Earthbound

There is an interesting parallel between American and Soviet reactions to the launching of the artificial satellite. Nikita Krushchev "congratulated the engineers and technicians and calmly went to bed;" President Eisenhower let the world know "I am not disturbed, not one iota." There were others, however, in the United States who were disturbed, and many who did not go to bed calmly after hearing the news.

Despite the President's attempt to throw a damp blanket over discussion of the Soviet feat, scientists, defense experts, and legislators have not hidden their concern. To them, the man-made moon is a signal for reappraisal of American defense structure and scientific ability.

Theoreically, it is of little importance that the U.S. failed to be first into space. As long as we have the potential, the actual event is relatively minor. From a propaganda viewpoint, though America has been vastly outdistanced and stands a good chance of losing the confidence of some neutral countries. From another side, however, the satellite may serve to awaken America from its complacency and bring a sense of urgency to our military and scientific efforts.

The smugness which has enveloped scientific development in this country can no longer be tolerated. In the conquest of space, we ran a losing race, and did not even lose it well. In all probability our defeat is less the fault of the runners than of their trainers and of the crowd.

American science has been hampered by at least three forces. The public and the government hold to the traditional American belief that scientific research should be devoted to consumer goods, save for emergencies like all-out war. The scientific community has also suffered from the general distrust of Americans for eggheads. The Russian attitude is markedly different.

The third, and most important hurdle to be overcome has been the minor position to which the government has, in the past, consigned non-military research. The National Science Foundation, for instance, was asked to administer satellite development on a budget of 20 million dollars. Moreover, it was forced to pay the expenses of rocket tests at military proving grounds.

Another aspect of the government's lack of cooperation with IGY research provides a fundamental clue to the lag in our missile, as well as our satellite program. The lack of unified work on rocketry was symptomatic of the continued, childish inter-service rivalries. At present, the Defense Department is pushing two intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Navy's and the Air Force's, and two intermediate range missiles, the Army's and the Navy's. Without any exchange of technical information between the feuding branches of the military and without combined financial aid or research efforts, it is little wonder that the missile and satellite programs are as far behind as they are.

It is too late now to beat the Russians to the first punch. It may not be too late to recover our advantage, or at least catch up. A program of increased, but not panicky or wasteful defense spending is obviously called for. More important, however, is the need for strong leadership in the Pentagon to end the miniature war being waged in its corridors at the expense of national security.

It may not be necessary to institute a push of the dimensions of the Manhattan Project, but some sort of combined administration for the missile-rocket development is needed. We may not look seriously on petty inter-service squabbles, but when they affect our attempts to conquer space, they must be controlled.

A supplementary defense appropriation approved either at a special session of Congress or early in its next session is mandatory. An overall coordination of scientific and military effort in rocket research is imperative. And, necessary for the attainment of the other objectives, a general realization of the state of American science and a discarding of former smug self-satisfaction are musts. With these revisions in our outlook and actions, the United States stands to gain perhaps more than it lost after the Sputnik launching.