Off into Space

As spacemen of the world met in Amsterdam last week for the ninth Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, they were the most sought-after scientists on earth. They obliged by plotting dozens of ways to leave it. Items:

P: Russian lunar probe has less priority than other undisclosed projects, said the U.S.S.R.'s top space spokesman, Leonid Sedov. He said no more. Other astronauts concluded from what he said that he meant Russia will try to orbit a man in a Sputnik by spring. An American will achieve the same stunt within five years, said the U.S. Army's Wernher von Braun, "and most likely sooner."

P: Cosmic radiation will not halt manned space flight, said Spaceman von Braun. The belt of radiation newly discovered by the Explorer satellites was unexpected, but most of it seems of low energy, and protection should be possible. Agreeing, Dr. Herbert York, chief scientist of the U.S. Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, said the belt is probably only several earth-diameters wide at most, not enough for a fatal radiation dose during a flight of several hours through it.

P: Heavy shielding may also be unnecessary, suggested Physicist S. Fred Singer of the University of Maryland. He believes the belt starts at 250 miles beyond earth, stops at 40,000 miles, is most intense above the equator and weakest above the poles. He theorizes that it consists of protons, trapped by the earth's magnetic field, which spiral around lines of magnetic force at right angles. Thus a manned vehicle (launched near the poles) might carry a lightweight shielding ring to avoid proton concentrations, or use magnetic screening to repel them. Also possible: a satellite designed to "sweep out" a channel by absorbing protons, allowing a manned vehicle to follow safely.

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