Horizons In Sciences: New Challenges, New Conquests (1966)

photography sees with the eye of a camera in your hands it makes records of people and events you want to keep photography shows shows you happenings from everywhere right here in your classroom it's your window on the world now Kodak through photography brings you this edition of the screen News Digest gemin andera rendevu in space Luna 9 makes a soft landing on the moon a look at what life may be like in other worlds and National recognition for a talented young [Music] scientist in the beginning the mission is letter perfect the astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott are strapped into their geminy 8 capsule as the countdown continues without mishap or emergency the gmany flight plan calls for the capsule to hook up in space with an aena rocket and for astronaut Scott to take a walk around the world the hatches of the spacecraft are closed now gmany 8 and its crew wait for the launch of the atlas aena in the black house space scientists get ready to trigger America's double header [Music] launch the eugina is on its way into orbit and 95 minutes later the giny twins Armstrong and Scott set out on a 6 and 1/2 hour 100,000 mile chased through [Music] space the Perfection of docking techniques is essential to Landing a man on the moon the first lunar explorers will have to fly from the Moon surface to a fueled rocket in lunar orbit and hitch a ride on the rocket for the return flight to Earth docking also has military implications for it can be used to determine whether an enemy rocket carries a nuclear warhead if it does the missile's course can be changed and the atomic payload destroyed now truly amazing films of the historic Rendevous in space a closeup look from inside gmany 8 there is the aena 185 M High seeming almost to be standing still and yet travel at an incredible 177,000 M an [Music] hour the reflections from inside the gmany capsule flit and flicker like ghosts in the Eerie Twilight of the cosmic [Music] unknown the docking begins with command pilot Armstrong at the control s it can be followed as the illumination provided by two lights in the aa's interior is slowly blacked out by the approaching capsule at last contact is made all goes well at first but locked together the aena and the geminy begin to pitch and spin out of control astronaut Armstrong disengages his capsule but still it continues to swing wildly one revolution one change from Darkness to light a second for half an hour gemin8 tumbles end overend as the two Pioneers in space wage A desperate lonely struggle to save their capsule and their [Music] [Applause] lives a startled world gets the news of the first emergency landing in American space [Applause] history an Air Force plane races to the recovery area some 500 Mi southeast of okanawa in the Western Pacific and there is gmany 8 bobbing safely in the choppy Seas the Destroyer Leonard Mason speeds to the scene and 3 hours after splash down the ship is maneuvering into position to pick up the Aston and their capsu Scott and Armstrong ride out their weight cheerfully both men agree that gemman 8 is smoother in space than on the sea the flight of geminy 8 has been both a Triumph and a disappointment but America can take pride in the ordeal and the danger the skill and the daring of Neil Armstrong and David Scott the capsule is carefully brought aboard to be studied tested examined to pinpoint the mechanical failure that caused the crisis in space gmany 8 is history other Horizon specken other nations Russia's Luna 9 makes Man's first soft landing on the moon the Soviet spaceship completes the 250,000 M flight in 4 days it is the seventh publicly announced attempt by Russia to land an instrument that could send back information from the Moon England's jro Bank Observatory intercepts the pictures to Earth before Moscow releases them they come in intermittent flashes because of the constantly changing positions of the moon and the tracking stations Russian scientists announced the same significant findings reported by the British first the moon surface is of a porous volcanic matter strong enough to support a heavy spacecraft and second there is no trace of the lunar dust that it had been feared would engulf Landing ships Luna 9 has focused Man's eyes on new and challenging Frontiers in space [Music] Frontiers that can be and are explored in laboratories on Earth for this is a new and revolutionary form of microscopic [Music] research scientists here are simulating the atmosphere of other planets in an effort to find out if some forms of life can exist out of this world [Music] the Bell jars are airtight inside pressure temperature and the percentages of various gases are controlled to approximate the atmospheres of Jupiter and Mars among the most significant discoveries made in this unique research program is the fact that many plants and animals show increased resistance to freezing temperatures as the oxygen in the atmosphere is reduced ordinary turtles have survived the thin air that would be found at an altitude of 60 Mi the tests also underlined the need for the sterilization of interplanetary space probes in order to prevent contamination of life on other planets this is a Mars simulator here and in pressure domes scientists have observed hundreds of species and varieties of plants they also have carried out studies on the behavior of lower forms of animal life such as insects worms and single celled creatures they have noted that some individual specimens survive making adjustments to strange environments While others of the same species wither and die this cactus plant is an example of one such experiment under a microscope the scientist seeks to discover why this one did not adjust and why this one did already he has found a microscopic organism in soil similar to that on Jupiter an organism known only on Earth as a fossil 2 billion years old here here truly are new challenges New Horizons in science challenges and Horizons to be conquered and crossed by Young scientists such as Henry Wagner Jr age 16 of gwynned Valley Pennsylvania a brilliant student with a searching mind this is a boy Rich in promise and one day in February 1966 Henry Wagner Jr comes home to find a letter that will start him on the road to one of the highest scientific Honors that can be awarded to an American High School student in the letter Henry is notified that he has been selected as one of 40 finalists in the 25th Annual science Talent [Music] search a month later 11 girls and 29 boys representing 20 States are in Washington competing for $35,000 in scholarships and awards at a special showing the 40 finalists exhibit their projects to hundreds of invited guests including local and visiting scientists Educators and government leaders all who come are interested and attentive and each of the young scientists speaks and proudly of his or her exhibit Henry Wagner's project is a complex and scholarly study of the molecular structure of a protein working as a research fellow at the Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia the young scientist carried out pioneering experiments in a little understood field later he issued a joint paper on his findings with an associate professor at Temple the exhibits cover a wide range of scientific research Steven Jacob 17 of alberon New Jersey works in the fields of organic and physical chemistry and his Studies have determined how much heat a group of chemical compounds produce when they react to [Music] [Applause] water Linda Sue Powers 17 of Beckley West Virginia provides proof that the New Horizons in science beckon girls as well as boys in her project Linda demonstrates and mends a theory on why certain chemical compounds change color when exposed to light heat and pressure young as Linda is others even younger share her interest in science and finally the night of nights the awards dinner when the five most promising young scientists are honored including the top winner of a $7,500 scholarship Henry Wagner is there with his parents waiting hoping the winner of the $7500 Westinghouse Grand science scholarship Henry Wagner Jr of Amer Pennsylvania Linda Su Powers Beckley West Virginia Kevin bins West de Mo Iowa David Jefferson Beltsville Maryland Barry Clyde New York City and Henry Wagner Jr before them Horizons Unlimited in science the screen News Digest living history in the classroom has been brought to you by the Eastman Kodak company