Chapter IV: Values for Everyday Living

The so-called side effects of the space exploration program are showing a remarkable ability to produce innovations which, in turn, improve the quality of everyday work and everyday living throughout the United States.

In setting forth specific ways and means in which the space program is producing practical uses, it must be kept in mind that no attempt is made here to separate uses resulting from the civil phases of the program from those developed by the military phases. Inasmuch as the two are closely intertwined, it would seem impractical to do so. And, in instances where the same or similar research is being conducted by a single contractor on behalf of both phases, it is usually impossible to do so.

TECHNOLOGICAL BENEFITS

This category of the practical uses of the space program is impressive indeed.

Most of us are familiar with the plans which the United States has for using artificial satellites in ways which will be beneficial to all mankind. These include the satellite used for worldwide communications, for global television, for quick and accurate navigation, and for much improved weather prediction and weather understanding.

Here, however, is a summary of space-related developments about which the American public has heard considerably less:

First, there is the high-speed computer. Developed initially to
meet military demands for faster calculation, the computer is an
integral part of American industry, making it possible to do many
operations with a high degree of efficiency and accuracy.
Thermoelectric devices for heating and cooling, now adapted for
commercial applications, were originally designed to provide energy
sources for space vehicles. The glass industry, as a result of work
done during and after the Second World War on lenses and plastics,
promises substantial gains in the consumer fields of optics and
foods. Pyroceram, developed for missile radomes, is now being used
in the manufacture of pots and pans. Materials suitable for use in
the nuclear preservation of food may make us even better fed than
we already are.

Medical research, and our health problems, can use such things as
film resistance thermometers. Electronic equipment capable of
measuring low-level electrical signals is being adapted to measure
body temperature and blood flow. In a dramatic breakthrough,
illustrating the unexpected benefits of research, it has been found
that a derivative of hydrazine, developed as a liquid missile
propellant, is useful in treating certain mental illnesses and
tuberculosis.

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° 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.

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.

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]

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]

The answer undoubtedly is that such grassroots demand will bring about increased academic curricula in astronautics in direct proportion to its magnitude.

Meanwhile, the availability of work for persons with a background in space-related subjects can be gaged to some extent by observing the variety of personnel requirements on major space exploration projects.

A single American firm, for example, uses 49 different professional specialists in its work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and in its space work for the Department of Defense.[71] Multiplied by the thousands of companies which are doing similar work, the list gives an idea of the astronautic demand confronting the Nation's educational institutions:

Acoustician
Aerodynamicist
Aeronautical engineer
Agricultural engineer
Astrodynamicist
Astronomer
Astrophysicist
Biochemist
Biophysicist
Ceramics specialist
Chemist
Computer specialist
Crystallographer
Development engineer
Doctor of medicine
Electrical engineer
Electronic engineer
Experimental physicist
Flight engineer
Gyroscopics specialist
Hydraulic engineer
Information theory analyst
Inorganic chemist
Logical designer
Magnetic device engineer
Mathematician
Mechanical applications engineer
Mechanical engineer
Mechanisms specialist
Medical electronic engineer
Metallurgical engineer
Methods engineer
Nuclear physicist
Oceanographer
Organic chemist
Physical chemist
Pneumatic engineer
Process engineer
Production engineer
Project engineer
Psychologist
Reliability engineer
Sociologist
Solid state physicist
Structural engineer
System analyst
Theoretical physicist
Thermodynamicist
Transducer engineer

FOOTNOTES:

[50] 25 supra. See also address to the American Bankers Association, Oct. 28, 1958.

[51] Space Business Daily, June 17, 1960.

[52] Feldman, George J., cited in a letter to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, Apr. 29, 1960.

[53] From Michelson, Edward J., "How Missile-Space Spending Enriches the Peacetime Economy," Missiles and Rockets, Sept. 14, 1959, pp. 13-17.

[54] Tischer, R. G., "A Search for the Spaceman's Food," Space Journal, December 1959, p. 46.

[55] Kraar, Louis, Wall Street Journal, May 4, 1960.

[56] 7 supra.

[57] Release No. 38-60, Air Research and Development Command, May 2, 1960.

[58] Lear, John, "Where Does Rain Begin?" New Scientist, Mar. 24, 1960, p. 724.

[59] "Wind and Soil," New Scientist, May 26, 1960, p. 1327.

[60] Wexler, Dr. Harry. Press conference conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Apr. 22, 1960.

[61] Lockheed, Missiles and Space Division, medical research, Sunnyvale, Calif.

[62] Lewis, Dr. F. J., before the Space Flight Symposium, San Antonio, Tex., May 28, 1960.

[63] Kleitman, Prof. Nathaniel, before the Space Flight Symposium, San Antonio, Tex., May 26, 1960.

[64] Taylor, Lt. Col. Richard R., USA (MC), testimony before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, June 15, 1960.

[65] Lederberg, Joshua, "Exobiology-Experimental Approaches to Life Beyond Earth," Science in Space, ch. IX, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., February 1960.

[66] Ibid.

[67] Dryden, Dr. Hugh L., speech before the Engineering Society of Cincinnati, Feb. 18, 1960.

[68] Michael, Donald N., "Space Exploration and the Values of Man," Space Journal, September 1959, p. 15.

[69] 67 supra.

[70] Space Age, August 1959, p. 3.

[71] Minneapolis-Honeywell, Military Products Group.