Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

The National Association of educational broadcasters in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration presents the peaceful uses of space. For the age of space. These are the sounds of today and tomorrow. In the spring of 1960 to the Seattle World's Fair was the scene of a conference on space research. This is program number two in a series of 13 reports of highlights from that conference. Early in the second national conference on the peaceful uses of space the deputy director of the office of space sciences for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Edgar

him Cortright addressed himself to the Lunar and Planetary programs. NASA's is carrying out by some fortunate and I'm now an act of nature you and I are privileged to occupy a very special place in this universe. We are gathered at a fine fair and a final setting and a fine country. And a fine on a fine planet circling a fine young star. We made to celebrate the accomplishments of modern civilization and to rejoice in our wisdom. But I stylize every one of the billion trillion stars within the more than 10 billion trillion mile range of our largest telescope. We know relatively little about these stars and rock lies between and beyond. Our earth is one of nine planets and their 30 moons which circle our sun. And which comprise the solar system we know relatively little about the solar system.

What we do know is largely derived from observations on our planet Earth during during the last few hundred years of its Brayfield billion year history viewed in the eternity of time. And the infinity of space. The wrist shrinks to its proper perspective. It is man's nature however that he had by his ample act to expanding his knowledge about things. Thus we find ourselves busily engaged in a number of fascinating projects to explore the solar system. My main seven man. Instrumented spacecraft these experiments well unlock secrets of the universe. One stop to live beyond man's grasp. One day the man himself will accompany his instruments to these distant worlds. Exploration of the solar system during the next decade will concentrate on the earth the sun the moon and the near planets of Mars and Venus. Previous Baker Dr. Nuland

has discussed the exploration of the earth from the sun by means of sounding rockets and satellites and this paper I will briefly review are most active projects to explore the moon Mars and Venus. First program as directed toward exploration of the moon. The moon which trumpets the earth that only two hundred and thirty nine thousand miles distance is the most convenient celestial body to explore except for the earth itself apart from its relative proximity Mayne said as a seer to get them to the near planets Mars and Venus means less energy is required. And the opportunities to launch are far more frequent. Being nearly continuous in the case of the moon compared to every one and a half years for Venus and two years from our. Trip times to the moon are measured in days rather than months. In addition communicating to and from the moon is far simpler than in the case of the planets. The radio

information back from Mars takes over 40000 times. The energy has to send the same information from the moon where the landings are these are the airless moon loses much of its energy advantage since rockets must replace the atmosphere as a braking device. However the return flights are required for the small gravity field of them and its lack of atmosphere and it's near enough I have a great advantage for they send out their raisins the moon will continue to be the center of attention for some time. But the greater difficulty in exploring the planets is more than compensated for by their tremendous interest to us whereas them on my own. From Marco's to the formation of the Solar System sense it is preserved in a near original state. The planets more nearly approximate the earth and are most likely to have indigenous life forms.

This particularly applies to Mars and Venus since there are bits about the sun are most like are. Relatively near orbits also make them easier to get to than Mercury Jupiter and the outer planets. Thus we are concentrating our planetary exploration on Mars and Venus be on the moon. And the planets I've just mentioned are far ranging spacecraft will most likely plunge close to the sun at so it is easy for most people to see why we engage in satellite meteorology and communications since the return from these programs may soon exceed the investment that is also rather lazy to accept the desirability of investigating space in the vicinity of the earth and its center actions with the sun. This is after all our own planet. That man should begin to learn to fly in this new environment of space carries the same weight of logic as did the Wright Brothers first flight. Many people however have questioned the need for exploring the moon and beyond. There are

many with valid ways of answering this question from a scientific viewpoint. We want to unlock the secrets of nature. The search for extraterrestrial life to determine the nature and origin of the solar system. To understand our sun and to probe the mysteries of the universe from a sociological viewpoint we want to excel in science and technology as a nation. We do this by tackling the toughest problems of our day and in so doing our society receives a tremendous stimulus. This program to explore the solar system cost about one quarter of one sound out of every tax dollar in fiscal year 1960 to say each of you wager salary earners work about one hour to put the program across more effort will be required as we advance but with that we will be building a priceless heritage for the future one which we can be quite proud of. Those who don't take time to enjoy

this rare experience are foolish indeed. Every program should have a time table whether it is fixing the garage roof or flying to mines and past years we have spelled out our plans through the decade of the 60s. This year I'm going to limit myself to projects in which we are heavily engaged and in which we hope to complete successful missions. By 1965 in 1960 pioneer 5 was placed into orbit about the sun and remained in contact with the Earth to a distance of twenty two and one half million miles. By the end of this year we have placed our first instrument on the moon with Project Ranger and to ascend a mariner spacecraft to Venus during next year. We plan to obtain some very high resolution pictures of the lunar surface with Project ranger in 1964. We hope to accomplish our first soft landing of an array of delicate instruments on the moon as part of the surveyor project.

