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United States space program now criticized by majority • by Act Kleiner •nd Patrick Marshall Today’s space program is no longer driven so much by the egocentric impulse to put man in space as it is by the desire the explore the science pf space. And that exploration, according to many experts, has resulted in' an incalculable wealth of new scientific knowledge that is beginning to throw light not only on the dark universe, but perhaps more importantly, on the earth and mankind itself. In effect, scientists are now looking far off into space in order to get a better look at ourselves. microorganisms over the last three billion years have regulated the temperature and chemical content of the earth’$ atmosphere, making it possible for more complex life to evolve, on our planet. We might not have noticed this for some time had we not been able to contrast Earth with other planets like Mars,” which lacked any signs of microorganisms. Awareness of the important role played by microorganisms has caused many scientists to express concern about the impact increased pollution may have on their regulatory effects monitoring transmissions from spectroscopes on space probes in an attempt to detect concentrations of these chemicals. “It’s a back and forth process,” says Billingham. “What we find out there teaches us more about Earth, and what we learn about Earth helps . us in further space research.” extremes of space flight, medical research teams have | had to learn a great deal about I everything from heart functions ■'% to sleep patterns. And, not only J has space medicine given us. | valuable knowledge about the f body, its technology has y benefitted us in immediate and z important ways. “From sensors that measure I brain pressure to improved * pacemakers, from 5 instantaneous blood analyzers to electronic muscle stimulators, space research has provided a gold mine of important technology,” says National Space Institute official Stadd. For every dollar NASA spends, Stadd points out, there is a return of 6 to 7 dollars in utilizable technology. “That’s a better return rate than any other agency in the government has,” he says. (PNS)—Ten years after Neil Armstrong left mankind’s first footprint in outer space, the American love affair with space research has reached a point of middle-age apathy. A recent survey cited by NASA shows that the American people believe the space program costs more than the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and produces less. Furthermore, as Bellingham points out, space research is not only teaching us about our environment, but also about ourselves as a life form. One example of this is a current The first assumption is clearly wrong. The space program’s fiscal 1979 budget outlay of “The fruits of our efforts in In effect. scientists are now looking far off into space in order to get a better look at ourselves. For many, however, the most important rewards of our ventures into space are not so tangible. According to former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, we are now in the midst of a second Copernican revolution, and the changes being brought on by it may be far more significant than those of the first. “To physically go out into space,” muses Mitchell, “to look back at Earth and see it as an insignificant little toy can really change one’s perspective. By journeying out and looking back we see both Earth and ourselves in a different light.” To an extent, says Mitchell, who now heads the Institute of Noetic Sciences in San Francisco, the space program has made philosophers of us all. “It used to be that only philosophers and scientists could rise above it all and see our world in its larger context. Now, through photos and television coverage of our space flights and probes, we’ve all had to deal with a shift in our conceptions.” According to Mitchell, his own experience of being the sixth man to walk on the moon had a profound effect on his view of the world and of our role in the universe. “When I looked back and saw the Earth 1 realized just how blinded—how earth-centered—we are. 1 realized that if we are to survive the challenges facing us now and in the future, we are going to have to make some changes \ in the way we see ourselves.” some $4.4 billion is dwarfed by HEW’s $180 billion. “The entire space program costs each American roughly the same as a six-pack of beer,” says a NASA spokesman. space have been enormous,” says Courtney Stadd, Policy Director of the National Space Institute. “The knowledge we’ve gained has affected everything, from our theories about the origins of life on earth to the new foam padding that protects high school football players. It seems that the further we get from earth, the more we find out about ourselves.” Boston University microbiologist Dr. Lynn Margulis agrees that space research has worked some profound changes, especially within her own field. “Before we could compare our own planet to others,” she explained, “we weren’t really able to appreciate the importance of the role microorganisms play in our environment. What we’ve learned has forced major changes in our views.” and, consequently the planets’s ecological stability. This October, a group of interdisciplinary scientists met to discuss such implications at a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sponsored workshop. “Overlooking the effects of microorganisms on the Earth . will one day seem as ignorant as trying to treat a disease without knowing about bacteria or viruses,” predicted Margulis. Ames project examining the effects of weightlessness on the human body. Originally initiated to help prepare astronauts for space flights, the program is now generating new theories of the effects of gravity on the design of our bodies. “Astronauts, when weightless, temporarily grow two or three inches in height because their spine straightens.” says project director Dr, Harold Sandler. “When we experiment with animals in low gravity over several generations, they get different muscles and their bones become thick in different places.” • As for the second assumption, what is significant is that the public believes that the amount of useful knowledge derived from space research is simply not worth the billions it costs. This popular notion is also shared by many in Congress, where NASA goes begging each year. The annual NASA budget is still some 20 percent less, in absolute terms, than it was 15 years ago, when its $5.2 billion budget was worth the equivalent of about $12 billion to $13 billion today. Yet despite* the actual decrease in NASA’s purchasing power, space scientists believe they are producing more basic and practical scientific knowledge today than a decade ago when they had more dollars that bought twice as much. In another research effort, at NASA’s Ames Research Laboratory near San Francisco, other scientists are attempting to turn this increased understanding of microorganisms back out to space. According to Ames Program Director John Billingham, our increasing knowledge about these basic forms of life may help us to predict where we might find life elsewhere. According to Dr. Sandler, these observations, and many others, tafve added greatly to our undAcstanding of why the human slceleton is organized the way il is, and the ways in which our bodies may change should we eventually live under other conditions. Ecosystem in danger Thanks to the 1975 Viking probe of Mars, Margulis says, scientists have a new appreciation for the role that microscopic life plays in the universe. Astronauts add inches “While no living microorganisms have been found in space,” says Billingham, “the basic chemicals needed to create them are there. There’s no reason to assume that what happened on earth didn’t happen in other solar systems as well.” Accordingly, scientists at Ames are continually In addition to studies of gravity, manned space flights have given birth to a hbst of new scientific fields. Among these is the field of space medicine. The emphasis is science In those days, scientists explain, the main impulse of the space program was to put a man on the moon. In terms of the actual scientific knowledge about the universe which derived from that feat, the costs were great. “We have now come to realize that microorganisms are a crucial part of this system,” says Margulis. “The chemical gases taken in and released by A wealth of spinoffs Because of the stresses placed on the human body by the u/b a®; SPORTLITE t^gE? SATURDAY. Dec. 1st in the Goodyear Cafeteria WINTER SPORTS HOME OPENERS ITS IRC S 18th BIRTHDAY PARTY! Tonight Wrestling - Bulls vs. St John Fisher, I Free Beer to all IRC Fee-payers Clark Hall, 8:00 pm Saturday Qmrterhorse Basketball - Royals vs. Oswego State, Clark Hall, 2:00 pm Bulls Vs. Oneonta State, Clark Hall, 8:00 pm JVs vs. D'Youville, 6:00 pm Admission: $1.00 Jeepayers $2.00 Won-fee-payers Compliments of\ U/B ATHLETIC department
