The Practical Values of Space Exploration | Page 5

exploiting the new fourth state of matter:
plasma, or the ion. Or we may think of it in terms of revolutions, as
passing from the industrial cycle of steam through the railroad-steel
cycle, through the electricity-automobile cycle, into the burgeoning
technological revolution of today.
However we think of it, it is a dawning period and one which--in its
scope and potential--promises to dwarf much of what has gone before.

Those who have given careful thought to the matter are convinced that
while some caution is in order, the new era is not one to be approached
with timidity, inhibited imagination or too much convention. Neither is
there any point in trying to hold off the tempo of this oncoming age or,
in any other way, to evade it.
Mark Twain once listened to the complaints of an old riverboat pilot
who was having trouble making the switch from sail to steam. The old
pilot wanted no part of the newfangled steam contraptions. "Maybe so,"
replied Twain, "but when it's steamboat time, you steam."[7]
Today is space time and man is going to explore it.
[Illustration: FIGURE 3.--The versatile Atlas can be used either for
launching man into space or to carry a nuclear warhead as far as 9,000
miles.]
FOOTNOTES:
[2] Gavin, Lt. Gen. James M., U.S. Army (retired), speech to the
American Rocket Society, New York City, Nov. 19, 1958.
[3] Kramer, Max O., "The Dolphins' Secret," New Scientist, May 5,
1960, pp. 1118-1120.
[4] Bikerman, Dr. Jacob J., reported in New Scientist, Mar. 3, 1960, p.
535.
[5] "Introduction to Outer Space," a statement by the President, the
White House, Mar. 26, 1958.
[6] Clarke, Arthur C., "The Challenge of the Spaceships," Harper &
Bros., New York, 1955, p. 15.
[7] Related by T. Keith Glennan, Administrator, National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, in an address before the Worcester (Mass.)
Economic Club, Feb. 15, 1960.

II. NATIONAL SECURITY VALUES
There is no longer doubt that space exploration holds genuine
significance for the security and well-being of the United States as a
nation.
It does so in at least three ways. One results from the uses which our
Armed Forces can make of the knowledge gained from space
exploration. A second results from the influence and prestige which
America can exert within the world community because of her prowess
in space exploration. A third results from the possibility that space
exploration, eventually, may prove so immense and important a
challenge that it will channel the prime energies of powerful nations
toward its own end and thus reduce the current emphasis on developing
means of destruction.
The first two values definitely exist. The third seems to be a reasonable
hope.
THE MILITARY USES
From the beginning it has been recognized that space exploration, the
research connected therewith, and the ability to operate therein is of
more than passing interest to the military.
Congress recognized the fact when it passed the National Aeronautics
and Space Act of 1958 and directed that "activities peculiar to or
primarily associated with the development of weapons systems,
military operations, or the defense of the United States * * * shall be
the responsibility of, and shall be directed by, the Department of
Defense."[8] In the amendments to the Space Act proposed in 1960,
this directive was strengthened: "The Department of Defense shall
undertake such activities in space, and such research and development
connected therewith, as may be necessary for the defense of the United
States."[9]
It is possible to argue, and indeed it has been argued, that ballistic
missiles such as IRBM's and ICBM's are not really "space" weapons,

that they are simply an extension of the traditional art of artillery. For
the purposes of this report, however, the argument appears to be largely
a semantic one. Such missiles do traverse space, they are guided
through space, and they employ the same engines and principles which
are presently used for purposes of scientific space exploration. While
more advanced "space" weapons may evolve in the future, the missile
as we know it today cannot very well be divorced from our thinking
about space and its practical uses.
Going on this assumption, and casting an eye in the direction of the
Iron Curtain, it is obvious that the Soviet Union is going all-out to
exploit space for military purposes.
Military men have known for years that the tremendously powerful
booster which the Soviets have been using to launch their massive
sputniks was originally designed to carry the primitive heavy version of
the A-bomb across continents.
If there was ever doubt of the extent to which the Soviets intend to
make space a selected medium for military purposes it was erased when
Premier Khrushchev made his address to the Supreme Soviet early in
1960. He commented in part:
Our state has at