tors discovered between the continents and
islands of Earth. The natural remedy is the
some. Mobility allows life to recede, advance
and adapt to changing conditions. Through
mobility, it can strive for optimum development
in every area where conditions ore currently
favorable.
Migrant life con revitalize areas denuded
by turbulence. It can seek opportunities on
planets just entering favorable periods. It
can explore the attendant bodies around new
stars. In the earlier stages of evolution, galac
tic intersection makes the future of an in
dividual planet uncertain; but to an advanced
and agile community, it offers a rare op
portunity for intergalactic migration.
If time, wisdom and circumstances are ade
quate, we on Earth may become mobile in
Space. Seeking expansion, our species is fully
involved in the organic response to the chal
lenges of the environment. We are part of the
Universe. We shore the natural instinct to en
large the domain of present as well as of
future generations. Like those who went before
us, we probe new frontiers. We are explorers,
pioneers.
AT LAST -The
Complete
International Story of
ROCKETRY
AND SPACE
EXPLORATION
By Andrew G. Haley
President, International
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HERE IS the whole exciting story of
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beginnings through World War II,
right up to today's launchings of
missiles and satellites. Here are the
famous men and milestones in the
development of rocketry . . . facts
on rocket production in the U. S.
and abroad, and a glimpse of the
fantastic future of Man's conquest
of space.
How Rockets Work
This huge book (almost a foot
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of rocketry-its origin, the "back
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German V-2, and World War II's
contribution. With 170 dramatic il
lustrations and authoritative text, it
explains in simple, nontechnical
terms exactly how rockets operate.
Describes the Atlas, Titan, Thor,
Nike, X-15, rocket airplane of the
future, the Sputnik, the Vanguard,
and the Explorers.
A Glimpse of the Future
This u1,-to-the-minute book looks ahead
to rockels propelled by ions, nuclear
energy, and even light itself; to manned
satellites and space craft; and to the in
credible explorations of the universe that
now appear within reach.
Examine it Free for 10 Days
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41
space journal
�radiation•
1n
space
travel
BY
What,
effects of
stages of
tions ore
JAN
S.
then, are the actual limitatic,ns and
this radiation? As with the beginning
many undertakings, certain Gssump
sometimes necessary. Here we must
PAUL
A Geiger Counter used in connection with radiation ex
periments conducted by the Explorer earth satellites.
Jan S. Paul wos born in lowo ond lives in
Colifornio. She specialized in nuclear engineer•
ing when much of the free World hod never
heord of the field. She ocquired her Ph.D. from
She served with
Phoenix University in Italy.
the British ond toter the U.S. forces during
World Wor II, ond with the Air force Public
lnformollon Office in Korea. Dr. Poul is now
specializing in radiation pathology and is en•
gaged in teaching ond reseorch.
With the confirmation of the presence of
bands of dangerous radiation in Space, the
concern over the effects of such radiation on
man and materials ceased to be the sole con
cern of nuclear scientists, and became a part
of the Space and rocket engineer's thinking
as well.
What is the significance of all this? First of
all it should not be assumed that such find
ings will prevent, or even appreciably slow
down the research now going on; we may
still travel to the Moon and beyond in due
time. The basic problem of keeping radiation
inside a reactor is much the same as that of
keeping it out of a Space ship. Therefore,
with many of these basic problems already
solved, the direction from here will be pri
marily in adaption and modification.
assume that this radiation is the same basic
type with which we are familiar on Earth and
that the same basic irradiation principles are
true. The National Committee on Radiation
Exposure has set the permissible radiation
dose at 15 roentgens per year, or 0.3 rotent
gens per week, based on the curie system of
measurement in which radioactivity undergoes
3.700 x l 0 10 disintegrations per second.
In such case, 15 roentgens is the maximum
safety factor for which Space engineers must
plan, design, and build. But just what happens
to the human organism beyond that limit?
Experiments, conducted for the most part on
animals, have brought to light the following
facts:
An excess overall total dose of l 000 roet
gen will produce a shortening of average
life expectancy by five years.
An excess dose of l 00 to l 000 roentgens
causes a marked decrease in the weight of
the spleen and thymus.
�The kidneys are affected by excess doses of
l 00 to 500 roetgens; and an excess dose of
50 to 300 roentgens was found to affect the
sex organs.
However, only one organ, the eye, need
ever cause immediate concern. It was found
that a dose of l 2 .5 roentgens-less than one
year's total exposure if directed only at the
eyes-could cause tendencies toward cata
racts. But let us note carefully two words
could and tendencies. What this means is that
for certain persons 1 2 .5 roentgens of radia
tion on the eyes could be dangerously harm
ful, just as for some, the sting of a bee or
the bite of a spider may prove deadly, while
for others the effect would be simply uncom
fortable.
The obvious conclusion appears to be that
Space engineers will work out protective
ratios to take care of the overall exposure and
to keep the dosage below the l 5 roentgen
level. Perhaps leaded glass goggles will be
the vogue for all Space travelers. Regardless
of the technicalities, one fact remains: man will
travel through Space safely. These bands of
radiation may call for changes in ideas and
designs in Space gear; but they will neither
halt, nor slow down to any appreciable ex
tent, man's conquest of Space.
foRME.R A.E.C. (MAIRMAN L•EWIS STRAUSS
ONCE STATED,'' TM ERE AR'E. THRE E KINDS OF
PM VSICISTS; THEO�ETICAL, APPLIED, AND
POLITICAL�' THE NAME OF E.OWAR.P TELLE�
STANDS OUT IN ALL CAT.A60RIES. As AN
EXAMPLE-MIS PORE RESEARCH IN STELLAR
FUSION WAS LATER APPLIED IN PE.VELOPIN6
TME MVt>RO<iEN 80MB. TELLER. THEN M A D
TO OEFENI> TME DECISION TO MAKE. THE
BOMB AGAINST MANY OF MIS SCIENTIFIC.
COLLEAGUES LIU> BY ROBERT OPPENHEIMER
AND A L ASl<iE SEGMENT OF THE PUBLIC.
