HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1970-02-05, Page 12GO ERtQ,t rN' # � ' A � ' [ I ATt; FEB 4 'y §r,.1$7O
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Three journalists have written
instant history into a, book
entitled; ">Journey° to
Tranquility>'*, which was
published even. before Apollo 12
returned -to earth. It consists'in as
meticulous enquiry • .into' a the
Am rican Space Program - and it
seeks , to answer the question-:
"Whet Shall it profit a country if
it reach the Moon. first?" This la '
'no. pop -science, but the result of
;an in-depth. . roves igation which
took its authors' o every, major
;Space •' installation, to every
industrial plant where lunar craft
wer4developed and built, at
which places conversation was
had with rnany of the leading
personnel • employed in the
Program.
THE SPACE PROGRAM
American Space enthusiasm
really began when, in 1945, they
won Von Braun, the technical
director of the Peenemunde V2
Establishment, from the
competing maws of the Russians. '
and the British. From then on,
. .Von • Braun became the means to
• the End.
• In 1948 he published "The
Mars Project" and continued to
display in . publ-ic and private his
utter commitment to the Space
Program. •
.•,„ . NASA was instituted by
President Eisenhower after the
Russian Sputnik of 1957; and
from • then on NASA controlled
the Program. „ However,
• Eisenhower was not carried
1 • away ' by the near hysteria
following the. Russian, success,
and he rejected • the idea of
orbi ing military space stations;
ary • installations ,, ion the
Moon and in fact, the whole,
Apollo,concept of landing a man
rdn the Moon.
He was succeeded ' by
'President Kennedy, who won
the White ,House partially on the
pretext of thea U.S.A.:falling'
behind the_ Russians lir:ballistic
nuclear missiles. Gagarin's space
ride only served tcz emphasize;
America's loss--• of .prestige and
'power, so that on May 25, 191;1,
Kennedy • was enabled, • to '
recommend to a willing Congress
"ari American on the 'Moon
before the end of the 1960's."
The book" gives . a brilliant
description `.of how Apollo came,
to succeed with six months to
- -- -spare--.of-::the-..debates-.for;_ i). a _
direct_ flight to the Moon, or (2).
• an earth-orbitingA station from
which 'a second rocket would be
launched . to the Moon, or (3) a
lunar -orbiting vehile from
'which a' lunar landing module
would be detached and rejoin
-the command vehicle' This latter
was the finally agreed method,
so successfully enacted ' by
Apollo 11, with Armstrong and
Aldrin, the lunar visitors and
Collins, in lonely command d of
the mother ship. °
• Clearly '-the authors of this
thrilling account were snot
obstructed in their eolleetion of
.facts, for we have a record of
electronic and engineering
miracles; . of disasters; of
Chicanery; of `pork -barrel'
assaults, but above all; of a
relentless pursuit of reliabillty,
which was surely achieved on a
scale never before attained. And
thus It is, that Having surveyed all
the material and physical aspects
of the Program, the authors
decide that this wad but an
engineering. triumph of the ;Cold
War and not a scientific venture
at all.
''THE .UP?HORIA
' This opinion, anti climactic as,
it, will. seem to many,, not
excluding the Pentagon, NASA
and: the White House, is followed
by • a fascinating lesson in
"values." , Dead Rusk said of the
project in 1962: "When you are
talking about questions like
Berlin or disarmament, or these
great issues that affect war and
peace and the security of
nations, I don't think
demonstrations of this sort enter
into the relationship very much.
The underlying' issues are too
fundamental and far reaching."
This book seeks to answer the'
type of question which has been,
and still is, constantly asked.
Why try to be the first to climb
Everest2. Was Britain', or
Australia, or Nepal ,more highly
considered by world opinion as a
result of their conquest? Why
capture the Moon? Is there any ,
resultantlitary advantage? Do
- wq'lose our very `way of life'
we don't get there first? Yet
there were' many who became
vehement that "Old Glory" and
none other•must be planted on
,the Moon. Kennedy himself
believed space triumphs prayed a
decisive part in persuading
nations that' "they could meet
their economic problems
without engaging in a Niarist
form of government."'
