YOUR SHARE IN SPACE

we've come a long way in the few years since our country began its broad long range program of space exploration since 1958 when NASA the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established we've successfully launched scores of spacecraft today it's no longer a question of what can we do in space but what we want to do and for many people the biggest question of all is why do we want to explore space what are we getting for the millions we've already spent and what can we expect from the billions we plan to spend much of this questioning of the practical value of space exploration stems from the fact that most of our space activities are primarily concerned with gathering scientific information information which often appears meaningless to the layman and seems to have little immediate practical value the s15 our gamma-ray astronomy satellite is a good example of this kind of space experiment this satellite while it looks like an old-time street lamp is actually a miniature observatory equipped with a powerful telescope to detect high-energy gamma rays from cosmic sources gamma radiation which is produced by nuclear activity as a special interest for scientists because they think it can be the key to valuable new information about the forces and elements that make up the universe it was the investigation of phenomena such as this in the past that led to the development of electricity radio and more recently nuclear energy to simplify and reduce the cost of launching experiments such as these we recently developed the Scout this four stage launch vehicle is powered by solid propellants and gives us a small but highly flexible booster that we can use for a variety of space probes and actual missions apart from contributing to our general knowledge about the earth and the universe around it our scientific space experiments also give us the special knowledge and experience we must have to use space to improve our life on earth which is one of the primary objectives of our space program in this area of practical applications we've already made several spectacular achievements one of these was echo one a communications satellite experiment using a huge inflatable sphere to serve as a reflector for radio signals the experiment called for the payload to be placed in a 1,000 mile earth orbit here it would be separated from the third stage and the sphere would be ejected and inflated radar tracking stations would observe and plot its course skirting the coast of South America the satellite orbit would extend below the tip of Africa and coming back over the South Pacific it would cross between Australia and Asia proceeding in a northeasterly direction above wake Midway and Hawaii and down from the North Pacific within range of the NASA Jet Propulsion laboratory's tracking station at Goldstone California this station was to be one of the communications points the Bell Telephone laboratories at home Dale New Jersey was to be the other when the sphere reached an area of mutual visibility between these two points they would attempt to communicate with each other by bouncing their signals off the satellite our first test in the summer of 1960 failed but several months later a second attempt was made eight seven six five four three two one jover execute cracking normally three standard main stage cutoff technicians they still antigua is acquired azmuth within limits guide is corrected 1/2 degree in elevation create added acquired some 15 minutes after takeoff trinidad observed the inflation of the sphere 35 minutes after takeoff data from Cape Canaveral indicated that orbit had probably been achieved some 40 minutes later rumor in Australia reported visual sighting of the sphere with its photo tracking camera in search pattern a one hour and 50 minutes after launching JPL picked up the echo signals and began tracking the satellite visually hello bill yeah we've applied the satellite and we're tracking it with our radar and a few minutes later BTL was in contact with the satellite the experiment was a resounding success and for the first time a communications link had been established between two distant points on earth using a man-made satellite but practical implications of this success were enormous for it meant that we had found a relatively simple and economical method of relieving our overcrowded communications lines and making the dream of global telephone and television communication a reality later tests proved that such satellites could also be used for teletype facsimile or even mail transmission today in addition to developing larger and more rigid passive satellites similar to echo 1 we are experimenting with active repeater satellites which will be able to receive messages amplify and retransmit them one communications company is so impressed with the commercial possibilities of this kind of communication that it has already begun to build its own experimental satellite system we've also been very successful in using satellites to gather weather information since early 1960 we've launched five Tyros weather satellites all of these satellites carried television cameras picture storage tapes and readout equipment and electronic equipment to transmit the pictures to ground stations on command Tyros 2 & 3 also carried infrared radiation equipment to measure the heat balance around the Earth orbiting about 400 miles above the Earth's surface these satellites have been able to take pictures of the cloud cover over large areas of the earth they've sent back thousands of photographs and with these we've been able to reconstruct a weather picture of our country and a large part of the world the success of our Tyros experiments has graphically demonstrated the great value of using satellites to study the mechanics of weather and improve our forecast for example Tyros 3 located and televised pictures of seven of the eight hurricanes that struck the atlantic coast during the 1961 season it located hurricane aster two days before our weather craft spotted the storm but in addition to saving lives and reducing storm damage by supplying early warnings