Good afternoon. We're going to be talking today about frontiers of imagination in space exploration

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Abraham Harold Carpenter
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1 Good afternoon. We're going to be talking today about frontiers of imagination in space exploration First, though, I want to introduce myself. My name is Loretta Hall, and I'm a space buff. I've been a 1

magazine. By April, it even added Space and Aviation as a section in its table of contents.

2 In May of 1961, President Kennedy told Congress we should go to the Moon before that decade was out. Picking up on that theme, in 1962, Popular Science magazine ran space stories in nearly every issue of the magazine. By April, it even added Space and Aviation as a section in its table of contents. I thought it would be interesting to compare the 1962 visions of future space technology with what has happened or not by now. 2

The description of Republic Aviation s Moon suit said, It is equipped with retractable tripod legs that will hold it up off the

3 One challenge was developing a suit for astronauts to wear while exploring the Moon. The February 1962 article s title page showed such a suit, which had been previewed in the magazine a year earlier. The description of Republic Aviation s Moon suit said, It is equipped with retractable tripod legs that will hold it up off the ground and a built-in seat that he can curl up on while easing his tired feet. Because of the hard torso, the astronaut would have to climb into the suit rather than putting in on. 3

The Z-2 features a hard upper torso for durability, a bubble helmet for a wide field of view, and

4 It s interesting to compare that with a new version of a planetary surface suit that NASA is currently testing. The Z-2 features a hard upper torso for durability, a bubble helmet for a wide field of view, and better arm and leg joint mobility. Because of the hard torso, the astronaut climbs into the suit, which is mounted to the outside of the habitat or exploration vehicle to keep toxic or abrasive dust out. 4

[Upper Left] A walker with four legs moved one leg at a time, shifting its center of gravity before lifting a front leg or a back leg. The leg moved up, then forward, and then down.

5 A March article looked at Weird Robots to Explore the Moon. They reported that engineers with at least 10 leading space firms were working on prototypes of robotic rovers to explore the Moon before men would be sent. [Upper Left] A walker with four legs moved one leg at a time, shifting its center of gravity before lifting a front leg or a back leg. The leg moved up, then forward, and then down. It moved slowly, but the description notes that wouldn t be a drawback because of the time needed for remote control. [Lower Left] This flat-footed plodder alternately advanced its wide center foot, then its two narrower side feet. [Upper Right] A centipede-style robot had 16 oar-like legs that moved in pairs that rotated in sequence. [Center] This rover used pairs of screws on each side that operated in opposite directions so that even if buried by a slide, it could burrow its way out. [Lower Right] A one-ton globular chariot pulled itself along with jointed hooks on two leading arms; two larger wheels supported its weight, and a smaller roller in the rear balanced it. The claws could also pick up samples for examination in an onboard lab or place them in a small rocket to be sent back to Earth. Its wheels were hollow and made of spun wire. 5

The article noted that steering any of the proposed rovers would be the eeriest kind of back-seat driving.

6 The lunar rover that was actually used on the Moon during the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions had similar hollow wheels made of spun wire. The article noted that steering any of the proposed rovers would be the eeriest kind of back-seat driving. Besides the transmission time for sending and receiving data between the Earth and the Moon, the low-power cameras would scan slowly more of a film strip than a moving image. 6

The second one, in 1973, operated only four months but traveled 24 miles; it apparently failed when its open lid touched a crater wall and became covered with dust.

7 As it turned out, the only robotic rovers sent to the Moon were Soviet Lunokhods. The first one, sent in 1970, operated for nearly a year, traveling 6.55 miles and returning television and high-definition panoramic photographs and analyzing 25 lunar soil samples. The second one, in 1973, operated only four months but traveled 24 miles; it apparently failed when its open lid touched a crater wall and became covered with dust. When the lid was closed, this dust, which was a very good insulator, was dumped onto the radiators, and prevented the vehicle from cooling itself. The Soviet operators of the Lunokhod vehicles experienced exactly the kinds of steering problems Popular Science predicted. One of them said, It was a strange steering method because an image appearing each time on the video monitor didn t resemble the previous one. When the new image appeared, he would take 3 5 seconds to decide what instruction to send. The next image appeared 20 seconds later. He said, When we were looking ahead, and thinking of the obstacles that we did see, we also had to remember what was just behind! 7

At 30 feet in diameter, it was a scaled-down version of a proposed 150-foot-diameter operational version.

8 The 1962 Popular Science space articles didn t focus only on Moon missions. The December issue took a look Inside Our First Space Station. The article described a full-scale research model of an inflatable, rubber space station built by Goodyear Aircraft Corporation. At 30 feet in diameter, it was a scaled-down version of a proposed 150-foot-diameter operational version. The prototype was hanging vertically, so the photos were tilted to show how they would appear in orbit. The proposed space station would be kept spinning at 4 rpm to produce artificial gravity so the occupants could walk along its interior circumference. The station would be equipped with inflatable furniture to save weight and space during launch. The article noted that So far, the doughnut is windowless. Radio and radar will keep the crew in close touch with earth and approaching space vehicles. It speculated that the view of stars whirling past a window of the spinning cabin might be more dizzying than helpful. It also noted that as crewmen walk about within the station, their shifting weight will make it roll like a ship. But this wobbling could be kept gentle and brief by its attitude-control jets. 8

[Upper Left: Salyut 1, 1971; Lower Left: Skylab, 1973; Upper & Lower Right: ISS, 2000--] None of them used the hollow

9 Since 1966, a dozen or so space stations have been launched into Earth orbit, and most of them were occupied for some length of time. [Upper Left: Salyut 1, 1971; Lower Left: Skylab, 1973; Upper & Lower Right: ISS, ] None of them used the hollow wheel design envisioned by Wernher von Braun and Popular Science. None of them attempted to produce artificial gravity. The interiors contained a lot more equipment than the Goodyear model showed, but there was no inflatable furniture. 9

The walls are made of multiple layers of Kevlar-like material and flexible foam.

10 Only 3 prototypes by Bigelow Aerospace have been of an inflatable design, and those were not made of rubber. A Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) has been attached to the ISS for two years now. The walls are made of multiple layers of Kevlar-like material and flexible foam. The walls offer radiation protection and ballistic protection are comparable to that of the ISS. Two earlier versions of Bigelow expandable space habitats have been in Earth orbit for a dozen years without loss of pressure. 10

11 After this brief glimpse at vintage predictions of space missions and their accuracy, I d like to remind you to take a copy of the National Space Society handouts before you leave. Now, if you have any questions, I ll be happy to answer them. 11

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