Also in 1964 we plan to launch our first missions to Mars and hopefully to land an instrumented capsule on this planet. By 1965 we planned to have a version of surveyor orbiting the moon and taking a comprehensive aerial photographs of the lunar surface. To accomplish these missions we are to comment on the success of a few launch vehicle systems that should be recognized the Lunar and Planetary missions require the very best performance that can be squeezed out of our launch vehicle requires a velocity of about 25000 mph to escape the Earth's gravity field and only 18000 miles an hour to go into lower orbit this cave mission last requires about twice the energy to get adequate pay allows for our Lunar and Planetary missions. It has been necessary to add complex upper stages to our basic posters with attendant reductions in reliability. The Atlas a Jaina is used for early

Ranger and mariner missions were launched about seven hundred fifty pounds to the moon and 450 to the near planets. We have scheduled heavy usage of this vehicle for nineteen hundred and sixty for the Atlas Centauri launch vehicle represents a great step forward in both performance and technology. This vehicle is the first to use the very high energy propellant combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen based repellents are over 30 percent more efficient and the combination of hydrocarbon feels unlike But oxygen. The Atlas Sentara launch about twenty three hundred pounds to the mound and thirteen hundred pounds to the near planets. It is expected to be operational in 1964. Although the Saturn rocket series is not required in the projects which I'm going to talk about today it is scheduled for use and more advanced projects such as prospect or and Voyager and the latter half of the decade prospect or as planned as a large automated

lunar landing craft to be used in support and direct logistic support of manned operations and for selected on manned scientific missions right here as the unmanned planetary Explorer of the future growth during the Mariner series now under development. But Saturn as the first of the new mode iin Sion series it is designed as a two stage vehicle a place of £20000 and the lower earth orbit. Our first planetary landings will have to await an advanced spacecraft by Mariner the Mariner Bay will be launched in late 1964 with a new atlas anti-Iraq. Designed for flight to either Mars or Venus this twelve to fourteen hundred pounds face will first be used in the Mars at that this capsule will be guided toward the planet by the basic spacecraft which will then fly on past. While the capsule hatters the atmosphere and lands the spacecraft will perform scanning experiments

as did the Mariner honor as the Mariner is designed for. But with greater to the degree of sophistication with the capsule on the surface of Mars it may well become the first proof of extraterrestrial line. Now the detection of extraterrestrial life would undoubtedly constitute one of the great scientific discoveries of history. Observations of Mars from her have given us reason to believe that some form of life may exist there. What this life might be why one can only surmise at this time we are working on a number of experiments to detect such line. The scientific participants in the Lunar and Planetary program total about a hundred. From the universe of these 65 from government laboratories. And 12 from industrial laboratories. The J of physics and astronomy program previously discussed rouseabout 113 University scientists 76 government and 59 from industrial nonprofit organization that is on these

manned with the all the might sign. The face value of the program rests there after all not only all the host of new scientific discoveries but will breed a new generation of scientists next on the program was Milton bee Ames Jr. director of space vehicles for NASA's office of advanced research and technology in discussing technical problems and programs. It is helpful to relate them to various phases of space flight. It typical space flight mission for example might deal with launch an exit from the atmosphere flight in space. And finally having the spring and safe landing recovering now the launch and exit phase of any space mission generates reception problems in many technical areas for us to consider the structure of our space here. It is interesting to note that the potentiality for structural failure is greatest

in the first one or two minutes of flight. Because the forces of the Lords which are brought into play on the space vehicle are the greatest. During this time as space vehicles are tall slender lightweight structures and wind loads are quite troublesome. Both on the launch pad and in the atmospheric phase of flight. For example as a vehicle leaves a pad and accelerates through the atmosphere high velocity jet stream winds sometimes as high as 220 miles per hour. Impinge as cross winds on the vehicle and induce large loads and stresses present information on wind profiles used in design based on data which were originally derived from it or a logical purposes using balloons and these data are quite inadequate. A new method for measuring these winds by photographing the smoke trail of a rocket have been developed. And is being used both and Wallops Island Virginia and the Atlantic Missile Range in Florida to

