The Practical Values of Space Exploration | Page 9

course, whether this condition will actually develop is anybody's
guess. But in a world where brute force is becoming increasingly
dangerous and catastrophic, the bare possibility of such a result should
not be ignored by those who may be contemplating the values of space
exploration. It could be the highest value of them all.
[Illustration: FIGURE 5.--Today's assembly lines for automobiles and
aircraft are being supplemented by the growing astronautics industry,

here shown turning out capsules for manned space flight.]
FOOTNOTES:
[8] Public Law 85-568, 85th Cong.
[9] H. Rept. 1633, 86th Cong., 2d sess., p. 6.
[10] Speech to the Supreme Soviet, Jan. 14, 1960.
[11] Associated Press dispatch, dateline London, Dec. 2, 1959.
[12] Scott, Brig. Gen. Robert L., USAF (retired), Space Age, February
1959, p. 63.
[13] Ostrander, Maj. Gen. Don R., USAF, before the American Rocket
Society, Los Angeles, May 10, 1960.
[14] Cox, Donald and Stoiko, Michael, Spacepower, John C. Winston
Co., Philadelphia, 1958, p. 16.
[15] Saenger, Dr. Eugen, New Scientist, Sept. 10, 1959, p. 383.
[16] Boushey, Brig. Gen. H. A., USAF, Hearings before the House
Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration, Apr. 23,
1958.
[17] Pierce, Dr. J. R., "The Dream World of Space," Industrial
Research, December 1959, p. 58.
[18] 5 supra.
[19] Allen, George V, testimony before the House Committee on
Science and Astronautics, Jan. 22, 1960.
[20] Editorial in the Washington Evening Star, Apr. 4, 1960.
[21] Remarks of Hon. Aubrey Jones, Minister of Supply, to the
International Astronautical Federation, London, Sept. 1, 1959.

[22] Associated Press dispatch, dateline Rangoon, Feb. 18, 1960.
[23] "Space, Missiles, and the Nation," report of the House Committee
on Science and Astronautics, May 18, 1960, p. 53.
[24] The New Scientist, Mar. 3, 1960, p. 547.

III. THE ECONOMIC VALUES
We in the United States believe that we have the world's highest
standard of living. Our current wealth, prosperity, consumer goods and
gross national product are at a peak hitherto unreached by any country.
Nevertheless, economists who see the steady preponderant outflow of
goods and capital from the United States and who study the rising rate
of economic capability in other countries can find little room for
complacence in the present status of things. They are also well aware of
the Soviet Union's announced intent of beating the United States at its
own game: economic expansion.
Military historians are likewise aware that even strong economies,
when they become static, do not guarantee safety. On the contrary, they
seem likely to induce a dangerous national apathy.
This syndrome is familiar in history. Carthage suffered from it.
Carthage enjoyed enormous prosperity and was flourishing when she
was destroyed by her Roman competitor. Much later, Rome had a gross
national product without precedence. Her wealth and splendor were
unsurpassed when the Vandals and Visigoths began their onslaughts.
Neither Rome's great engineering skills, its architectural grandeur, its
great laws, nor, in the last analysis, its gross national product, could
prevail against the barbarians. Their GNP was negligible; nevertheless
they ransacked the mighty Roman Empire.
The gross national product is no insurance of survival. It is not a sign of
military strength, and indeed, it may not even be sufficient for the
economic battle.[25]

Thus from the point of view of economic stimulus and continued
commercial dynamism, space exploration should be--and is proving to
be--a godsend.
U.S. EXPENDITURES ON SPACE
It is impossible to arrive at accurate figures which might help indicate
the extent of this effort in dollars and cents. But we do know that the
U.S. Government is presently putting about $3.5 billion annually into
the research and development phases. How much more may be going
into the purchase of completed space hardware is difficult to say;
certainly it is a higher figure still. The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, in presenting its 10-year plan to Congress recently,
indicated that this agency alone expects to average between $1.5 and $2
billion a year during the next decade.
The amount of effort going into space-related programs on the part of
private industry, measured in dollars, again can only be roughly
estimated. But it is a sizable figure and is known to be growing. It may
amount to half the governmental research and development outlay.
These figures add up to a very important segment of the national
economy, and the fact that they represent a highly active and
progressive segment is particularly heartening to the economic experts
of the Nation.
THE SPREAD OF ECONOMIC BENEFITS
One of the most useful characteristics of the space program is that its
needs "spread across the entire industrial spectrum--electronics, metals,
fuels, ceramics, machinery, plastics, instruments, textiles, thermals,
cryogenics, and a thousand other areas."[26] The benefits from space
exploration thus have a way of filtering into almost every area of the
American economy, either