this kind of advanced weather information also helps farmers select the best time for their planting and harvesting and it may one day play an important role in helping us conserve our vital natural resources such as land water and timber but important as they are achievements such as echo and Tyros only show part of the practical side of our space exploration or behind them are the important developments and discoveries that made them possible and often these developments and discoveries have a great practical value of their own apart from their contribution to our work in space the solar cells which cover most of our spacecraft can convert sunlight into energy to supply power for their equipment are a good example of one of these developments already these cells are being used to furnish auxilary power for communications lines and they promise to have many other uses such as a cheap and practical method of obtaining water to transform some of the desert regions of the world into productive land solar cells are products of solid-state physics a relatively new area of science which has received most of its impetus from our space work by producing revolutionary new semiconductors such as transistors this remarkable new science has helped make micro miniaturization possible and in just a few years has transformed the electronics industry and created a multi-million dollar industry of its own and from these and related industries have come the fantastic data processing and computer equipment that we have today equipment which has become indispensable in almost every field of scientific research and business these amazing machines make it possible to handle data and perform calculations in seconds which only a few years ago would have required months or even years to do NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt Maryland uses batteries of these machines to monitor and guide our space flights this Center is also the heart of the International ground communications network which tracks and directs the earth orbiting manned flights of Project Mercury Project Mercury represents our first venture into manned space flight and it gave us an opportunity to work on the many basic problems that had to be solved before we could safely send men into space problems such as determining man's capability in the space environment studying the conditions he would encounter entering and leaving space and selecting and training men to work under these conditions designing and building spacecraft that would safely carry man into space and back to earth again and developing boosters that would be capable of lifting such craft into space it took us over two years to solve some of these problems and in May of 1961 we were ready to test our solutions by sending a man into space Alan Shepard was the astronaut on this critical test flight this is freedom 7 the fuel is go on this historic flight lasted only 15 minutes but it proved that we could send the man into space and bring him back safely and it also provided us with valuable information for our future space flights two months later we sent a second man into space on a similar flight this time virgil grissom was the astronaut both of these suborbital flights prepared the way for the longer and more demanding earth-orbiting flights which were the primary objective of the mercury project in February of 1962 the stage was set for the first of these flights John Glenn was the astronaut the man and spacecrafts and vehicle systems had been carefully checked and rechecked and everything was working this was the moment and the attention of the entire world was focused on this flight the huge appleís performed perfectly Rico classic rates fired okay a few minutes after liftoff the rocket was separated than the spacecraft entered its program turning around and I can see the booster during turnaround just a couple of hundred yards behind me it was beautiful Roger understand go for at least seven orbits over Africa Glenn began to test his reactions to the eerie world of space I can see the dark side coming up in the periscope back behind me at present time soaring over the Indian Ocean Glenn experienced his first nightfall in space the way the horizon looks is a very orange band just as the Sun Goes Down it extends way off either side probably 45 degrees each side of the Sun comes up into a lighter yellow than a very deep blue than a very light blue on up to the black of the sky later as he crossed the Pacific on his second orbit he discovered his gyroscopes were wandering and here again he was able to overcome the trouble by manual control the fact that he was able to correct these dramatically points up one of the big advantages of manned spaceflight the flight with Johanna poo and throwing on manual yeah once again I can see lightning slices under me oh very clearly as the third orbit about the earth is completed the retrorockets fire slowing down the spacecraft it begins its fiery through the earth to pick up landing bag is on green 4 hours and 56 minutes after liftoff after circling the earth three times the mercury spacecraft landed in the Atlantic recovery area this was not the first time a man had orbited the earth but it was the first time such a flight had been made openly and the entire world shared in the triumph of John Glenn and the dedicated team that had made this flight possible and apart from the enormous prestige and experience that our country had gained from this flight and from the flight of astronaut carpenter the entire world would also share in the benefits for the volumes of technical information we had collected on these flights and the earlier ones would be made available to all scientists the fact that a good deal of this was medical information measuring the physiological reactions and responses of the astronaut during the flight showed the important role that the life sciences were playing in this project and it is in this area which offers a vast new field of research for medicine and the other biological sciences that our manned spaceflight promises its greatest practical benefits in searching for ways to