The Practical Values of Space Exploration | Page 7

scientists, other scientists equally competent
and responsible sometimes cry them down as impractical, impossible or
even childish. One engineer, for instance, describes maneuverable
manned space vehicles as having "no military value," bases on the
Moon as having no military or communications use, and the idea of
high velocity photon-power for space travel as "a fantasy strictly for
immature science fiction." He also characterizes the reconnaissance
satellite, which U.S. military authorities have long since programmed

and even launched, as being "definitely submarginal * * *. A fraction
of the cost of a reconnaissance satellite could accomplish wonders in
conventional information gathering."[17]
Controversies such as these are difficult for the person who is neither a
scientist nor a military expert to judge. One is inclined to recall, though,
the treatment received by General Billy Mitchell for his devotion to
nonconventional bombing concepts; the fact that the utility of the
rocket as developed by America's pioneer, Dr. Robert H. Goddard, was
generally ignored during World War II; the fact that it took a personal
letter from Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt to get the Manhattan
Project underway.
Yet today the bomber, the missile, and the nuclear weapon form the
backbone of our military posture.
In other words, history seems to support the proposition that no matter
how remote or unlikely new discoveries and approaches may first
appear, the military eventually finds a way to use them.
Will it be any different with space exploration?
OUR POSITION IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Like the military values of space research, the practical value of space
exploration in terms of world prestige has also been acknowledged
almost from the beginning of the satellite era.
The White House, in its initial statement on the national space program,
declared:
It is useful to distinguish among (the) factors which give importance,
urgency, and inevitability to the advancement of space technology (one
of which) is the factor of national prestige. To be strong and bold in
space technology will enhance the prestige of the United States among
the peoples of the world and create added confidence in our scientific,
technological, industrial, and military strength.[18]

Only recently, however, has the full impact and meaning of this phase
of our national space program come to be widely recognized. It has
been stated, perhaps in its most forceful and succinct form, by an
American official in a unique position to know. The Director of the U.S.
Information Agency, part of whose job is to keep track of the esteem in
which America is held abroad, has told Congress:
Our space program may be considered as a measure of our vitality and
our ability to compete with a formidable rival and as a criterion of our
ability to maintain technological eminence worthy of emulation by
other peoples.[19]
This element of space exploration takes on particular significance in
light of the current international struggle to influence the minds of men,
in light of the rising tide of nationalism throughout the world, and in
light of the intensification of the cold war as demonstrated by the
now-famous U-2 incident and the hardening attitude of oriental
communism.
In the words of an influential newspaper:
Wholly apart from the intellectual compulsions that now drive man to
move higher and higher into the high heavens, it seems clear that our
country can be niggardly in this field only at the risk of being
completely and forever outclassed by Russia--a gamble that could have
the most fearful political, economic, and military consequences.[20]
Incidentally, there is another prestige factor to be considered. This is
what might be called the chain-reaction factor: the likelihood that
technological preeminence in the space field will attract top talent from
other parts of the world to the banner of the country which develops it,
and thus constantly nourish and replenish the efforts of that country. It
is a consideration which has not received general attention, although it
has been discussed before some of the world's leading space
scientists.[21]
Here again, as with the military situation, the Soviets are making every
effort to exploit their dexterity in space. They are pursuing the prestige

gambit directly and indirectly. In the first category, for example, they
give top priority to space exhibits in important public forums--as their
duplicate sputniks strategically placed at the world's fair and the United
Nations attest. Premier Khrushchev's delight in making gifts to
foreigners of miniature Soviet pennants similar to that carried in Lunik
II--which hit the Moon--is another instance.[22]
The indirect drive for prestige via space technology is far more
important. It has been described by a congressional committee as
follows:
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the Soviet Union in the last
several years has demonstrated a great skill in coordinating its progress
in missilery, its success in space missions, and its foreign policy and