Book: The Practical Values of Space Exploration

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Of course, the aeronautics industry has benefited tremendously.
Engines, automatic pilots, radar systems, flight equipment, capable
of meeting the high standards required by space vehicles represent
a great improvement over our already excellent aircraft.

A plasma arc torch (has been) developed for fabricating ultrahard
materials and coatings by mass production methods. The torch, an
outgrowth of plasma technology, develops heats of 30,000 degrees
and can work within tolerances of two-thousandths of an inch.
Another application from the missile field, which shows real
possibilities, is a reliable flow meter that has no packings or
bearings. This was first developed for measuring liquefied gases
and should have a very wide industrial usefulness. It may even lead
to improvements in marine devices for measuring distance and
velocity.

Ground-to-air missiles that ride a beam to their targets must
measure the distance to the target plane with an accuracy of a few
feet in several miles. This principle, now being applied to
surveying techniques, has revolutionized the surveying industry.

The solenoid valve, which seats itself softly enough to eliminate
vibration, has been applied very satisfactorily to home-heating
systems.

The use of the jet drilling for mining is another, and worthy of
amplification. Missiles are already working the economically
unminable taconite ore of the Mesabi Range, have helped build the
St. Lawrence Seaway, and are bringing down costs in quarrying.

It is estimated that taconite will be supplying about a third of
our ores in less than 20 years. Until 1947 we were unable to mine
this very hard rock, and then suitable rotary and churn drills were
produced. Jet drilling, now available, cracks and crumbles stone
layers by thermally induced expansion and is somewhere between 3
and 5 times faster than rotaries.

Jet piercing can take us far deeper into the earth than we have
been able to go so far, to new sources of ore and hydrocarbons.

In stone quarrying, jet spalling and channeling are proven
techniques. Stone quarrying has been expensive and wasteful
heretofore. Rocket flame equipment allows cutting along the natural
cleavage planes, or crystal boundaries--hence cuts stone thin
without danger of cracking and, in addition, produces a fine finish
that cannot be obtained when cutting by steel or abrasive tools.

Scientific literature is beginning to contain speculations on using
the principle of the missile engine to save unstable intermediate
products of the chemical processes. The high heats achieved in the
rocket engine can, perhaps, be utilized to produce desired products
that would be lost by slow cooling. But the high rate of cooling
accomplished by expanding gases through the engine nozzle, it is
thought, would save these unstable compounds.

Infrared has come into its own through missile electronics.
Infrared--since it cannot be jammed--appears to be challenging
radar for use in guidance devices, tracking systems, and
reconnaissance vehicles. Infrared is being used industrially to
measure the compositions of fluids in complex processes of chemical
petroleum refining and distilling. Infrared cameras are used in
analyzing metallurgical material processing operations, to aid in
accuracy and quality control. The entire infrared field should be
significantly assisted in its growth and application through our
missile-space programs.

Another very promising outcome from missile development is a
computer converter that can quickly transform analogue
signals--such as pressure measurements--into digital form.

In the near future, when guidance devices permit soft landing,
rocket cargo and passenger transport will become feasible. Mail may
become almost as swift as telephone.

We are making rapid progress in the economics of space travel:
payload costs for Vanguard were about $1 billion a pound; for the
near future launchings, payload cost should be about $1,000 per
pound. When payload costs are about a hundred dollars a pound we
may expect commercial space flight.[50]

Hundreds of other examples of the space program's value for everyday
living could be cited.