provide better data on wind profiles. A typical example. The vehicle is launched from NASA Wallops Island station. The data are recorded by two fixed cameras located approximately 12 miles from the launch site at 6 second intervals for a total time of five minutes. When profiles are tamed by a data reduction technique using the photographs of the smoke trail to a maximum altitude of ninety thousand feet. Now one of the basic concepts underlying current. NASA space activities is that a limited number of posters on launch vehicles must be employed to serve the purposes of a large variety of missions. This missions however employ spacecraft that differ greatly in size and shape. Perhaps now you can see that in a structural sense the booster components of the space there go on not in themselves separate truck like the machine upon which our end we are in when Chicago may be carried into space. Each component of the complete system that stands on the launching pad

must be firmly secured to the adjoining part. When this is done. The combination of loads forces shape mass and flexibility that resolves is such that there is no escape from treating each combination as one integral structural system. One aspect of a space vehicle system dynamics problem. Is the determination of structural modes and frequencies and other damping characteristics of the structural system in these most calculated properties leave much to be desired especially beyond the first power. And full scale test a difficult and expensive to make. For these reasons and because space vehicle configurations have to be established at an early stage the development of model testing techniques is an attractive approach for the problem. This approach is currently being made to the use of models large enough to permit the introduction of significant structural detail in order to ensure the model test year was also

applicable to the full scale system. It is necessary during the course of the research to develop model techniques that some results for comparison be available from full scale task. There is also such tests have indicated that in simple cases the vibration characteristics of space vehicles can be calculated satisfactorily in the more complex cases such as Saturn. However we cannot calculate the vibration characteristics with precision. In addition we must learn more. About how to use a model test to predict with greater accuracy the vibrational characteristics of a full scale vehicle. Now I would like to turn to chemical propulsion. As you're well aware. Chemical propulsion is the only means available to us at this time for space exploration missions. They are more advanced forms of propulsion under study notably nuclear and electric propulsion. These will be discussed next by Mr finger.

I believe you will find that they are still in the research in advanced developmental stage for now and for some time to come we must rely on the energies released by the chemical reactions to propel our vehicles and spacecraft in space exploration. In certain respects however the liquid rocket engines used in today's launch vehicles are basically the same as but improved Frazier's inventions developed 20 years ago. All research plans in brief are to conduct theoretical and experimental investigations in these areas within the NASA organization and by contracts to universities and industry. As we continue to increase the sizes and frequencies of our spaceflight launchings we will ultimately reach a point where it will be both economically feasible and this arvo to recover at least the most costly part of the launch vehicle system. Many ideas and concepts have been suggested for Bush to recovery and some activities are going on in this area. One possible means being investigated for recovering the first stage

of a large launch vehicle is the use of a flexible wing called a paraglider. The model of a flexible wing supported launch vehicle is dropped from a helicopter as you saw. At the Langley Research Center and the model of radio controlled from the ground and is being tested to determine the low speed stability and control characteristics. But us now consider this space flight phase of our mission. What severe bill is in space there is a completely new assortment of problems. One of the difficult problems. Posed by the environment in space is the protection of the spacecraft and its contents against catastrophic damage from meteoroids. There are really two problems here. First we have to find out what the meteoroid content of space is how many are there in a given region of space how big all day and how fast do they travel. These are difficult questions and the answers to them are quite uncertain at this time. The second problem once the nature and speed of the meteorites unknown is to learn how to fend them off or do via

spacecraft structures that they cannot penetrate. Best the best way to solve the first problem is to send up probes to satellites to measure the meteorite content of space. Still another hazard of the space environment is radiation which may cause damage either to human occupants on to the equipment of the spacecraft not human occupants will have to be shielded from radiation but the shielding of all contents of the spacecraft is prohibitive due to weight requirements. Other means will have to be found to protect equipment such as electronic components. Or research on damage. Caused by nuclear reactor effects have been in progress an effort in this area will continue for a low rate however it has been done on space radiation damage to electronic materials laboratory simulation or radiation bombardment. Similar to that which occurs in the Van Allen radiation belt show is that the output of a typical semiconductor dropped two thirds of its original performance after a 25 day period of operation in the Van Allen belt.