TELLER, OF <.OUR�E., OID NONE OF THIS
SINGLE MANt>ED, BUT HIS L£APERSHIP WON
MIM THE UNOFFICIAL TITLE� FATHER OF THE
l-f-8oM8': EVEN BEFORE THAT,HE WAS
INFLUENTIAL IN PERSUADING &INSTEIN TO
WR.ITE HIS NOW-FAMOUS LETTER. TO F.D.R.
,.
THAT INITIATED MANHAT TAN PROJEC T'
ANO TME ATOMIC AGE.
ITELLER.
ORN �o YEARS A<:ro 1N HUNGARY,
FLED STRIFE TO�N A ND
ANTI-SEMITIC EUROPE WHEN THE
NAZI THREAT LOOMED. 1-41S STRON6
PEVOTION TO MIS ADOPTED COUNTRY
IS EVIDENCED BY HIS M16MLV VOCAL
COHCERN OVER RUSSIAN PROGRESS
IN SC.IENCE. �E MAS BEEN TIRELESS
IN HIS EFFORT TO AWAl(EN TME U.c;.
�LLER WORKED E)(TE.NSIVELV
WITH THE LATE ENRICO FERMI
AT CHtc.AGO'S INSTITUTE FOR
NUCLEA� STUDIES. AT PRESENT
HE IS CARRYING ON RESEARCH
AT CAL-TECH.
*
*
*
43
space journal
�project star
By Helmut Hoeppner and
B. Spencer lsbefl
Editor's Nole:
Helmut Hoeppner (left) wos born in
Ue<kueb, Turkey, in 1911 ond attended the
Technical Academy, Chemnitz, Germany, ond the
Technical University, Dresden. After groduolion,
he worked for the Klemm Aircraft Company in
Stuttgart, Germany. He served a short tour in
the German Luftwaffe and then became an
associate of Dr. Wernher von Broun ot Peene
munde, where he worked on the development
of the V-2 ond other rockets. He become on
engineer for the Messerschmitt Aircraft Company,
Augsburg, ond helped to develop lhe ME-163 and
ME-262 jet aircraft. From 1951 to 1954, he wos
employed by the International Business Machine
Corporation in Stuttgart. In 1954, at the sug
gestion of Dr. Wolter Dornberger, he come to
America as on aeronautical engineer for the Bell
Aircraft Corporation, Buffalo, New York. In 1956,
he joined his former co-workers ot Peenemunde
at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He
is presently a Senior Scientist for Astronautics
with the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit, Michi
gan. A member of the Germon Rocket Society,
the British Interplanetary Society, ond the Ameri
can Rocket Society, he hos published many
articles ond reports in the field of astronautics.
B. Spencer Isbell (right) is a native of Bir
mingham, Alabama, and attended the University
of Alobomo, where he majored in both mechani
cal and aeronautical engineering. Since 1951
ho hos been employed as on Aeronautical Engi
neer ot Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama.
He presently serves on the technical staff
Office of Director, Develop111ent Operations Di
vision, Army Ballistic Missile Agency. He is a
member of the American Rocket Society, the
British Interplanetary Society, the American As
sociation for the Advancement of Science, ond
the American Astronautical Society. He is on
the editorial staff of Astronautical Sciences
Review and is editor of SPACE Journal.
First Interstellar Voyage by Earthmen
Interstellar Space travel will be feasible as
soon as man has mastered travel between the
planets of our own Solar System. Contrary to
the present contention by many astronauts that
man's technology will require hundreds, and
even thousands, of years to carry him beyond
our planets, he can extend his explorations to
the stars within a few years after he reaches
Mars. If man's past history on Earth is any
indication of future events, there is little doubt
that he will find the justification and soar past
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and
44
space journal
This is on introduction lo a series of
articles on interstellar Space travel which
SPACE
in
periodically
appear
will
Journal. The authors confined this presen
tation to a discussion of the project's
concept, assumptions, ond design ap
proach. A more detailed explanation of
the system, design, and performance will
be given in future installments of the
series.
Pluto to one of the Sun's nearest neighbors
within the family of stars we know as our
galaxy.
Today, it is anyone's guess what motiva
tion will provoke Earthmen to venture beyond
the vastness of their own Solar System. Per
haps John Hulley 1 has found the key to the
answer in his ecological approach to a defini
tion of the role of humanity. Hulley postulates
that the primary purpose of the Homosopiens
is to carry life from planet to planet. Dr.
Philip N. Shockey suggests other possible mo
tives in this issue of SPACE Journal. The rea
son may evolve as a by-product of inter
planetary travel. Exploration of our own Solar
System is certain to solve many of today's
mysteries. The newfound knowledge could
reveal previously unknown dangers to life in
this Solar System-triggering one of man's
oldest prime movers, self-preservation.
As strange as it may seem, astronomers
know more in some respects about distant
stars than they do about the planets in our
own Solar System. The planets ore visible
only in the reflected light of the Sun. Stars,
on the other hand, shine in their own light,
permitting astronomers to learn much about
them through spectroscopes and other equip
ment. An example of this advanced knowl
edge of the stars is that, by comparison, our
Sun is a third magnitude star. There ore
1
The Purpose Of Mon In The Universe", SPACE Journal,
summer issue, 1958.
�. •·
,
.
•
•
.
·.
...
...
·.
·,
•
•
•
·♦ ,:.
:
+
•
..
.
,-
EARTH
• -;.,.t"
e·
�
..·
NOTE: FULL SOLAR SYSTEMS
NOT SHOW ��It REASONS OF
CLARITY AN� ANETS ARE
NOT TO SCALE.
�billions of stars in the Universe radiating more
energy than our Sun. And, too, other stars
have many more planets orbiting around them
than does our Sun.
As the destination solar system for this
study, we have selected our Sun's closest
neighbor-Proxima Centauri. With this selec
tion, we assume the existence of a planet "X"
orbiting about Proxima Centauri with environ
mental conditions (gravity, atmosphere, and
celestial mechanics) similar to those of Earth.
Since the first interstellar Space pioneers
will face many circumstances beyond our pres
ent capacity to foresee, planet "X" could be
one hundred million years younger than Earth.
Aside from the probability that planet "X"
would not be the same age as Earth, the
prospect of visiting a planet in an evolutionary
stage of development so different from Earth
as we know it is of such interest that it could
be added to any primary objective Project
Star might have.