One with wide possibilities is a new welding process by using a
high-powered electron beam gun, developed for the fabrication of
spaceships and other space vehicles. This method permits welding joints
capable of withstanding temperatures up to 3,000 deg. F.; it can be used on
metals such as molybdenum and pure tungsten. And, its developers say, it
results in welded joints that have deep penetration and narrow weld
beads that are virtually free of contamination.[51]

Another ingenius application, resulting from the Navy's space research
program, has significant utility for medicine and surgery. This is a
glass fiber device which, when placed in the mouth during dental work or
in the area of surgical incision, permits a much magnified televising of
the operation. It holds considerable promise for teaching techniques in
many fields.[52]

Another example is a finely woven stainless steel cloth designed for
parachuting space vehicles back to Earth. The cloth is made of fine wire
of great strength which can withstand tremendous temperatures and
chemical contamination. The wire from which the cloth is woven is about
one-fifth the thickness of a human hair and is believed to have marked
potential for industry and consumers alike.

Here is an additional list of examples:[53]

Microminiature transmitters and receivers--used by police and
doctors.

Target drone autopilot--used as an inexpensive pilot assist and
safety device for private aircraft.

Inert thread sealing compound--- used by pump manufacturers serving
process industries.

Satellite scan devices--used in infrared appliances, e.g., lamps,
roasters, switches, ovens.

Automatic control components--used as proximity switches, plugs,
valves, cylinders; other components already are an integral part of
industrial conveyor systems.

Missile accelerometers, torquemeters, strain gage equipment--used
in auto crash tests, motor testing, shipbuilding and bridge
construction.

Space recording equipment automatically stopped and started by
sound of voice--used widely as conference recorder.

Armalite radar--used as proximity warning device for aircraft.

Miniature electronics and bearings--used for portable radio and
television; excessively small roller, needle and ball bearings used
for such equipment as air-turbine dental drills.

Epoxy missile resin--used for plastic tooling, metal bonding,
adhesive, and casting and laminating applications.

Silicones for motor insulation and subzero lubricants--used in new
glassmaking techniques for myriad products.

Ribbon glass for capacitors--used widely in electronics field.

Radar bulbs--used in air traffic control equipment.

Ribbon cable for missiles--used in the communications industry.

Automatic gun cameras--used in banks, toll booths, etc.

Fluxless aluminum soldering--used for kitchen utensil repair,
gutters, flashings, antennas, electrical joints, auto repairing,
farm machinery, etc.

Lightweight hydraulic pumps--used in automated machinery and
pneumatic control systems.

Voice interruption priority system--used for assembly line
production control.

Examples such as the foregoing, it might be pointed out, do not
generally emphasize an area in which space exploration is making
one of its greatest contributions. This is the creation of new
materials, metals, fabrics, alloys, and compounds that are finding
their way rapidly into the commercial market.

Less demonstrable but equally (and perhaps more) significant areas
which may expect to benefit from space exploration are set out
beginning on page 35.

[Illustration. FIGURE 11.--Vital information about the forces
which cause weather can be learned from meteorological satellites such
as these. Even a slight increase in the accuracy of weather prediction
will be worth millions of dollars annually.]


FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

An extremely difficult problem bound up with space travel of any
duration is that of food. Astronauts will not be able to take large
supplies of food on their voyages and probably will have to reuse what
they do take. Learning how to do this is no easy matter. Some doubt if
it can be done. Others are optimistic.

The body of scientists now working directly on space feeding and
nutrition is working effectively at a rate only attained by high
motivation. But this motivation suffices and their efforts will
ultimately provide at least a partially closed space feeding system
by the time it is critically needed and, eventually, an ideal one
for long voyages of man into the remoter reaches of outer
space.[54]

If the optimists are right, it is conceivable that the information gamed
from this research will have profound influence on food and agricultural
processes in the future. The use and growth of synthetics or new foods,
and their effects on the soil, could prove invaluable as the worlds
population climbs and the demand for food multiplies. Better
understanding of weather processes, as provided through space
exploration, will also be valuable in terms of agriculture. Long-range
accurate weather prediction would be worth millions of dollars in proper
crops planted and crop damage avoided.

Meanwhile, as in other technological areas, space research is providing
specific new tools for the food and agriculture industry. Infrared food
blanching, for instance, is highly effective in preparing foods for
canning or freezing. The development of a new forage harvester based on
principles of aerodynamics uncovered by missile engineers is another
example.


