FARANDULANOTICIAS

A Look at the Space Race a Decade Before Apollo 11


In the August 1959 issue, Popular Mechanics reported on a growing trend of exploration that would go on to define the 1960s—the Space Race. Only two years removed from the Soviet Union’s surprise launch of Sputnik, the United States—and the recently renamed NASA—were struggling to keep pace with the cosmonauts. A decade before man would finally land on the moon, the Space Race looked a lot different than what would eventually play out in the years to come.


The race is on. Someday soon we will hear an announcement that a spaceship, bearing men, is on its way to the moon.

How soon? Will the men be Americans? Or will they be Russians? But why should men—Russian or American—go to the moon? Is there a purpose to this expensive and dangerous project?

Men will go to the moon simply because the Age of Space has come. There is no turning our backs on progress, on science, on the universe. The competition with the Russians, of course, whips us onward. But the moon itself has little to do with military needs. We’re on our way—we hope—for prestige, because of the spirit of adventure, because the moon is «there» and we can get to it. Earthlings—Americans, Russians, and all other earthlings—have a rendezvous with the universe. The time has come. We are on our way.

Does it really matter who is first to the moon?



Some men, peering out into the majesty of space from this tiny planet, are tempted to look upon the universe as a further battleground for the tensions we suffer on earth. Others view the exploration of space as a challenging adventure, still others as an opportunity for tremendous strides in scientific research. Whatever their motives may be, let us listen to the protagonists in this race to the moon.

  • Here is A. Dorodnitsin, member of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences: “The creation of man’s first artificial planet demonstrates that Soviet rocket engineering is well on the way to conquering the cosmos.»
  • And here is A. Ilyushin, member of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences: «The attainment of success by the rocket whose 3,244-pound last stage is now in orbit around the sun, proves that Soviet science and technology have the necessary prerequisites for the next step ahead.»
  • And Professor V. Dobronravov, Doctor of Science in Physics and Mathematics: «Some of the routes for a flight to the moon have already been worked out…»

    Are these statements simply propaganda?

    Here is Wernher von Braun, the U. S. expert, testifying in January before a Senate committee:

    “It will take the United States five years to overtake Russia in the intercontinental ballistic missile field even if the United States would go all out…Russia’s Mechta (fired past the moon into orbit around the sun) proves again that the Soviets have more powerful rockets than the U.S., and that the guidance was very accurate…»

    In order to project developments into the near future—to judge the race to the moon—it is worthwhile to take a brief look at the past. Two great figures stand out in the history of rocketry: one Russian, the other American.

    Tsiolkovsky—Russia’s Pioneer

    moon travel

    Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, left, is the self-educated father of Russian space travel. American pioneer, Robert H. Goddard, right, predicted the multi-stage rocket that would make traveling to the moon possible.

    Popular Mechanics

    Russian spacemen revere Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

    Born in 1857, he was a self-educated schoolteacher who, 80 years ago, started to think seriously and scientifically about man into space. He was shy and deaf, yet he set himself the cosmic task of using the laws of gravitation and planetary motion of the great Isaac Newton as a springboard by which walking creatures of the planet Earth could soar into the heavens.

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    He succeeded. He demonstrated that the rocket was the only possible engine for space travel, and he obtained mathematically the speed which the exhaust gases would have to attain to shoot the rocket away from earth. He also concluded that the fuel should be liquid, and wrote this in 1898, when men had not even flown in airplanes. Thanks to Tsiolkovsky, Russia got in on the ground floor of rocketry and space travel. When the Battle of Stalingrad came, the Russians were ready with a blazing rocket barrage.

    The United States had its bold man, too. He also was a teacher, a professor of physics. However, he had a strike against him: He was born a quarter of a century after Tsiolkovsky. Nevertheless, Robert Hutchings Goddard took mighty strides in both theoretical and experimental rocketry.

    Goddard predicted by theory that a multistage rocket weighing a mere 20,000 pounds could land a small device on the moon. Newspapers ridiculed him for believing that a rocket could propel itself through a vacuum. Goddard, shy like Tsiolkovsky, drew within himself, but continued his work. In 1926 he made his first flight tests, but by 1929 he was badgered so much because of the noise of his rockets that he sought sanctuary in the deserts of New Mexico.

    There, under a blazing sun in 1935. Bob Goddard’s rocket climbed 7,500 feet into the sky. Across the United States, little groups of men began to gather with an out-of-this-world look in their eyes.

    They talked of a trip to the moon.

    Age of Sputniks

    Then, suddenly, came the Sputniks, the first in October, 1957. Russia: 184 pounds into orbit. Russia: 1,110 pounds, with the first live traveler. Russia: 2,925 pounds.

    The United States: three pounds. The United States: 31 pounds.

    This country went into a frenzy of activity to catch up, but Russia refused to stand still. In January she shot off her Mechta weighing 3,245 pounds (796 pounds payload, 2,445 pounds final stage). It soared away from the earth, past the moon and out, out, out around the sun. Two months later we followed with a 1312-pound payload and the burned-out last stage.