A glance at the illustration on the opposite
page will help the reader to appreciate two
considerations important to the concept of
Project Star. It is apparent that the distance
covered by our projected journey is small in
relation to distances involved in our Solar
System and the Universe as a whole. But, the
distance of Proxima Centauri from our Sun
and planet seems enormous, indeed, when
compared to the interplanetary distances to
Venus or Mars. This second consideration
should bring to mind the often-published times
( 146 days to Venus, 260 days to Mars) needed
for such trips. These time estimates are based
on the planet's closest approach to Earth
(34.5 million miles for Mars and 25 million
miles for Venus) and the speeds attainable
from existing or proven designs for propulsion
power.
The major obstacle to interstellar Space
travel, and Project Star, is time and man's
limited life span. Before this or any inter
stellar voyage can be undertaken, a power
plant must be designed and developed which
will propel Space ships at a speed close to
that of light (about 186,300 miles per second).
At least one distinguished missile and Space
expert, Dr. Eugen Sanger, director of the
Institute of Jet Propulsion Physics at the Tech
nical University of Stuttgart, Germany, has
46
space journal
predicted that man may be traveling at 670
million miles an hour (almost the speed of
light) within the next 50 years.
It is not within the scope of this article to
discuss either the feasibility of photon (light)
propulsion or traveling at or near the speed
of light. The design feasibility and relativistic
effects will be discussed in future articles of
this series and by other contributors to SPACE
Journal. The important thing here is to make
it clear to the reader that Project Star must be
based upon such an extreme assumption.
The considerations necessary to Space ship
design are relative to both the environmental
conditions through which the ship will move
and the transportation system. It is logical,
therefore, to approach the problems of inter
stellar travel by considering simultaneously the
conditions encountered and the concept of the
system. The interstellar Space ship must travel
through the Earth's atmosphere and gravita
tional field, the near vacuum and practically
gravity-free conditions beyond the sensible
atmosphere, and, finally, descend through the
atmosphere and gravitational field of the
destination planet. Since we have assumed
planet "X" to be 1 00 million years younger
than Earth, and we know that Earth's atmos
phere was more dense at that time, we can
assume that planet "X" has a very dense
atmosphere. This means that we will have
three distinctly different environmental con
ditions to move through. With this in mind,
we can divide the transportaton system into
three phases: first, the placement of units into
an orbit around Earth; second, the long jour
ney from the Earth's orbit to an orbit around
planet "X"; and third, the placement of units
to planet "X". The phases are of course re
versed for the return trip to Earth.
Consider for a moment the complexity 0f
the four-dimensional planning necessary for
efficient and economical Space travel by an
analogy to Earthbound transportation systems
which involve only two-dimensional planning.
Airplane arrivals and departures are impor
tant to the operation of our airlines today.
But whereas the airplane leaves one stationary
airfield and arrives at a second airfield, also
stationary; the Space ship departs from �
planet or Space satellite which is moving and
must meet another planet or orbiting body
�PLANET "X" LANDING AND TAKE-OFF VEHICLE
ASTRA-d... -001
A
------- --------- ------------------- ---
K
J
3rd STAGE
(RETURN)
M
F
-·
K
L ----
-- ----------- ---------,
J
---- --- -- -- - - ---- -- ---
2nd STAGE
1st STAGE
OXIDlllll
DECELERATION
STAGE AND
LAUNCHING
PLATFORM
H
'"'--....,
•
CROSS SECTION OF
RING CONTAINERS
CJ
FUEL AND OXIDIZER TANKS
A-DETACHABLE NOSE CONE
8-RE-ENTRY NOSE CONE
c-CONTROL ROOM
D-CREW QUARTERS
E-ELEVATOR ENTRANCE
F-ENGINE ACCESS TUNNEL
G-ELEVATOR SHAFT
H-TELESCOPING ELEVATOR SECTION
I-ELEVATOR EXIT
J-CONVENTIONAL ROCKET ENGINES
K-COMBINATION TURBO-RAM JET ENGINES
L-FINS/OUTRIGGERS
M-WINGS/OUTRIGGERS
47
space journal
�Veloc1ty Distribution Curve for Project Star
CONSTANT LIGHT SPEE0
\..7
J
-t-----�---.,C.---+--� i--------1---��
/c . PLANET 'X'
EARTH
O 5 YEAR---+ot--------◄.I YEA-S-------..o---0 rnM
which is also moving. If for one reason or an
other an airplane is off schedule, its passen
gers may be delayed for several hours. Should
Space ships for any reason be off schedule,
the loss of time for some voyages would
amount to years. Suppose, for example, on
our return tr-ip from planet "X" to Earth, the
Space ship foils to reach Earth's orbit at the
calculated time. Earth would have moved on
in its path around the Sun. The Space ship
could chase ofter Earth and overtake it, pro
vided there were sufficient propellant avail
able. If not, the Space ship must "coast" in
an orbit near to the Earth's orbit around the
Sun until Earth and Space ship have caught
up with each other. The loss of time could be
more than one year.
The vehicle design and system concept for
Project Star are based on the three phases of
the journey and a four-dimensional planning
system already mentioned. For optimum effi
ciency and economy, the four-dimensional
timing system requires that certain units (pro
pulsion stages, fuel containers, servicing units,
etc.) be preplaced into their appropriate
positions (orbits) along the way. The pre
placed units become, in effect, satellites or
"Space stations." They are also functional
parts of the transportation system and ore
assembled in orbit entirely from components
(empty containers, instrument comportments,
and attachment devices) of the Space vehicles
required for the three phases of the journey.
This means that a compromise in vehicle
design is made to permit the dual purpose and
economy. But the compromise in vehicle de
sign is held to a minimum by optimizing
design features, for example, the outrigged
engines and staging principle, where the
engine propellants ore o/ways burned first
48
journal
Sl!)ace
r
from the lowest containers, even when upper
stage engines are operating. This design prin
ciple is incorporated into all configurations
used in Project Star. And once this system of
preplacing components into their appropriate
orbit of departure and return is established, it
becomes a perpetual thing-on optimum sys
tem for repeated voyages into Space.