This of course is unacceptable. Research investigations are being expanded to check present material for radiation damage and to determine what new materials or new techniques are required to produce radiation resistant items. Let's consider now re-entry vehicle technology. Many missions require a safe return of the spacecraft and more important parts of its contents to the earth. This requirement poses an exceptionally difficult to soften the problem. Including aerodynamic heating during atmospheric entry landing project we control on an energy matter a broad program of study of these problems include sea exploration of the flight characteristics of many possible future spacecraft configuration. This program will provide information for the design. Of one more advanced auto vehicles two vehicles for a lot of missions and three vehicles for end of planetary missions such as the Mars and Venus.

It has not been so long ago that the problem of bringing a ballistic missile warhead to Earth without burning up in its punch through the atmosphere was regarded as a very difficult one. However. Today the United States has successfully recovered at least 15 spacecraft from orbit. Now the uncertainty of our knowledge regarding the radiation heating phenomena at speeds in excess of those for the return missions is caused partly by. The lack of ability of currently available test equipment to achieve the heating intensity is experienced at speeds on the order of 40000 feet per second. And higher. For this reason we have to resort to the flight test program called Project fire. To obtain the required information. The prime objective of project fire is to measure the heat him for you know inputs from both radiative and convective heating at re-entry velocities in excess of 26000 mph.

And to determine the gaseous environment around the spacecraft associated with such conditions. Since a vehicle will come a significantly increasing levels the radiative heating and these be it will contain the suitable instruments and devices for measuring and observing from inside the spacecraft. The radiation from the hot gas cap that will form over the north of the vehicle project firing is a most important next down and our flight research program on the problem of high velocity atmospheric entry. It is intended to provide us at an early date with a much better understanding of the nature and intensity of re-entry heating at speeds between 26000. And 35000 miles per hour. A lot of speeds are representative of those to return to the earth. The monitoring mission. When discussing problems with space technology I have touched briefly some of the effects of human occupants on the design of spacecraft and other equipment.

Obviously the interrelations between man and machine are quite complex and go well beyond the relatively simple examples I have discussed for example if major problem unmanned auto loan or planetary missions is out of guiding or controlling the spacecraft to the desired landing site on earth without exceeding the temperature limit of the space vehicle. Are the acceleration tolerance of the crew during this phase of the manned flight mission. It is necessary to bleed off the spacecraft tremendous energy and effectively manage that energy to best advantage in reaching the desired landing site. The numbers game for accomplishing re-entry and landings have been studied. They fall into two general classes one class system constrains the spacecraft to fly on every selected flight path and once the entry trajectory is established the pilot has no further control over his destination the landing point.

Second matter is an energy management scheme. The pilot controls the vehicle and it is presented with information which indicates that the spacecraft is capable of reaching any point within a certain large landing area or. As shown on the chart. He's also given information which keeps him advising at all times. Of the allowable maneuver capability of the spacecraft to reach this landing area safely. Now since both the men over boundary and the permissible landing area will be changing constantly. That is getting smaller and smaller as a space craft approaches the surface of the earth. The pilot must be presenting tenuously with new information he needs in order to fly the vehicle in such a way that he can reach the final destination safely. Simulator studies conducted by NASA and others have demonstrated great promise for pilot control re-entries from orbital and one emission.

Also. I am convinced that as a spacecraft get heavier although mentally they will be landing horizontally on the pilot control. In fact. This is one of the attractive features of the dinosaur hypersonic glide vehicle which is being developed by Boeing here in Seattle. Our energy management is not a new concept. In fact it has been used skillfully by the X-15 pilots on every flight. Simulator studies and experience for the X-15 are convincing evidence of pilots. And astronauts. Are quite capable of utilizing energy management techniques to permit man control re-entries and landings from orbital and lunar missions and we plan to extend our research activities in this area. In conclusion it is apparent that the broad range of problems in space vehicle research and technology confronts us with a tremendous challenge in response.

We are utilizing the talents. And skills of industry universities other non-governmental research institutions and the NASA centers. The continuing objective of these programs is to provide the sound. Technological base which is essential to the advancement of our country's space like care for the living. With this background the conference turned to the subject of launching power a subject we will cover in our next broadcast this broadcast is one in a series of special reports from the 1962 Seattle World's Fair symposium on the peaceful uses of space presented by the National Association of educational broadcasters in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. From Washington. This is John F. Lewis reporting. This is the NOAA B Radio Network.