TECHNOLOGICAL BENEFITS
This category of the practical uses of the space program is impressive indeed.
Most of us are familiar with the plans which the United States has for using artificial satellites in ways which will be beneficial to all mankind. These include the satellite used for worldwide communications, for global television, for quick and accurate navigation, and for much improved weather prediction and weather understanding.
Here, however, is a summary of space-related developments about which the American public has heard considerably less:
First, there is the high-speed computer. Developed initially to meet military demands for faster calculation, the computer is an integral part of American industry, making it possible to do many operations with a high degree of efficiency and accuracy. Thermoelectric devices for heating and cooling, now adapted for commercial applications, were originally designed to provide energy sources for space vehicles. The glass industry, as a result of work done during and after the Second World War on lenses and plastics, promises substantial gains in the consumer fields of optics and foods. Pyroceram, developed for missile radomes, is now being used in the manufacture of pots and pans. Materials suitable for use in the nuclear preservation of food may make us even better fed than we already are.
Medical research, and our health problems, can use such things as film resistance thermometers. Electronic equipment capable of measuring low-level electrical signals is being adapted to measure body temperature and blood flow. In a dramatic breakthrough, illustrating the unexpected benefits of research, it has been found that a derivative of hydrazine, developed as a liquid missile propellant, is useful in treating certain mental illnesses and tuberculosis.
Of course, the aeronautics industry has benefited tremendously. Engines, automatic pilots, radar systems, flight equipment, capable of meeting the high standards required by space vehicles represent a great improvement over our already excellent aircraft.
A plasma arc torch (has been) developed for fabricating ultrahard materials and coatings by mass production methods. The torch, an outgrowth of plasma technology, develops heats of 30,000 degrees and can work within tolerances of two-thousandths of an inch. Another application from the missile field, which shows real possibilities, is a reliable flow meter that has no packings or bearings. This was first developed for measuring liquefied gases and should have a very wide industrial usefulness. It may even lead to improvements in marine devices for measuring distance and velocity.
Ground-to-air missiles that ride a beam to their targets must measure the distance to the target plane with an accuracy of a few feet in several miles. This principle, now being applied to surveying techniques, has revolutionized the surveying industry.
The solenoid valve, which seats itself softly enough to eliminate vibration, has been applied very satisfactorily to home-heating systems.
The use of the jet drilling for mining is another, and worthy of amplification. Missiles are already working the economically unminable taconite ore of the Mesabi Range, have helped build the St. Lawrence Seaway, and are bringing down costs in quarrying.
It is estimated that taconite will be supplying about a third of our ores in less than 20 years. Until 1947 we were unable to mine this very hard rock, and then suitable rotary and churn drills were produced. Jet drilling, now available, cracks and crumbles stone layers by thermally induced expansion and is somewhere between 3 and 5 times faster than rotaries.
Jet piercing can take us far deeper into the earth than we have been able to go so far, to new sources of ore and hydrocarbons.
In stone quarrying, jet spalling and channeling are proven techniques. Stone quarrying has been expensive and wasteful heretofore. Rocket flame equipment allows cutting along the natural cleavage planes, or crystal boundaries—hence cuts stone thin without danger of cracking and, in addition, produces a fine finish that cannot be obtained when cutting by steel or abrasive tools.
Scientific literature is beginning to contain speculations on using the principle of the missile engine to save unstable intermediate products of the chemical processes. The high heats achieved in the rocket engine can, perhaps, be utilized to produce desired products that would be lost by slow cooling. But the high rate of cooling accomplished by expanding gases through the engine nozzle, it is thought, would save these unstable compounds.
Infrared has come into its own through missile electronics. Infrared—since it cannot be jammed—appears to be challenging radar for use in guidance devices, tracking systems, and reconnaissance vehicles. Infrared is being used industrially to measure the compositions of fluids in complex processes of chemical petroleum refining and distilling. Infrared cameras are used in analyzing metallurgical material processing operations, to aid in accuracy and quality control. The entire infrared field should be significantly assisted in its growth and application through our missile-space programs.
Another very promising outcome from missile development is a computer converter that can quickly transform analogue signals—such as pressure measurements—into digital form.
In the near future, when guidance devices permit soft landing, rocket cargo and passenger transport will become feasible. Mail may become almost as swift as telephone.
We are making rapid progress in the economics of space travel: payload costs for Vanguard were about $1 billion a pound; for the near future launchings, payload cost should be about $1,000 per pound. When payload costs are about a hundred dollars a pound we may expect commercial space flight.[50]
Hundreds of other examples of the space program's value for everyday living could be cited.
One with wide possibilities is a new welding process by using a high-powered electron beam gun, developed for the fabrication of spaceships and other space vehicles. This method permits welding joints capable of withstanding temperatures up to 3,000° F.; it can be used on metals such as molybdenum and pure tungsten. And, its developers say, it results in welded joints that have deep penetration and narrow weld beads that are virtually free of contamination.[51]
Another ingenius application, resulting from the Navy's space research program, has significant utility for medicine and surgery. This is a glass fiber device which, when placed in the mouth during dental work or in the area of surgical incision, permits a much magnified televising of the operation. It holds considerable promise for teaching techniques in many fields.[52]
Another example is a finely woven stainless steel cloth designed for parachuting space vehicles back to Earth. The cloth is made of fine wire of great strength which can withstand tremendous temperatures and chemical contamination. The wire from which the cloth is woven is about one-fifth the thickness of a human hair and is believed to have marked potential for industry and consumers alike.
Here is an additional list of examples:[53]
Microminiature transmitters and receivers—used by police and doctors.
Target drone autopilot—used as an inexpensive pilot assist and safety device for private aircraft.
Inert thread sealing compound—- used by pump manufacturers serving process industries.
Satellite scan devices—used in infrared appliances, e.g., lamps, roasters, switches, ovens.
Automatic control components—used as proximity switches, plugs, valves, cylinders; other components already are an integral part of industrial conveyor systems.
Missile accelerometers, torquemeters, strain gage equipment—used in auto crash tests, motor testing, shipbuilding and bridge construction.
Space recording equipment automatically stopped and started by sound of voice—used widely as conference recorder.
Armalite radar—used as proximity warning device for aircraft.
Miniature electronics and bearings—used for portable radio and television; excessively small roller, needle and ball bearings used for such equipment as air-turbine dental drills.
Epoxy missile resin—used for plastic tooling, metal bonding, adhesive, and casting and laminating applications.
Silicones for motor insulation and subzero lubricants—used in new glassmaking techniques for myriad products.
Ribbon glass for capacitors—used widely in electronics field.
Radar bulbs—used in air traffic control equipment.
Ribbon cable for missiles—used in the communications industry.
Automatic gun cameras—used in banks, toll booths, etc.
Fluxless aluminum soldering—used for kitchen utensil repair, gutters, flashings, antennas, electrical joints, auto repairing, farm machinery, etc.
Lightweight hydraulic pumps—used in automated machinery and pneumatic control systems.
Voice interruption priority system—used for assembly line production control.
Examples such as the foregoing, it might be pointed out, do not generally emphasize an area in which space exploration is making one of its greatest contributions. This is the creation of new materials, metals, fabrics, alloys, and compounds that are finding their way rapidly into the commercial market.
Less demonstrable but equally (and perhaps more) significant areas which may expect to benefit from space exploration are set out beginning on page 35.
Figure 11.—Vital information about the forces which cause weather can be learned from meteorological satellites such as these. Even a slight increase in the accuracy of weather prediction will be worth millions of dollars annually.