Just out of the sensible atmosphere (at
about 300 miles above the Earth's surface) o
satellite hos an orbital velocity of about
17,000 m.p.h. to escape the Earth's gravita
tional field from that orbit requires a com
parative velocity of 24,000 m.p.h. The differ
ence between the obital velocity and escape
velocity is 7,000 m.p.h. The difference must
be added in the same direction the satellite is
moving in it's orbit to toke advantage of it's
Earth hos a velocity of
orbital velocity.
about 64,000 m.p.h. in its orbit around the
Sun. To escape the Solar System from the
vicinity of the Earth's orbit requires a com
parative velocity of 92,000 m.p.h. Again,
the difference (28,000 m.p.h. between the
Earth's orbital velocity and the Solar System's
escape velocity must be applied in the some
direction the Earth is moving in it's orbit to
toke advantage of the orbital velocity. There
fore, starting from a 300 mile orbit around
Earth and applying additional velocity in two
steps (first, to escape Earth; second, escape
the Sun), we need in addition to the two
orbital velocities a total comparative velocity
28,000). When
of 35,000 m.p.h. (7,000
both velocity differences are combined into
one step instead of the two separate steps
described above, only one energy displace
ment is involved and the additional compara
tive velocity necessary is 29,000 m.p.h.
Solar system escape velocity should be
+
�attainable within o decode by conventional
Centouri.
chemically propelled powerplonts.
In fact,
assembled in the orbit around Earth and will
we hove selected the chemical rocket engine
propel the outer Space ship to and at a
as the power source for the first phase of
velocity approaching the speed of light.
Project
Chemical propulsion is con
photon-propelled phase will accelerate for
sidered superior for this application because
half o year at the rote of two G's which is
it furnishes o great amount of thrust quickly.
only one G more than the acceleration man
The chemical
endures in his normal course of living on the
Star.
propulsion system or
"Earth
booster stage" will be used to pre-place units
needed for the second,
third,
and return
phases of the journey into on orbit around
Earth.
The booster will be recovered and
used eventually to transport the Space cabin
units and the interstellar passengers into the
Earth orbit.
The second and long phase of the journey
will cover the 25 trillion miles from Earth's
orbit to planet "X" 's orbit around Proximo
A photon propulsion system will be
The
surface of Earth.
After acceleration at two G's for six months,
the Space ship will hove almost reached the
speed of light and will cruise at that velocity
for about four years and five weeks.
There
after, the ship will decelerate at the rote of
two G's for another six months until it has
reached the destination planets orbit around
Proxima Centouri.
The photon propulsion system will be left
Interstellar Return Configuration in orbit aroond planet "X". Earthmen are attaching photon thrust unit and re•
moving aerodynamic nose cone in preparation for the long outer Space phase of the journey back lo an orbit around
Earth.
49
space journal
�in an orbit around planet "X" to be picked up
again on the return trip through the long
phase of outer Space. After the disconnection
of the photon unit and other preparations for
atmospheric re-entry, the third and last phase
of the journey to planet "X" is undertaken.
Since the atmosphere of planet "X" is denser
than that of Earth, the choice of a third and
different type of propulsion power is neces
sary. The dense atmosphere would enhance
the operational efficiency of an air-breathing
type of propulsion. A turbo-ramjet powerplant
in combination with conventional chemical
rockets seems to be ideal for this third phase
of our journey. The rockets would be used
for the initial port of the descent, until the
ship reached the sensible atmosphere of the
planet. Whereupon the turbo-ramjet engines
would take over. Unlike the ballistic-type
trajectory or path of ascent that characterized
the first phase of our journey from Earth to
See the Stars, Moon, Planets Close Up!
3" ASTRONOMICAL REFLECTING TELESCOPE
the orbit around Earth, the approach to a land
ing on planet "X" must be a path of gentle
spirals. The spiral approach is necessary to
avoid disaster as a result of aerodynamic
heating.
By controlling the thrust of the six outrigged
turbo-ramjets and with the aid of retro rockets,
a final vertical landing can be made after the
long, spiralling descent hos sufficiently slowed
down the landing croft.
The one-way trip to planet "X" will take a
little over five years-barring any unforeseen
circumstances and provided the scheduled
timing for each phase is successfully accom
published. With certain alterations in the
system, the three phases of the journey will be
reversed for the return trip to Earth. There
fore, traveling even near the speed of light,
the first interstellar Space trip will require at
least ten years.
In the event that planet "X" is in a stage of
evolution younger than Earth, then the scene
illustrated on the cover of this issue of SPACE
Journal may well be what the interstellar
Space pioneers will first see when they arrive
on planet "X". Future installments of this
series will further discuss how Project Star may
become a reality.
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50
space journal
BARRINGTON, NEW JERSEY
YOU <:,AVE ME OIJITE A START. I T�OUG.HT FOR A
(10f1ENr IT WAS A BILL COLLECTOI\I
�SPACE
& FORTHCOMING
Rev ewed
Da vid
by
L
Christen sen
Ralph E. Jennings
M. Raymond
Conrad Swanson
trip to the Goethe Festival in Colorado in
1949, Dr. Schweitzer has remained with his
patients, books, and Bach. This most recent
excursion
reflects his
profound
nobility
of
spirit and "reverence for life."
Peace Or Atomic War? By Albert Schweitzer.
-Ralph E. Jennings
47 pages. New York: Henry Holt and Com
pany. $1.50.
Few men in contemporary civilization are
as universally admired as Albert Schweitzer.
Once Around the Sun. By Ronald Fraser. 160
pages. New York: Macmillan. $3.95.
This little addition to his published works con
Dr. Fraser's book succeeds admirably in
do nothing but enhance his reputation. What
is needed now, Dr. Schweitzer feels, is action
national Geophysical Year is. This book ties
its purpose: to explain just what the Inter
on the part of all peoples, the United Nations,
together all of the many facets of IGY activities
and most important, negotiations ot, the high
est level-the Summit. To quote President
and shows the interrelationships between them.
Eisenhower, Dr. Schweitzer calls for "a gigan
way: he presents the known boundaries of
tic leap into peace" and a new spirit of good
sense and morality. This book cannot be
ignored. It is a testament of conscience and
of faith for today and tomorrow. In this hour
of destiny, Albert Schweitzer, the most notable
world citizen of our age, has sounded ao
urgent call to end the nuclear-arms race.
