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basket, the space program of the
Soviet Union will apparently
include a smaller shutt le-type
vehicle, plus a continued empha–
sis on building the largest rockets
in the world. They are working on
boosters more powerful than the
Saturn 5,
whereas the U.S. no
longer has even a
Saturn 5
capa–
bility. "This indicates the U.S.
may be enteri ng an era in which
extensive Soviet launch vehicle
capabilities alone could be a dom–
inant factor in the strategic use of
space compared with even the
substant ia l benefits expected
from the U.S. space shuttle ," says
Aviation Week
&
Space Tech–
nology,
June 16, 1980. In plainer
words, even with its new shuttle,
the United States may remain
behind in the race to exploit
space.
Still, whether the program is
American or Soviet. the thrust is
similar: it is time to exploit
space.
Othe r nations too are getting
into the act. The French have
scheduled two test flights this
year for their Ariane rocket
booster, designed to launch satel–
lites for the European Space
Agency. Two French astronauts
are being trained in the Soviet
Union and are expected to join
Soviet cosmonauts in a future
ftight.
T he European Space Agency,
West Germany in particular, has
been working with thc U.S. shut–
tle program. India, China and
J apan have been developing
booster rockets of their own. And
a lmost any nation, corporation,
industry, group or even individual
can, on a standby basis, send an
experiment or invention into
space aboard NASA 's shuttle for
as little as $3,000.
High Hopes
More etfective worldwide com–
munications a r e one of t he
looked-for benefits of the new
push into space. Satellites capable
of carrying hundreds of thou–
sands of telephone calls at once,
plus worldwide TV programming,
will be a reality. Other satellites
4
will continue to monitor weather
patterns and natural resources,
studying the health of crops, pre–
dicting watershed problems. lo–
cati ng oil and minerals and fulfill–
ing numerous other such func–
tions.
The zero-.grav ity vacuum of
space is expected to make possi–
ble the manufacture of ceramic,
optical, electronic and metallurgi–
cal products of much higher qual–
i t y and purity than ca n be
achieved on earth. The Soviets
have already conducted experi–
ments along this line. They have
used onboard furnaces in their
~~
M an can do
it.
There is
no doubt about
it. ·
He can move
into space. But
is he ready
for it? He hasn't
learned to
live peaceably on
earth yet.
' '
Sa lyut space stations . l t is
thought that improved vaccines,
hormones and other biological
products will also be possible
thanks to space factory technolo–
gy.
Orbiting space stations will
grow in size, providing an envi–
ronment where work can be car–
r ied on without the necessity of
wearing space suits. Astronomical
observatories will be built that
will not be hindered by having to
peer through the haze of the
earth 's atmosphere. Space plat–
forms will serve as launching and
docking faci li ties for trips deeper
into space. Of immediate interest
is mineral exploi tation of the
moon and M ars. Veh icles
launched from space platforms
will have the advantage of not
needing to be streamlined, since
ai r resistance will not be a factor.
Nor will they need the tremen–
dous booster power that is needed
in earth-based lift-otfs.
Following closely on the heels
of space industrialization will be
space colonization, according to
scientific seers. Our planet is
overcrowded, its resources rapidly
being depleted. Jt is only natural
to pickup and move on toa new,
even if host ile, frontier just as
man has done down through his–
tory. These seers describe im–
mense space colonies with tens of
thousands of inhabitants.
One scientist went so far as to
state that colonies could be con–
structed with severa! thousand
times the land area of earth. They
would have artificial gravity and
be totally self-sustaini ng. even to
have parks, streams and recrea–
tional areas. Food woul d be
grown, wastes recycled and the
pattern of life would be very sim–
ilar to what it is on earth. And
you can be sure- though the
glowing descriptions of what the
move into space will be like do
not mentían it- there will be a
crime problem similar to what we
have on earth. And there will be
crooked politics, strife about
minorities, broken marriages, un–
happy lives and- since humans
will be humans- wars in space!
Preparing for the Ultimate War?
The shuttle, as one news maga–
zine proclaimed , "also hails the
militarization of space. "
lt is no secret that both the
United States and the Soviet
Union are adapting space technol–
ogy to warfare--ofte n referred to
as "defense."
Spy satellites already can read
an automobile license plate num–
ber from orbit and spy capabi li–
ties will continue to become more
sophisticated yet. Other satellites
serve for military communica–
tions. Plans exist for interceptor–
destroyer satellites that can hunt
down a nd destroy other satel–
lites.
(Continued on page 39)
The
PLAIN TRUTH