COMMUNICATIONS

This is a field of enormous promise, and its practicality has already
been demonstrated to the extent of placing satellites into precise
orbits, such as Tiros (weather) and Transit (navigation), and of
communicating at long distances--23 million miles in the case of Pioneer
V. As a result:

Government and industry technicians are rapidly developing new
Earth satellites to beam not only television programs but radio
broadcasts and phone conversations to every spot on Earth that's
equipped to receive them. Thus this space project, far more than
most, will touch the ordinary citizen. The goal: a workable,
worldwide communications system in space before this decade is
over. It will be, declares one researcher, "the ultimate in
communications."[55]

Incidentally, the first worldwide communications system of this type,
and whether it is conducted in English or Russian, may have crucial
prestige and propaganda ramifications.

Such facilities should be possible through a system of carefully placed
satellites so that radio signals can be relayed to any part of the globe
at any time.

Moreover they appear to be essential when one considers that within the
next 20 years existing techniques are apt to be stretched beyond
reasonable economic limits by demands for long distance communications.
It is difficult to see how transoceanic television will otherwise be
possible when it is realized that there is presently a capacity of less
than 100 telephone channels across the Atlantic and a single television
channel is equivalent in band width to 1,000 telephone channels. It
appears that a system utilizing satellites is the most promising
solution to this problem.[56]

More esoteric communications systems may also arise from space research.

In some future year when a cruising space vehicle communicates with
another space vehicle or its orbiting station, it may use a beam of
light instead of conventional radio. Not that radio will be
inoperative under the airless conditions of space--rather the
reverse--but there is reason to believe that communication by
sunlight not only will be cheaper but will entail carrying much
simpler and lighter equipment for certain specialized space
applications. (The Air Force) is developing an experimental system
that will collect sun rays, run them through a modulator, direct
the resultant light wave in a controlled beam to a receiver. There
the wave will be put through a detector, transposed into an
electrical impulse and be amplified to a speaker. Depending on the
type of modulator used, either the digital (dot-dash) message or a
voice message can be sent.[57]

Might not such a system find practical usage on Earth, particularly in
sunny, arid lands?


WEATHER PREDICTION AND MODIFICATION

Meteorological satellites should make possible weather observations over
the entire globe. Today, only 20 percent of the globe is covered by any
regular observational and reporting systems. If we can solve the
problems of handling the vast amounts of data that will be received,
develop methods for timely analysis of the data and the notification of
weather bureaus throughout the world, we should be able to improve by a
significant degree the accuracy of weather predictions. An improvement
of only 10 percent in accuracy could result in savings totaling hundreds
of millions of dollars annually to farmers, builders, airlines,
shipping, the tourist trade, and many other enterprises.

Perhaps even greater savings will come from warning systems devised for
hurricanes and tornadoes.

The slight knowledge which humans actually have of weather forces can be
seen from the fact that at present we do not even know exactly how rain
begins.[58] Learning to predict it and to modify it, through space
application, might help slow down the soil erosion of arable land--that
"geological inevitability * * * which man can only hasten or
postpone."[59] It is noteworthy that the two leading nations in space
research, the United States and the U.S.S.R., are among the most
affected by soil erosion.

The "leg up" which the United States has in this particular phase of
space research is illustrated by the acute photographic talents of the
Tiros satellite and their meaning to weather experts. The following
description of some of the earliest pictures by the Director of the
Office of Meteorological Research, U.S. Weather Bureau, is illuminating.