" ••. At this stage," he says, "we ha-ve the
choice of two risks: the one lies in continuing
the mad atomic arms-race, with its danger
The author organizes his material in a neat
geophyics and then explains how various IGY
activities will either expand, refute, or prove
them.
While the average, interested layman thinks
of the IGY in terms of Earth satellites, Dr.
Fraser-and
rightly
so-devotes
only
12
pages of his book to the rocket and satellite
phase of the progr.am. In this way he illustrates
that the most glamourous feature of the entire
program is merely one link in the chain and
of on unavoidable atomic war in the near
future; the other in the renunciation of nuclear
that it is neither more nor less important than
weapons, and in the hope that the United
States and the Soviet Union, and the peoples
The book does not go into all of the details
associated with them, will manage to live in
peace. The first holds no hope of a prosperous
future; the second does. We must risk the
second.''
It will be significant to the reader to learn
that this book is based upon three appeals
broadcast from Oslo, Norway, on April 28, 29,
any other.
of each phase of the IGY. Reasonably, it could
not. The book is broad in scope, and within
the confines of 160 pages it manages to pre
sent in a clear and readable manner the
greatest scientific investigation man has ever
undertaken. The fact that the book is so
readable is due in no small part to the facility
and 30, 1958. Except for a few brief visits to
which the English scientists in general have
Europe to raise money for his hospital in
with their own language.
Lambarene in French Equatorial Africa and o
-M. Raymond
51
space journal
�I_
Satellites, Rockets and Outer Space. By Willy
Ley. 128 pages. New York: Signet Key Books,
The New American library. $.35.
It is hard to say whether this little paper
back is a synopsis or an introduction to
ley's Rockets, Missiles, and Space
Travel. It appears to be both at once. like the
Willy
hope that (this book) will be of use to readers
who are willing to take a little trouble to think
about the subject," declares the author, "but
who hove no great acquaintance with the
background and physics which would be
necessary for a more elaborate examination
of our knowledge of things outside the Earth."
longer work, the book is written in clear and
Although little hos been changed from the
simple language, and yet it covers a lot of
material. The title almost sums up the con
first edition, written as it was more than
twenty years ago, the reader will find that the
tents. In general the book brings some parts
basic principles discussed by Dr. Woolley are
of the earlier Rockets, Missiles, and Space
ittst as important today as they were then.
Chapter headings are: 1, Time and Longitude;
II, The Solar System; Ill, Stellar Distances and
Travel up to date.
In addition it contains
some excellent advice for youngsters who
ore planning a career in astronautics-and
even defines the word astronautics. Perhaps
Magnitudes; IV, The Temperature of the Stars;
its best feature is the author's neat summing
up of flying saucer research and his convinc
V, The Composition of the Stars; VI, The Ga
laxy; VII, The World's Observatories. The last
chapter, by the way, is not a tabulation of a
ing dismissal of the saucers as being from
great number of observatories, but centers
Space. The two short chapters on Russian
missiles and American missiles are interesting,
attention on a few of those of historical in
but technical flaws in describing American
missiles tend to make the reader doubt the
terest plus a short discussion of the Greenwich
Observatory, and brief mention of Mt. Wilson,
Palomar, and lick.
validity of his data on Russian missiles.
-C.
D. Swanson
Another excellent feature of the book is
the section "Beyond the Satellites."
It
is
particularly appropriate now since it is con
cerned primarily with shooting a rocket to the
Moon, the problems involved, and what we
may expect to gain from such a shot. All in all
the book is well worth its price; all the more
so since it contains four excellent, full-color
pictures of the Jupiter-( launching the first
Explorer satellite, the 500,000-pound static
test stand at the Army's White Sands Guided
Missile Range, the Jupiter missile in flight, and
pages. London: Souvenir Press ltd. 1958.
First published in Moscow in 1955, this
book has been revised to include limited data
concerning the first Russian satellites.
The
English version is translated from an Italian
translation of the original, which may ac
count for some of the numerous technical
errors.
Although the Russian author prepared the
the Redstone missile being fueled.
-M. Raymond
text under the supervision of a Professor at
A Key to the Stars. By R. van der Riet Woolley.
sented that is not already well known or
the Soviet Academy of Science (V. V. Do
144 pages. New York: Philosophical library.
$4.75.
For a small book (5" X 7 ½" X
½ ")
this
volume contains a surprising amount of infor
mation. Dr. Woolley, Astronomer Royal of
England, writes as on authority, but in a
smooth, flowing and readable manner of pres
entation. The occasional use of the first
person gives conversational flavor to the dis
cussion of subject matter sometimes difficult to
put across to new students of astronomy.
52
Sputnik Into Space. By M. Vassiliev. 147
space journal
"I
bronravov), there is very little information pre
readily available to Space enthusiasts.
The
book does reveal, however, the deep-rooted
Soviet devotion to rocketry, and its many
Space travel aspects. The fact that the origi
nal
book and
similar
documentation
was
available for some time prior to the first
Sputnik launching causes one to wonder why
the event was not anticipated by the Free
World to a greater degree.
-D. L. Christenson
�REACTION
VOX POPULI
originated
In order to prevent delays, all reoction moil and manu
scripts submitted to SPACE Journal must be addressed
to SPACE Journal, P.O. Box 82, Huntsville, Alabama.
Similarly all subscriptions or inquiries concerning sub
scriptions must be addressed to SPACE Journal, P.O. Box
94, Noshvlle, Tenn.
as
terms with
definite physical
meaning) will confirm that....
In fact, I don't believe it is the best way
and that Mr.
Kumogai hos overlooked at
least two conditions of lunar village life in his
proposed plan. His designs show utilization of
horizontal floorspace exactly as any architect
Dear Editor,
Upon reading the fall, 1958, issue of SPACE
Journal, I noted that there was no part Ill
to Dr. Stuhlinger's "Life on Other Stars." Is
the series complete in two parts or are there
more parts forthcoming in future issues?
Takoma Park, Md.
Ronald Chiabotta
There is a third and concluding part to
Dr. Stuhlinger's series.
We hope to
have it ready for the spring, 1959, issue.
Needless to say, Dr. Stuhlinger has been
very busy lately; but he has promised
us the remainder of his series very soon.
