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specials" where $3,000 wi ll buy five
cubic feet of cargo space for any
payload up to 200 pounds so long as
it does not require special handling
by the crew.
The Hlgh Frontier
Wha t will the space shutlle program
actually accomplish? Proponents
emphasize thaJ the shuttles will be
able to conduct many scientific ex–
periments in space, as we ll as
launch, retrieve, and repair a wide
variety of satell ites designed to carry
worldwide communica tions, survey
na tura l resources, and monitor mili–
ta ry activities.
Exo-industrialization , the es tab–
lishment of minifactories in space, is
a lso touted as a major objective. In
the zero-gravity vacuum of space, it
is possible to manufacture ceramic,
optical, electronic, and metallurgical
products of rnuch higher quality
and purity than can be obtained on
earth. Vaccines, pro teins. enzymes,
hormones and other biological
products could also be substantia lly
irnproved using zero-gravity pro–
ccssing.
Perhaps even more intriguing is
the potential for building orbita l
power sta tions. The shuttle flights
could provide the materials for con–
structing giant antennae that would
collect solar energy. transform it
into microwaves. and beam them to
earth. The rnicrowaves would then
be converted to electricity to help
alleviate the critica! ene rgy sho rt–
agcs the world now faces.
The shutt lecraft could a lso pro–
vide a welcome boos t to national
security. lt 's no secre t that the So–
viet Union is making a strong bid to
jurnp ahead ofthe U.S. in the domi–
nation of space. The Soviets are
known to be developing and testing
"killer" satellites designed to de-
SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE
sep–
arates from a 747 in initial test.
stroy American recon naissa nce and
communication sa tellites in space. If
th e Ru ssians achieve a break–
through in this area- and a number
of "killer" tes ts have a lready been
successful- the U.S. could be at a
grave di sadvantage in future inter–
national crises. Since the U.S. in–
creasingly relies on space veh icles
for communication and for in–
telligence on Soviet military activi–
ties,
it
is imperative that the U.S.
develop a means of protecting its
satellites. The space shuttle may be
useful not only in deploying vi ta lly
importan! sa tel lites, but a lso in
monitoring Soviet space activity
and, if necessary, initiating counter–
measures to any Soviet threat to
American sa tellites.
The Ultimate Suburb
Yet the ultima te hope for many a
space butf is that Amcrica's sh uttle
program will be the foundation fo r
rnan 's even tu al colonization o f
space. According to Dr. Gerald K.
O ' Neill. professor of physics at
Princeton University, space coloni–
zation is a very real and feasib le
possibility. O'Nei ll envisions g iant
doughnut-s haped s pace colon ies
"docked" a t thosc points in space
where the gravi tational and cen–
trifuga! forces of the earth and
moon balance each o ther. The colo–
nies. slowly rotating
10
provide an
artificial "gravity." would be almost
totally self-susta ining, with their
own industries. agri culture, and re–
cycling systerns. They would also
have their own streams, parks, and
recreationa l facilities. Such a colony
"is well within the lirnits of present–
day conven tional materials. and of
prese nt technol ogy," s tre sses
O'NeiU. " If we were
LO
start now
with determina tion and d rive. in my
opinion the first spacc commun ity
could be in place, with its produc–
tive capacity benefiting the earth,
before 1990."
The cost of such a space commu–
nity? About 100 billion dollars, or
approximately four times the cost of
the Apo llo moon prograrn.
Growing and prospering colon ies
would. of course, need a source of
raw materials for their factories, but
such resources would presumably be
available from the moon o r perhaps
from asteroids. Planetary scientist
T.A. Heppenheimer foresees lun ar
mining and manufacturing. in–
cluding the large-scale production
of power sa tellites to sell power to
the energy-poor inhabitants lefl on
earth. Heppenheime r believes tha t
with foss il fu els rapidly bei ng de–
ple ted and nuclear power too dan–
gerous, the ma rket for "power from
space" will be eno rmous and wi ll
eventua lly pay for the initial invest–
ment in the colonies.
A Frivolous Fantasy?
No t everyone, however. is enamored
with the shuttle program and o ther
U.S. space activities. Senator Wil –
liam Proxmire, a longtime critic of
the nation 's space prograrn , con–
tends projects like space colonies are
a g igantic waste of rnoney a nd tal–
ent. "Not a penny for this nuuy fan–
tasy," quips Proxmire. " [Space
colonies] are the best argumcnt yet
fo r chopping NASA's budget to th c
bo ne.''
lndeed, evcn NASA's new admin–
istrator. Robcrt A. Frosch. believes
th ere must be a shift away from
what he calls "space spectacula rs."
Presiden! Ca rte r and his stalr, ac–
cordi ng to Frosch. a re a lso ques tion–
ing "wheth er we really need the
shuttle, whether it's really worth it.''
Thcrc are. in fact. a number of
worrisomc unknowns th a t may
plague futurc space pioneers. While
the s huttle itself wi ll be in space
only a few weeks before return ing
and should face no serious tech–
no logical hurd les, space colonics a re
q.uite a dilferent matte r. Cosmic
radiation, and especially energe ti c
iron nuclei , wi ll inexorably destroy
body tissues and irreplaceable neu–
rons unless massive shielding is
provided. How much s hieldin g?
Millions of tons will be needed to
protect the colony! The colonies will
a lso have no protective atmosphere
and could be catastrophica lly dam–
aged by meteoroids traveling in
space.
In addition, there rnay be unfo re–
seen and subtle etfects that cou ld
wreak havoc on self-contained colo–
nies in space. The rather restricted
diets of space inhabitants might
lead to unexpected deficiency dis–
eases. According to Michael Modell
of the Massachusetts Institute of
T echnology. "We must account for
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1978