Doctors in Space; 4; Living Room in the Void
- Series
- Doctors in Space
- Episode Number
- 4
- Episode
- Living Room in the Void
- Producing Organization
- KUHT-TV (Television station : Houston, Tex.)
- KUHT-TV (Television station : Houston, Tex.)
- Contributing Organization
- Thirteen WNET (New York, New York)
- Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
- University of Houston (Houston, Texas)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/75-90rr56cc
- NOLA Code
- DORS
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- Description
- Episode Description
- This video includes episodes 1 (Flight Toward the Stars) and 4 (Living Room in the Void) of Doctors in Space. The fourth episode deals with protective devices for flyers in space. As background, Col. Sweeney demonstrates the Air Force partial pressure suit, designed for emergency escape from a damaged craft, and discusses the effects of "explosive decompression," the sudden loss of cabin air pressure when a projectile or a meteor punctures the wall of the ship. Mr. Ehricke then presents one of his designs for a three-stage rocket vehicle, in which the final stage is a satellite glider capable of returning to the earth with its passengers. He discusses particular the special features of the five-man cabin unit, a sealed compartment carrying its own atmosphere and incorporating the essential principles of the Sealed Space Cabin developed by the School of Aviation Medicine. Col. Henry M. Sweeney, USAF (Retired) is the former Director of Research, School of Aviation, US Air Force, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. Col. Sweeney, who is noted for his developmental work on protective devices for high-altitude flight, was still on active duty when this program was filmed. He received his PhD in physiology at the Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans and taught there until 1937 when he was named head of the Department of Physiology at the University of South Dakota. Called to active duty in 1942, he served the air force as an experimental physiologist. He was the first man in the US to demonstrate by personal experience in a low-pressure chamber, that a human being could survive "explosive decompression," the instantaneous loss of pressure that occurs when a modern pressurized cabin blows off a navigation dome or is punctured by gunfire. He supervised the design and testing of a variety of life-saving devices for airmen including the automatic ejection seat for jets. As School of Aviation Medicine's Director of Research, Col. Sweeney supervised the advanced studies performed by its aeromedical scientists from 1952 to 1957 when he was retired. Krafft A. Thrice is Group Engineer, Astronautics Division, Conair, General Dynamics Corporation, San Diego, California. He was associated with the development of the German V-2 rocket. Now an American citizen, Mr. Ehricke is a distinguished designer of rocket missiles and aircraft. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Series Description
- This timely series explores what is now known about flight into space and resultant medical problems and includes the latest scientific developments in space medicine. Much stock footage from US Air Force films is included, and experts in missile development and space medicine appear on the episodes. The basic aim of the series is to inform the public about the advances made in space flight, the problems encountered there, and the medical research going on to enable man to fly in space. In this age of dog-bearing satellites, National Educational Television viewers will be interested to learn of the possibilities of trips by human beings into outer space. Produced by KUHT, Houston in co-operation with the US Armed Forces, Doctors in Space has been cleared by the Department of Defense. Dr. John Rider, a professor of physics at the University of Huston, is the host of the series. Also, appearing in all 13 half-hour episodes of Doctors in Space, which were originally recorded on film, is a leading authority on space medicine, Dr. Hubertus Strughold, Advisor for Research, School of Aviation Medicine, US Air Force, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. A native Westtuennen, Westfalia, Germany, he received his PhD from the University of Muenster in 1922 and his MD degree from the University of Wuerzburg in 1923. As a research assistant at the Physiological Institute in Wuerzburg, he specialized early in aviation medicine and gave the first lectures in this field in the summer semester, 1927, at Wuerzburg. In 1935 Dr. Strughold became director of the Aeromedical Research Institute in Berlin and associate professor of physiology at the University of Berlin. After the war he was appointed director of the Physiological Institute of the University of Heidelberg. In 1947 he joined the staff of the School of Aviation Medicine of the US Air Force. In 1949 he was named chief of the newly founded Department of Space Medicine at the Air University. In 1956, Dr. Strughold became a citizen of the US. In August of 1947, he was appointed Advisor for Research to the School. Dr. Strughold is a member of many national and international medical and scientific organizations including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Space Medicine Association, the American Rocket Society, the International Astronautical Federation, the International Mars Committee, and the American Rocket Society Space Flight Technical Committee. He is the author of The Green and Red Planet: A Physiological Study of the Possibility of Life on Mars and many professional papers on physiology, aviation medicine and space medicine. He is co-author of a textbook, Principles of Aviation Medicine, and an atlas on aviation medicine. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Broadcast Date
- 1958-00-00
- Asset type
- Episode
- Rights
- Published Work: This work was offered for sale and/or rent in 1960.
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Duration
- 00:29:38
- Credits
-
-
Guest: Strughold, Hubertus
Guest: Sweeney, Henry M.
Guest: Bridgeman, William B.
Guest: Ehricke, Krafft A.
Host: Rider, John
Producing Organization: KUHT-TV (Television station : Houston, Tex.)
Producing Organization: KUHT-TV (Television station : Houston, Tex.)
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
Thirteen - New York Public Media (WNET)
Identifier: wnet_aacip_146 (WNET Archive)
Format: Betacam: SP
Generation: Master
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2315544-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2315552-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive
Identifier: [request film based on title] (Indiana University)
Format: 16mm film
-
Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive
Identifier: [request film based on title] (Indiana University)
Format: 16mm film
-
University of Houston
Identifier: ID 1997-006, AV Shelving (University of Houston)
Format: 16mm film
Duration: 0:31:34
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- Citations
- Chicago: “Doctors in Space; 4; Living Room in the Void,” 1958-00-00, Thirteen WNET, Library of Congress, University of Houston, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed September 3, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-90rr56cc.
- MLA: “Doctors in Space; 4; Living Room in the Void.” 1958-00-00. Thirteen WNET, Library of Congress, University of Houston, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. September 3, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-90rr56cc>.
- APA: Doctors in Space; 4; Living Room in the Void. Boston, MA: Thirteen WNET, Library of Congress, University of Houston, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-75-90rr56cc