Editor.
would consider it on Earth; but you'd virtually
hove no upstairs or downstairs on the Moon.
Stepping up on a choir two feet high on
Earth is equivalent to stepping up to the next
floor, 12 feet overhead, on the Moon. Thus
it would be as easy, or easier, to enter a
room upstairs as to walk into an adjoining
room on the some floor. You con "stock" any
deportment vertically as well as spread it
horizontally on one floor. With that you'd
probably hove romps extending upward in
every room; they're as sensible as having a
door to every room!
Dear Editor,
Mr. Kumagai has incorporated something
atmosphere
new in his village on the Moon, slanting floors
inside the village dome-with only the Moon's
in several buildings 18 degrees (comparable
l /6 gravity. Air resistance to the human body
to a 3 degree slope on Earth.)
It's quite
becomes a definitely noticoble factor when
conceivable that the Moon's l 6 gravity will
one wonts to drop down three or four floors to
not give a man much of a feeling of "up"
visit someone else's office.
and "down"-to the extent that he might
Secondly, there will be a pressure of one
When
(or even half on atmosphere)
these
factors
ore
considered,
it
have trouble standing up straight, actually
seems that the villagers will hove considerable
catching
opportunity to enhance their sense of "up" and
himself
toppling
over
before
he
realized that he was off-balance. Of course,
"down"
he would topple slowly with plenty of time
will be constantly practicing and developing
to react; but that slow motion would be as
their sense of balance to a degree known
much harder to sense, perhaps not until he was
on Earth only to tight-wire performers....
leaning over to quite a sharp angle. In han
Berkeley, Calif.
dling equipment, placing tools where they
Reader Gibson has some interesting and
relevant points. Added to those which
Dr. Rinehart puts forth in his article in
the current issue, our readers should get
some idea of the complexity of the
problem of building a structure of the
Moon which will offer its occupants both
comfort and some degree of orientation
wouldn't roll off, even in such common tasks
as eating, it could be rather irritating.
Certainly, a sloping floor will enhance any
one's sense of "up" and "down", and any
actor who hos performed on Europe's sloping
stages (where "upstage" and "downstage"
without
slanted
floors;
also,
they
Joe Gibson
�3
space journal
�akin to that which they knew on Earth.
With Dr. Rinehart's basic design criteria
and the Wonder Building Corporation's
scale model, we have taken a positive
step in solving the problem. Perhaps
other readers, particularly architects,
would like to add to our growing knowl
edge of what must be done to place a
village on the Moon. Editor.
Dear Editor,
. . . These photos show some in-school at
tempts by early-grade students to model their
impressions of Moon features. I hope you find
them of interest...
certainly serve as a stimulus to young
sters with a latent interest or inclination
for the sciences. Editor.
Dear Editor,
Let me thank you for the opportunity of
reading your magazine. It is a great pleas
ure to share the views and thoughts of our
Space scientists about the physical and philo
sophical aspects of coming Space travel. .•.
I am one of those unfortunate individuals
who is able to criticize the objectivity of
an article like Dr. von Braun's ["The Acid
Test", summer, 1958]-since I have recently
come from Soviet Hungary. Between 1941 and
today I had the opportunity to make com
parisons between the German and Russian
dictatorship and Western democracy. I might
add perhaps some more explanation to Dr.
von Braun's, because in our case none of
the tyrannies were even our own, though we
enjoyed a flowering-if not free-scientific
life.
I have to say frankly that after a certain
time, under those circumstances, there is
hardly any individual resistance. The will to
survive, the old instinct for self-preservation
takes over-up to a point. There was a saying
in Hungary, at the beginning of the war,
"Somebody is going to eat us. The German
at least washes his teeth; the Russian does
not." This attitude and the totalitarian state's
This attitude and the totalitarian state's first
preference policy toward science are the ex
planation.
The models were done in clay or salt-flour
alum medium. They represent one project for
the children in expressing their ideas about
the Moon in order the better to understand it.
Cockeysville, Md.
Ruth K. Stroh
Considering the fact that the models are
made by third graders, we are surprised
at their realism; and we wholeheartedly
endorse the project. l□aginative proj
ects such as this one used in conjunction
with well-disciplined courses in the
three R's can do much to reclaim Ameri
can primary education from the Dark
Ages into which it has fallen during the
past 30 years. Such projects, too, must
54
space journal
Naturally there is a breaking point, de
pending upon a nation's pride, patience, and
temperament, where something snaps and the
nation just simply must kick out some of those
teeth regardless of the consequences. That
happened in Hungary but because of the lack
of any help the only highly negative result
was the new caution with which Russia read
justed its grip individually to each satellites'
tolerance level.
That is why I agree with every word of
"The Acid Test". I do hope that the Western
world will make full use of the experience of
people like us.
Toronto, Canada
Steven L. Simon
�INFORMATION FREE
BY ARNOLD E. HAGEN
The following sources of free ond inexpensive moteriols ore mode ovoiloble to the reoders
of SPACE Journal as o convenient service in ob taining worthwhile information concerning the
astro-sciences ond other related topics. Students, teachers and porents will find mony of the
listed items of extreme interest ond value. We ho pe thot this information will be both helpful ond
informative. Send requests to the addresses listed below. Each company or institution represented
in the column reserves the right to withdraw its offer whenever it sees fit.
Civic orgonizotions, government agencies and industrial firms ore encouraged to submit ma
terial for consideration for use in this column. Send moteriol to Arnold E. Hagen, "INFORMA
TION FREE," P. 0. Box
703, Compton, Colifornio.
SONIC BOOM-SOUND OF PROG
RESS-This interesting booklet that
is concerned with supersonic fighter
aircraft that con 0y foster than the
speed of sound in level 0ight
should be a must for all scientifically
minded people. Includes many ex
cellent
drawings
showing
shock
waves created by airplanes flying at
speeds foster than sound.
North American Aviation, Inc.,
Dept. IF, International Airport, Los
Angeles 45, California.
THE EARTH AND STAR-Included
in this 16-poge booklet ore the an
swers to such questions as: How
much does the Earth weigh? How
fast does it spin? How fast does it
move through Space? These answers
and a wealth of additional fascinat
ing information ore included in this
timely booklet. Many photographs
ond illustrations in color.
