Science: Journey into Space

(10 of 10)

American Star. The cost of the satellite station ($4 billion) Von Braun considers reasonable. The cost could be spread over ten years or more and would hardly be missed by a nation already spending $50 billion a year on its defense. Nor would it drain the U.S. of qualified technical men. There are plenty of them around, but they are "working on iceboxes." He has letters from a number of topflight engineers and scientists who will work for the Government only if employed on something as exciting as rockets headed for space.

The march toward space can start, Von Braun suggests, without adopting the full space station program. Even slight extensions of present techniques could set a small, unmanned missile circling round an orbit just outside the atmosphere.

When working on rockets in Germany, Von Braun fired a V-2 on a clear day 15 minutes after the sun had set. The stars were already coming out, and as the great rocket climbed upward, the flame of its exhaust diminished to a shining pinpoint and disappeared. Then the rocket broke into the sunlight above the shadow of the earth and gleamed, brilliantly visible, against the darkening sky. He watched it through its full course, like a bright, climbing star, and followed it down again into the shadow.

Even a small satellite could be made to shine at dusk. It could inflate a plastic balloon which would gleam as brightly in the sunlight as a first-magnitude star. This "American star," rising in the west, should make a powerful impression on the peoples of Asia.

On one important point Von Braun agrees with Rosen and his other critics: that the first step toward space should be to set up a special commission to study the entire matter. Its members should be scientists, engineers and economists of the highest type. They should be "cleared" to receive all the latest news of guided missile progress, and they should be above interservice rivalries and the self-seeking pressure of missile manufacturers. After making their decision on the feasibility and value of all types of space vehicles, they should lay down a practical program for the U.S. to follow.

The public will not be told the decision of such a commission. To announce even its yes or no would reveal the summation of many military secrets. If the decision is yes, the first news for the public may be an "American star," rising in the west and sweeping swiftly across the sky.