protect men from a hostile environment of space these sciences are developing a broader and better understanding of the origin and basic nature of life this research will eventually result in longer and healthier lives for everyone already hospitals have shown an interest in the delicate sensors that were developed to record the astronauts reactions during the tests these sensors would enable doctors and nurses to keep continuous watch on the condition of their patients without disturbing them or even going near them there's no doubt that these and many other developments and discoveries constantly being made by the life sciences in their space work will eventually find important practical applications in our daily lives the x-15 project which is another side of our manned flight program is also providing valuable information for the life sciences the idea behind this project was to develop a highly advanced aircraft that would combine and put to attest all our knowledge and skills in aerodynamics the x-15 was designed to explore the flight problems encountered at very high speeds and at extremely high altitudes it has been phenomenally successful in both of these areas the design and performance goals were for a speed of about 4000 miles per hour at an altitude of 50 miles the great value of the x-15 is that it has served as a testing ground for many of our ideas in flight and the technical information is sure to have a great influence on future design of our commercial aircraft it has also proved that aircraft with certain modifications can operate well above the area of aerodynamic lift and it speeds many times that of our present aircraft one of the most intriguing areas in our space exploration program is our plan to explore the moon and the planets in our solar system and we've already begun to make the necessary preparations our first objective is the moon the Ranger which is designed to land an instrument package on the moon is being used for our first explorations it weighs about 750 pounds and is actually made up of two spacecraft the main spacecraft in addition to power telemetry and guidance and control equipment will carry a television system to send back photographs of the moon's surface as it moves down on it the second spacecraft which will be ejected and actually land on the moon will carry instruments to record lunar conditions and radio this data back to the earth surveyor is another unmanned spacecraft that we shall use for lunar exploration this spacecraft is designed for a soft landing on the moon and it carries more delicate than the laborat instruments than the Ranger once the surveyor lands television cameras will begin scanning the surrounding terrain and examining the surface near the spacecraft much the same way a man would if he were there one of the cameras will even provide microscopic photos of the moon's surface directly under the spacecraft after the television cameras have completed their survey other instruments will go into operation instruments suspended on telescopic booms will record data away from the spacecraft even the lunar atmosphere will be analyzed drills will bore into the moon surface and collect samples down to a depth of about 5 feet the surveyor carries its own laboratory to analyze these samples and transmit the results back to earth and since all these instruments can be separately controlled from earth any observation or analysis can be repeated if necessary the surveyor will function for anywhere from one to three months and in that time we should be able to collect more information about the moon than man has gathered during the last three thousand years and this is the information we need to prepare for sending men to explore the moon we have already begun building the huge vehicles that will be used for project Apollo our manned lunar exploration program the primary objectives of this program are to send a crew of three astronauts to the vicinity of the moon and later land them on the moon and bring them back the Saturn booster will be used for the first Apollo flights Saturn is capable of carrying many tons into orbit around the earth or to the moon and even beyond it will soon be ready for use it is the first heavy rocket we've built designed specifically for space exploration the booster or first stage of this vehicle is made up of a cluster of eight large rocket engines capable of delivering one and a half million pounds of thrust which is equivalent to about 32 million horsepower because it's too large to be moved by rail or highway the Saturn had to be shipped to its Cape Canaveral launching site by barge the launch complex with this huge vehicle is the largest of its kind and covers some 45 acres the big gantry or service tower that will hold the rocket as it is being checked out is 310 feet high the big Saturn booster has been successfully flight tested using dummy second and third stages filled with water to approximate their actual weight at this early stage it's impossible to evaluate the new knowledge and experience that we shall acquire through our lunar explorations but if we're looking for immediate practical benefits we can find them all around us a good part of the country has already felt the impact of this program in the form of contract salaries and the general increase in business activity that they produce and this is generally true of all our space exploration for the vast sums we are spending are being spent right here on earth and right here in our own country most of the money that we are spending for space exploration is being channeled through the various NASA installations and research centers throughout the country through them into the thousands of factories plants workshops schools and laboratories eventually ending up in the pay envelopes of many individuals across the nation when we add up all this and when we consider the many practical benefits we have already gained and the many more we can expect it would seem the big question today should be not why are we exploring space but how could we have ever believed that we could ignore this vast limitless area with all its promises