SPACE TRAVEL & GUIDED MIS
SILES-Mon hos envisioned travel
through space for hundreds of years.
Today it is rapidly approaching real
ity. This 14-poge booklet explains
clearly and factually how Space
0ight engineers base their research
on scientific discoveries and precise
mathematics. It also tells on exciting
story of how scientists developed the
guided missile, the world's most
amazing weapon.
Field Enterprises Educational Corp.,
Public Relations, Dept. 1 F, Merchan
dise Mort Plaza, Chicago 54, Illinois.
ASTRO MURALS-Send for this
interesting catalog that tells you how
you con bring the exciting wonders
of outer Space right into your own
home. These ore the first exploita
tion of famous celestial phenomena
for use as decorative wall covering
in homes, schools, and institutions.
For o sense of space and sheer na
tural beauty with a classic timeless
quality, these spectacular block and
white murals ore unsurpassed. Astra
Murals is the only company in the
entire world selling celestial en
largements exclusively. These "resis
tone" treated murals ore exciting for
use in dens, living and bedrooms.
Astro Murals Inc., Dept IF, 231 W.
58 St., New York, N. Y.
THE INVENTOR'S GUIDE-Informa
tion on how to sell your unpotented
ideas, useful gadgets-devices for
cash or royalty. This interesting
�booklet is looded with useful infor
motion concerning unpotented inven
tions.
Inventor's Creotive Service, Dept
IF, 354 South Spring Street, Los
Angeles 13, Colifornio.
CLOUD CLUES TO HELP MAKE
WEATHER WORK FOR YOU-Just
obout everyone wonts to be some
thing of o weother forecaster, but
you'll probably need all the help you
con get in order to become your own
reliable weather man. By leafing
through this 15-poge booklet, you'll
see the cloud sequences ond learn
the different kinds of clouds that fol.
low each other in a kind of weather
pattern. Excellent photographs and
illustrations in this fact-filled educa
tional booklet.
New Holand Machine Company,
Dept IF, New Holland, Pennsylvonio.
SHOULD YOU BE AN ATOMIC
SCIENTIST?-This article, originally
addressed to parents, first appeored
os on advertisement in the Saturday
Evening Post, Lodies' Home Journal
ond Collier's,. Written by Dr. Law
rence R. Hofstad, vice president in
charge of the research staff of Gen
eral Motors. Excellent material for
educators, guidance workers and
parents.
New York life Insurance Company,
Dept IF, 51 Madison Avenue, New
York 10, N.Y.
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE LIBRARY
OF CONGRESS-Send for o copy of
this informative publication which
gives detailed informotion about the
world's largest library. It was created
by and for Congress in 1800. Its
usefulness today is extended not only
to Congress but also, through many
services, lo other government agen
cies, to other libraries throughout the
country and the world, ond to the
generol public.
Office of the Secretory, Dept IF,
librory of Congress, Woshington 25,
D.C.
vary from time to time as copies of
some of the publications become ex
hausted and new ones ore added.
For this reason individual booklets
ore not listed in this notice. Excel
lent material for educotionol and ref
erence use.
United Stoles Atomic Energy Com
mission, Dept IF, Educational Services
Branch, Washington 25, D.C.
CAREERS IN SCIENCE-Information
obout careers in science at the No
tional Bureau of Standards. The No
tional Bureou of Standards is o
mojor laboratory of the Federal
government. It is devoted to re
search and development in the physi
col sciences and provides the bosoc
standards of physical measurements
for government, science and industry.
U.S. Deportment of Commerce, No
tional Bureau of Standards, Dept IF,
Washington 25, D.C.
THE EYE OF THE INTERCEPTOR
Since World Wor II, all-weather in
terceptors hove become the backbone
of our air defense. Their evolution
hos been impressive. Read about the
interceptor, its control system, and
its armament. Also important facts
about the job of the airborne ormo•
ment-control system.
GUIDED MISSILES FROM ENGI
NEERING THROUGH PRODUCTION
Interesting scientific booklet that tells
about a new concept for on age-old
weapon. Excellent material for Social
Studies and Science classes.
KEY MAN IN ELECTRONICS MANU
FACTURING, THE ENGINEER-The
engineer at Hughes Electronics Manu
facturing Activity in El Segundo,
Calif., is o special kind of man .. .
with special abilities and special in
terests. Read this interesting booklet
and learn obout the oc:tuol service
that these important men provide for
the Notion's defense.
THIS IS HUGHES AIRCRAFT COM
PANY . • . ELECTRONIC RESEARCH
. ..DEVELOPMENT .•.MANUFAC
TURING-This 28 page booklet is on
over-all panorama of Hughes-<>f the
organization, people and octivities
which hove built the company. To
day, engaged exclusively in elec•
lronics research, development and
manufacturer, it is on acknowledged
leader in airborne weapon systems
and guided missiles for the Military
...ground systems for aircrofl sur
veillance and control ••. and com
ponents, instruments and systems for
commercial and industrial electronics.
Hughes Aircraft Company, Public
Relations Department, Culver City,
California.
FREE MAILING SERVICE-to teach
ers who request leaching aids, NAEC
sends (to elementary teachers) o free
copy of Aviation Education Bibli
ography (Elementary School), pictures,
and other teaching aids. Suitable
teaching materials are sent also to
secondary teachers. In addition Sky
lights, the NAEC monthly fact sheet,
is sent throughout the school year
without charge to all teachers re
questing it.
To boys and girls who request
pictures ond facts, NAEC sends free
photographs, booklets, and Skylights.
National Aviation Education Coun
cil, 1025 Connecticut Ave. N W.
Washington 6, D.C.
THE COPYRIGHT OFFICE OF THE
U.S.
A.-This JO-page booklet in
cludes brief answers to some com
mon questions about copyright, o
listing of important dates, o chart
showing registration trends, as well
as lists of copyright office publica
tions and application forms.
Copyright Office, Dept IF, The Li•
brary of Congress, Washington 25,
D.C.
THE GYROSCOPE THROUGH THE
AGES-The gyroscope is the oldest
mechanism in the universe. It existed
before any living thing could be
found on the Earth's surface becouse
the world itself is o gyroscope.
learn more about this interesting
subject by reading this 2B-poge
booklet.