    Then up went Discoverer, a hefty 1,300 pounds—though not all payload. And had we not shot an entire ICBM into orbit, a complete Atlas with its sustainer engine? What did it weigh? Eight thousand, eight hundred pounds! Eighty-five feet long!

    “… But, Congratulations»

    The Russians smiled. «We don’t count empty shells,» said Dr. Leonid Sedov, Chairman of the Commission on Astronautics of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences. «We congratulate you, but we only count the payload-instruments and passengers. How much was your payload? Only 133 pounds. That is less than the payload of any of our three Sputniks. We didn’t count the shells. Shall we count, for example, the shell of Sputnik III’s third stage?»

    It would be embarrassing to us to count that third stage. According to my calculations, it must have been about 100 feet long and weighed about 11,000 pounds!

    Yet we are moving along. We no longer are flinging grapefruit into the heavens. The total thrust of the three-engine Atlas was 360,000 pounds. The Russians probably used a three-stage rocket to launch Mechta, and the first-stage thrust alone probably was about 700,000 pounds. Yet the gap seems to be closing. Prof. Hermann Oberth, the Tsiolkovsky or Goddard of Germany, recently said: «The Russian space program is probably no more than three or four months ahead of the United States.»

    But Krafft A. Ehricke, rocket expert for the Convair Division of General Dynamics Corporation, stated in January, «The present Russian lead is generally estimated to be about 18 to 20 months.”

    Meanwhile, countless Americans want to be the first man to venture into space or make a trip to the moon. Some 25,000 Americans have volunteered. Letters have poured into every government agency even remotely connected with space projects. «We have stopped counting,» says Maj. William Coleman of the Air Force. Many of the men are married and have large families. In a number of instances, wives have volunteered their husbands.

    But the first seven men already have been selected amid much fanfare, and the man-carrying space capsule to lift the first man into orbit is now under construction. The target year is 1961.

    Lob Into Space

    rocket

    American Atlas, shown during booster separation, may be the workhorse for carrying equipment into orbit.

    Popular Mechanics

    rocket

    Russian conception of rocket ferry has boosters that glide back to earth, a return ship mounted on nose. 

    Popular Mechanics

    In addition, the United States is preparing a kind of lob into space—a large airplane releasing a piloted smaller one, (the X-15) which will zoom 100 miles up then descend by skimming in and out of the atmosphere. This project and many others are considered necessary probings before the journey to the moon can be undertaken by American astronauts.

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    Will the Russians make such probings? Or will they boldly declare: «To the moon! Now!»

    They have talked about lobbing flights such as that of the X-15. Presumably, they too will orbit men and probably women. But there is strong evidence that even now they are getting ready for the moon itself.

    «We will land men on the moon and will also return them to earth.»

    Both the Russians and the Americans are feverishly conducting research to discover how well man can withstand the rigors of the trip to the moon. Not only did the Russians shoot their famous Laika around the world, but on August 27, 1958, (and this is not too well known) they lobbed two other dogs to a height of 279 miles. The dogs and the instruments were recovered successfully. Many other shots with animals have been made. Only now are we beginning to have some success in lobbing animals. But Russian animals have been the real pioneers of space.

    In view of this, I expect that we earthlings called Americans will hear within the next six months that Russia has hurled the first human passenger into space and returned him safely.

    rockets

    Russian conception of spaceship to the moon.

    Popular Mechanics

    Recently Prof. G. V. Petrovich of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences gave hints of still other projects. «The Soviet Union is pushing space research simultaneously in a number of directions: The creation of additional earth satellites, both manned and unmanned; intensive study of the moon; interplanetary flight, including the launching of additional satellites around the sun; manned stations in space tens of thousands of miles away from earth.» These stations would be used as intermediate points on spaceship journeys from the earth to other planets.

    Russia will also create artificial satellites around the moon, and will place «softly» upon the moon heavy containers with scientific instruments and television cameras.

    «Then,» goes on Professor Petrovich, «we will land men on the moon and will also return them to earth.» Manned moonships may be sent off in pairs by the Soviets, so that if one ship is damaged on landing, all the moon explorers may still return in the other ship. «In interplanetary flight, the Soviet Union already has rockets capable of flights to Mars and Venus,» the Professor states flatly.

    Frequently, public figures in this country are tempted to say that, though the Russians may have developed greater rocket power, their guidance system and scientific instruments in general are inferior. This conclusion, as von Braun pointed out, is not borne out by facts. Russia’s Mechta and our Pioneer IV were both aimed at the moon; Mechta missed by some 4,000 miles, Pioneer missed by 35,000 miles.

    Good Guidance Systems

    moon shot

    Author’s conception of the first trip to the moon.

    Popular Mechanics

    Furthermore, consider the perigees (minimum altitudes) of the three Sputniks. These were 140.7 miles, 139.5 miles, and 140 miles. These figures indicate that a good guidance system was operating.