This picture, labeled "No. 1," was the storm that was picked up in
the early orbits of Tiros on the first day of launch, April 1. This
shows the storm 120 miles east of Cape Cod, with dry continental
air streaming off the United States, not shown by clouds, and off
the coast the moist air streaming up to the north, counterclockwise
around the center, producing widespread clouds and precipitation as
far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

On that same day mention was made of a storm in the Midwest. That
is illustrated by photograph No. 2. This was centered over
southeast Nebraska, a rather extensive storm. Again, we have a
clear air portion shown by a dark area, the ground underneath,
which has less brightness than the clouds, the cold air from Canada
streaming into that area, not characterized by clouds, and to the
east the moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, in this general
neighborhood, streaming around into that center and producing
rather widespread rains. In this case near the Gulf of Mexico,
where the cloud is extremely bright, indicating that the clouds are
very high, thunderstorms were found in that area.

[Illustration: FIGURE 12.--Storm center over Nebraska
photographed by the first U.S. weather satellite, Tiros, on April
1, 1960. The extent of the picture can be seen from the
accompanying weather map.]

It is a sort of situation in which tornadoes are to be found in
this very bright cloudy area, especially this time of year in the
Midwest.

A third vortex was observed, also April 1, in the Gulf of Alaska,
500 miles southeast of Kodiak Island. The vortex circulation is
clearly evidenced by the clouds which form in a circular array, and
the large clear area in the center of the storm.

No. 4 picture refers to a very big storm 1,500 miles in diameter
located 300 miles west of Ireland on April 2. This is a very old
storm which was whirling around, had no fronts associated with it.
It has long since wound up around the center. There is a rather
well-marked structure to the clouds that you can see. It is quite
different from the pictures in the first two. These are storms
mostly over the continental area or just off the coast. The storms
over the oceans seem to show more of a banded structure. By that I
mean circular bands of clouds, of width perhaps ranging from 20
miles to a few hundred miles, spiraling around the center in a
counterclockwise manner.[60]


HEALTH BENEFITS

Of all the problems contingent upon space flight it is doubtful if any
are more perplexing than the biological ones. In fact, it now appears
quite likely that the limiting factor on manned space exploration will
be less the nature of physical laws or the shortcoming of space vehicle
systems than the vulnerability of the human body.

In order to place humans in space for any extended period, we must solve
a host of highly complicated biological equations which demand intensive
basic research. The other side of the coin, however, is that when
scientific breakthroughs do occur in this area, they will probably be
among the most beneficial to come from the space program.

An idea of what is going on in the space medicine field can be obtained
from this summary:

Engineers already have equipped man with the vehicle for space
travel. Medical researchers now are investigating many factors
incident to the maintenance of space life--to make possible man's
flight into the depths of space. Placing man in a wholly new
environment requires knowledge far beyond our current grasp of
human biology.

Here are some of the problems under investigation: The
determination of man's reactions; the necessity of operating in a
completely closed system compatible with man's physiological
requirements (oxygen and carbon dioxide content, food, barometric
pressure, humidity and temperature control); explosive
decompression; psychophysiological difficulties of spatial
disorientation as a result of weightlessness; toxicology of
metabolites and propellants; effects of cosmic, solar, and nuclear
ionizing radiation and protective shielding and treatment; effects
on man's circulatory system from accelerative and decelerative g.
forces; the establishment of a thermoneutral range for man to exist
through preflight, flight, and reentry; regeneration of water and
food.[61]

In addition, intensive efforts are being brought to bear on such
problems as the effect on humans who are deprived of their sensory
perceptions, or whose sensory systems are overloaded, or who are exposed
to excessive boredom or anxiety or sense of unreality, or who must do
their job under hypnosis or hypothermia (cooling of warm-blooded
animals).

A recent space medicine symposium heard this theory advanced by a
prominent medical scholar:

Attractive, indeed, for the space traveler would be the choice of
hibernating during long periods when there was nothing he had to
do. With the increase of speeds and the lowering of metabolism,
consideration of flights running several hundred or even thousands
of years cannot be offhandedly dismissed as mere fantasy. During
prolonged flights of many months or years there will be very little
to see and that of negligible interest. The most practical way of
dealing with the problem might well be to have the pilot sleep 23
of the 24 hours.[62]

Lowering the body temperature would be one way of inducing the necessary
deep sleep.