Sperry Gyroscope Company, Dept
IF, Division of Sperry Rand Corpora
tion, Great Neck, l. l. New York.
ATOMIC ENERGY INFORMATION
-The Educational Branch of the
Atomic Energy Commission distrib
utes, upon request, in single copies,
educational kits at the elementary,
high school, college and teacher lev
els. The items that go into these kits
56
space journal
" ..and HE wonts to know how the Braves come out?"
�C
r
'r
I
I
l
OBJECTIVE:
Cape Canaveral makes news-many failures
Hnd a few successes. To the man in the street, the
Space ,\ge is a competition of sputniks, a sports
event with the solemn overtones of science.
Survival
Journal. com c� ing the> l..nowledge of the e\.perls
interpreted for the la� man.
The immediate and cager acceptance of SPACE
Journal is indicative of its ultimately enormous
audience - and the enormous potential of its
market. A breakdown of SPACE Journal's paid
subscriptions is as follows: Business and industry.
43..5%; ccllege ancl military, 12.2%; other
students, 18%; libraries, 4.5%; teachers, 3.3%;
non scientific professions, 4.3%, information and
mco1a. ad\'crnsing writers, 3.6%; general, IO'L
The military are engaged in a race for effective
intercontinental ballistics, with subsec1uent
unclear corollaries.
The ultimate objective of the Space Age is
survival - not merely from supersonic bombs
and satellites but from the limitations of the
earth planet.
As an advertising medium, SPACE Journal's
impact and readership cannot be gauged b� its
still unJ..-nown net paid circulation.
The spiraling population forecasts a ghetto
civilization with insufficient food and depleted
energ� sources. Our future mine fields ma) lie in
asteroids, our central st,1tions operate on cosmic
rays, our food supply and suburban developments
depend on colonies on other planets.
SPACE Journal advertisers include:
Avco Research & Development Laboratory .
Brown Engineering Company, Inc . . . Chrysler
Corporation . . . Douglas Aircraft Company . . .
Edmund Scientific Company . . . General
Astro,uwtics Corporation . . . The Martin Company
ortll American Aviation. Inc., Rocketdyne
Division . . . D. Van ostrand Company, Inc. . .
Precision E11gineering, Inc. . . . Reaction Motors,
Tnc . . . . Reynolds Metals Company . . . RolJhins
Aviation . . . Sperry Rand Corporation, Ford
Instrument Compan11 Division . . . Thiokol Chemical
Corporation, Redstone Division.
Missiles are already a big business. costing over
$3..5 billion, with a possible e\'entual $20 billion
program. Toda� 22 industries, 3000 suppliers
and 80,000 people arc involved.
The need for information extends not onh to
industry but to all the armed forces, the entire
educational system. and the taxpayer who must
foot the bill. Herein lies the field of SPACE
SP ACE•J ournal
published by Space Enterprises, Inc., Tuck Building,
ashville, Tenn.
AD\'£1\TISI'sG RLPRESE"ITATI\'ES:
Hale Carey, 420 Lexington Avenue,
DOUGLAS C. LANCE
ew York Citv.
,I
1948 Highland Oaks Drive, Arc adia, California • Telephone Elgin 5-6769
�e
e
e
e
e
THE NECESSITY OF SPACE TRAVEL - BY DR. PHILIP N. SHOCKEY
DYNAMICS OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE - BY JOHN HULLEY
RELATIVITY AND SPACE FUNDAMENTALS - BY JAMES P. GARDNER
THE RADIATION HAZARD TO SPACE TRAVEL - BY DR. JAN S. PAUL
DESIGN FOR BUILDINGS ON THE MOON - BY DR. JOHN S.
RINEHART
SURVIVAL IN SPACE - BY DR. SIEGFRIED J. GERATHEWOHL
for on Uncreased Cover, Send 25c to Space Enterprises,
Box 94, Nashville, Tenn.
SPACE JOURNAL PROUDLY PRESENTS ARTIST HARRY LANGE'S PANORAMA OF EARTH'S FIRST INTERSTELLAR SPACE SHIP
(DESIGNED BY ASTRONAUTICAL ENGINEERS HELMUT HOEPPNER AND B. SPENCER ISBELL) LANDING IN ANOTHER SOLAR
SYSTEM. WITH A DEFT HAND AND PAINSTAKING CARE FOR AUTHENTIC DETAIL, LANGE HAS CAPTURED THE FASCINATING
SCENE ENVISIONED BY DR. PHILIP SHOCKEY IN "THE NECESSITY OF SPACE TRAVEL" APPEARING IN THIS EDITION. DR.
SHOCKEY SUGGESTS THE PROBABILITY THAT SHOULD EARTH MANS' FIRST INTERSTELLAR SPACE TRAVELERS FINO A PLANET
WITH NEAR-EARTH ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, THE PLANET WOULD NOT BE IN THE SAME EVOLUTIONARY STAGE AS
EARTH. THIS RENDERING SHOWS THE DESTINATION PLANET IN ITS CRETACEOUS PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT. THE MONSTERS
CREATED BY NATURE AND MAN STANO IN STARK CONTRAST.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Serials Collection
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Serials Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<i> Space Journal</i>, vol. 1, no. 5, March-May 1959.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rocket City Astronomical Association
Space Enterprises, Inc.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Von Braun Astronomical Society, Huntsville, Alabama
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1959
Language
A language of the resource
en
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Periodicals
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
vbas_space_journal_055_116
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1950-1959
Subject
The topic of the resource
Cold War
Extraterrestrial radiation
General relativity (Physics)
Interstellar travel
Life on other planets
Lunar bases
Outer space--Exploration
Space vehicles
Space race--United States--History--20th century
Description
An account of the resource
This issue includes a statement announcing <i>Space Journal</i>'s termination of all connections with the U.S. military and with the Rocket City Astronomical Association. At the time, commander of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal Gen. John B. Medaris was concerned that the publishers and writers, all in the employ of ABMA, were using their government positions for personal gain through the magazine. Topics covered in the issue include the dangers and feasibility of space travel, designing buildings for life on the Moon, and the existence of life elsewhere in the universe.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
This item is digital only. The item was generously lent to UAH by the Von Braun Astronomical Society for digitization.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.