    Accomplishments in space, of course, are related to general scientific advances on the ground below. We delude ourselves if we think the Russians are good only at popping something into the sky, and are bums in electronics, nuclear research, theoretical physics and chemistry. It just isn’t so.

    They have, for one thing, an atom smasher that is the wonder of the West—a device of 10 billion electron-volt power. They have an intense geophysical-research program; their chemistry is outstanding, led by Professor Semenov who recently received the Nobel Prize; their physics is sparkling, with three men recently receiving the Noel Prize for the Cerenkov Effect; their mathematics has always been exceptional; and Russian scientists pour out innumerable papers on pure research.

    «Impressive Sight»

    rocket

    Russian conception of space station has a long arm which would whirl to produce the sensation of gravity.

    Popular Mechanics

    rocket

    American conception consists of double wheel. Entire structure revolves to create gravity.

    Popular Mechanics

    Dr. J. W. Townsend, Jr., of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory saw a spare Sputnik III and its instruments at the IGY Conference in Moscow. This is what he had to say: «This was an impressive sight. From what I saw I came to the conclusion that this satellite was a major scientific accomplishment…»

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    Professor R. E. Marshak, chairman, Department of Physics, University of Rochester, who attended the Moscow Conference on High Energy Particles, says:

    «The U.S.S.R. is sparing no effort to provide the necessary financial support for scientific research. This effort consists of providing both financial and prestige incentives to qualified students in science and engineering and also of providing funds for a very large technical and educational plant. The stipend of a Soviet graduate student exceeds the salary of an unskilled worker, and the salary of a distinguished scientist in the Soviet Union is as much as 50 times the salary of an unskilled worker. Prestige incentives are equally as great…It seems to me that the financial and prestige incentives in this country (U.S.) are not such as to persuade the scientist or engineer to remain in the university where most of the basic research is done and where all the training of new scientists and engineers takes place…»

    What’ll We Find on the Moon?

    The Russians are on their way to the moon, and so are we. I have little doubt that we both will reach it. What will we find? Did Russian astronomer Kozyrev really sight a volcanic burst on the moon? Does the moon have a magnetic field? Is it made of the same materials as earth? Will the study of moondust give us clues to the biochemical origin of life? Can the moon be inhabited by earthlings? What is the nature of the thin lunar atmosphere?

    These, obviously, are scientific questions common to all men. Scientists, at least, are much more interested in answers to these questions than the question of who reaches the moon first.

    Shall we go directly from earth to the moon? This is possible, but not very practical. All evidence indicates that the United States will send not just a man to the moon, but an expedition to the moon. For an earth-to-moon expedition, of say, 25 men, we would need a spaceship many times larger than the Empire State Building. It would be much more efficient to use a fleet of rockets which go into orbit at perhaps 500 miles above the earth. There, men would construct a space station and one or more spaceships for the moon trip.

    Could Visit Moon Now

    space suit

    Russian photo shows pressure suit developed to protect men who will be sent beyond the atmosphere.

    Popular Mechanics

    space suit

    American spaceman may wear this type of suit, which was tested recently in Litton Industries high-vacuum lab where space conditions can be simulated.

    Popular Mechanics

    It is possible even now, of course, to send a man to the moon the hard way; a single man cramped into a tiny shell with just enough fuel to reach the moon, land and fire himself back toward the earth. At the present time his chances of surviving would be slim (which is why we will not make such an attempt).

    So the United States, at least, will not send a single man directly from earth. Our program is set, and does not include anything so wild and frantic. We will build an elegant space station to accommodate about 50 men, then set out in perhaps two personnel ships and a cargo ship.

    The front cover this month (merely symbolic) shows both Russian and American personnel ships. Some of the large fuel spheres would probably be discarded to lighten the load. The Russians have a basic, relatively unpretentious moonship. The American ship is more elegant, larger, and has a much bigger crew.

    This, perhaps, is the crux of the whole problem of the U.S. vis-a-vis Russia in space. We have a big, fat, luxurious, and comfortable plan, while the Russians simply will up and go.

    The stakes are large. The Russians think the stakes are nothing less than the cosmos. The Americans say, «Okay, the cosmos. But with safety, comfort, the dignity of man, showers in our space liners, big crew, togetherness, psychological adjustment, compatibility, friendship.»

    The Russians whip something durable together and shout «Davai! Give, lads!” And off they go.

    In fact, there is a good chance that the Russians will not wait to build a space station, but will set out from earth in a group of small one-man spaceships, each about 15 feet long and six feet wide. This would be the payload, of course, after the rocket left the atmosphere. It would be a tough trip, a mighty tough trip. But, as the Russians say, the stakes are the cosmos.

    The race to the moon is on. I am certain in my own mind that the first spaceship will land on the moon within five years. And the way things are going at present, the men who emerge to put the first footprints into the ancient lunar dust will not be Americans.

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