But any citizen of the world
.knows that national power,
prestige,' -'influence, .. morale,
fame, chivalry, honor, affection,
nobility, admiration or integrity;
""'°list them as you will, none is
established ' by .a single "first",
however 'unusual" or demanding
it niay be, and events of the last
decade have rendered obsolete
any idea to the contrary:
Vietnam, assassination and
vilence have all produced an
image , which has obliterated the
desired benignity 'of the moon
landing.
In essence the lesson runs
mu*rh de6per:
hard -to -learn truth that money
wiU not buy 'any of the spiritual
. virtues, " in even the smallest
degree. What' is. necessary -to
establish 'effect" is constancy
of effort, not a `flash in the pan.'
Consider therecoxd, The British
did not earn, the respect (in
many cases the affection) of
numberless Pakistanis and
Indians by being the first to
climb Everest. It took 90 years.
o f consistent and jut
government.
To a lesser degree the result of
the Moon shot carries a lesson
for the. present tribulation which
the, Ontario Provincial
Government has wished upon us.
The belief that • sumptuous
school ,and university b 'ldings
• (until they now have mor space
than students) produce
"Education." The Federal
government, for its .part, appears
to hope to ensure the defend of
;canada by seven Staff Colleges
and Schools, all located (no
doubt) at • strategic spots, plus a
huge Defense Building in
.Ottawa. BoWi,long_ will •--it take
the .New .World . LQ barn 'that
icon' than a 'single act is needed
to 'deserve `prestige;' W e are,
dealing with lifetimes not in,,
incidents.' As Hans Morgenthau
• writes: "A nation expects too
much , if, insecure in the
awareness of its power, it invests
a particular move with a measure
of prestige out of all proportion
to its actual importance."
WHAT HAPPENED TO LOGIC?
The proposal, as put to the
American people, was not: Is the
aspiration to reach, the- Moon.
widespread among you? Instead
itawas onscured by the statement
it would be useful y- indeed it
Was essential for the security of
the nation, that it be made: Now
the achievement is a thing of the
pasty only mysticism remains.
•• , Dr. Philip Abelson says:
"Nowhere in the Program for
manned "exploration of moon
and planets is any hint of major
development of a puzzling body
of facts, or even speculations
that could fall into place as a
' major new enlightenment."
It is readily admitted that the
;,-.Space Program —touched' touched the
American economy as well as
the disciplines of electronics,
m e tall u rgy, data-processing,.
quality -control procedures,
° instrumentation, miniaturization
and medicine. All these were in
great demand by Apollo. But
like , the retrieval of the Moon
rocks, they were all secondary to
the landing oT an American man
and none of them explain why
they should have been
undertaken • in lieu of an
earth -bound project, with
by-products more beneficial to
mankind.
Naturally the enthusiasts . are
not sileneed by such pragmatic
arguments. Harold Urey, the
nuclear scientist; likens the
Apollo landing to the building of
•
•
HEATHER
BEAUTY . SALON
108 LIGHTHOUSE ST.
•
�•�-
AS SEEN. IN
VOGUE
n
MANY, MANY
COLOURS TO
CHOOSE FROM
the Parthenon. But how
enduring will the cathedral? of
`the Moon be? The Parthenon
stili, stands, Will the 'noon,
landing leave a similar mark?,
Hugh Dryden, once assistant
director of NASA, compares the.
feat, of._ landing 0 with the
Copernican theory, or wi<ttx'Iaaae
Newton's ,relation. of .;the apple
fall to the Motion, of' the Moon
around the Earth, orevekto the.
Industrial "Revolution. :Was it
really SQ monumental? How
does it stack up against the long '
and onerous splitting of the
atom thus forcing the door
which barred a whole - news
discipline *of nuclear hnowl,dge?
M .the time of Hiroshima, men
likened the bomb to some new
dimension,,such as would have
accrued ,had the, machine guri
been introduced at the Battle of
Crecy. What is the., true criterion
of the Moon' Shot? Was it
creative of' some new discipline„
some "new body of puzzling
facts" which would enlighten
our sphere of knowledge? It
could not be called pure
research, when it was manifestly
nothing more than the applied
variety.
The final word of the authors
is that the scientific residue of
Apollo will -be found in
problems which no one has even
asked as yet. So was this
American Dream just a
gratification of primitive desires,
or an insane distraction from
their:r-eal--responsibilities- inthe
World?
*Journey to-- Tranquility, by
Hugo .Young; Bryan Silcock and
Peter Dunn. Cape. 42/- •
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