Another possibility of handling some of the biological problems of space
flight, suggested by another physician, would be for astronauts to
discard the 24-hour Earth day and establish a longer rhythm for their
lives.[63]

At any rate, and while we may not now see just how it will come about,
knowledge gained from experiments such as these may result in important
medical and psychological advances.

In the drug and technological area of medicine, concrete benefits have
already resulted from the national space program. These include, as
already mentioned, a drug developed from a missile propellant to treat
mental ills, a means of rapidly lowering blood temperature in
operations, and a small efficient valve which could replace the valve in
a human heart.

Particularly gratifying, from the standpoint of medical value is the
Army's work toward an anti-radiation drug which could be taken before
exposure to reduce the biological effects of radiation.[64] Such a drug,
which is of special interest to astronauts who might be required to
subject themselves to varying belts of radiation, might be of even
greater use in the cause of civil defense.

A final and far-reaching phase of the health side of space exploration
deals with the basic nature of biology itself--how and under what
conditions life grows. Up to now biological science has been largely
"the rationalization of particular facts and we have had all too limited
a basis for the construction and testing of meaningful axioms to support
a theory of life."[65] Through research made possible by the space
program it may be possible to alter this condition. "The dynamics of
celestial bodies, as can be observed from the Earth, is the richest
inspiration for the generalization of our concepts of mass and energy
throughout the universe. The spectra of the stars likewise testify to
the universality of our concepts in chemistry. But biology has lacked
tools of such extension, and life until now has meant only terrestrial
life."[66]

[Illustration: FIGURE 13.--Biological reactions uncovered in
space medicine studies, such as this centrifuge experiment, may lead to
important health discoveries.]

The secrets which this research may divulge and their meaning for human
health can only be imagined. But they certainly would not be minor.


EDUCATION BENEFITS

No enterprise has so stirred human imagination as the reach of man
toward the exploration of space. New worlds to explore. New distances to
travel--3,680 million miles to Pluto, the outermost planet of our solar
system, 8 years journey at 50,000 miles per hour when we attain such a
capability. Innumerable problems ahead. New knowledge needed in almost
every branch of science and technology from magneto fluid dynamics to
cosmology, from materials to biology and psychology.[67]

"New knowledge needed" means better and stronger education is essential.
And not only in the physical sciences. In the social sciences and the
arts as well.

Certainly man's space adventure can help profoundly to make a finer
creature of him, but only if his adventures on Earth can do so as
well. Essentially what this means to a social psychologist is that
we must somehow raise our level of education to the point where
most men most of the time can appreciate and actively absorb the
implications of knowledge and developments in all areas
sufficiently to let them enrich their personal philosophies.
Obviously this kind of education is only in part a scientific
one.[68]

Moreover, the technical and management aspects of the space program
involve collaboration with nonscientific persons such as businessmen,
bankers, and public officials in assessing worthwhile objectives and in
judging the technical and economic feasibility of projects designed to
accomplish these objectives.[69] Consequently each type must educate the
other in his own specialty if an effective, stepped-up space program is
to be achieved.


_The demand_

Apparently the demand for specific formal education in the science of
astronautics is increasing faster than it is being supplied. Although
many colleges and universities have been setting up courses dealing with
astronautics, the state of the art does not seem to have crystallized to
the extent that it permits fashioning a career in the field at the
educational level. Of course, discontent is created. One publication has
editorialized:

We have received a surprising number of letters from young people
who actually want to know how and where they can get started in a
career in astronautics. These, for the most part, are high school
students--and, evidently, they couldn't get the information they
wanted from their own school. * * * Isn't the age of space yet
important enough for all the high schools to sponsor interest in
our space programs and to point out the need for a constant flow of
young brains?[70]

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