No enterprise has so stirred human imagination as the reach of man
toward the exploration of space. New worlds to explore. New distances to
travel--3,680 million miles to Pluto, the outermost planet of our solar
system, 8 years journey at 50,000 miles per hour when we attain such a
capability. Innumerable problems ahead. New knowledge needed in almost
every branch of science and technology from magneto fluid dynamics to
cosmology, from materials to biology and psychology.[67]
"New knowledge needed" means better and stronger education is essential.
And not only in the physical sciences. In the social sciences and the
arts as well.
Certainly man's space adventure can help profoundly to make a finer
creature of him, but only if his adventures on Earth can do so as
well. Essentially what this means to a social psychologist is that
we must somehow raise our level of education to the point where
most men most of the time can appreciate and actively absorb the
implications of knowledge and developments in all areas
sufficiently to let them enrich their personal philosophies.
Obviously this kind of education is only in part a scientific
one.[68]
Moreover, the technical and management aspects of the space program
involve collaboration with nonscientific persons such as businessmen,
bankers, and public officials in assessing worthwhile objectives and in
judging the technical and economic feasibility of projects designed to
accomplish these objectives.[69] Consequently each type must educate the
other in his own specialty if an effective, stepped-up space program is
to be achieved.
_The demand_
Apparently the demand for specific formal education in the science of
astronautics is increasing faster than it is being supplied. Although
many colleges and universities have been setting up courses dealing with
astronautics, the state of the art does not seem to have crystallized to
the extent that it permits fashioning a career in the field at the
educational level. Of course, discontent is created. One publication has
editorialized:
We have received a surprising number of letters from young people
who actually want to know how and where they can get started in a
career in astronautics. These, for the most part, are high school
students--and, evidently, they couldn't get the information they
wanted from their own school. * * * Isn't the age of space yet
important enough for all the high schools to sponsor interest in
our space programs and to point out the need for a constant flow of
young brains?[70]
The answer undoubtedly is that such grassroots demand will bring about
increased academic curricula in astronautics in direct proportion to its
magnitude.
Meanwhile, the availability of work for persons with a background in
space-related subjects can be gaged to some extent by observing the
variety of personnel requirements on major space exploration projects.
A single American firm, for example, uses 49 different professional
specialists in its work for the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and in its space work for the Department of Defense.[71]
Multiplied by the thousands of companies which are doing similar work,
the list gives an idea of the astronautic demand confronting the
Nation's educational institutions:
Acoustician
Aerodynamicist
Aeronautical engineer
Agricultural engineer
Astrodynamicist
Astronomer
Astrophysicist
Biochemist
Biophysicist
Ceramics specialist
Chemist
Computer specialist
Crystallographer
Development engineer
Doctor of medicine
Electrical engineer
Electronic engineer
Experimental physicist
Flight engineer
Gyroscopics specialist
Hydraulic engineer
Information theory analyst
Inorganic chemist
Logical designer
Magnetic device engineer
Mathematician
Mechanical applications engineer
Mechanical engineer
Mechanisms specialist
Medical electronic engineer
Metallurgical engineer
Methods engineer
Nuclear physicist
Oceanographer
Organic chemist
Physical chemist
Pneumatic engineer
Process engineer
Production engineer
Project engineer
Psychologist
Reliability engineer
Sociologist
Solid state physicist
Structural engineer
System analyst
Theoretical physicist
Thermodynamicist
Transducer engineer
[Illustration: FIGURE 14.--Exploration within the solar system
means a wealth of new knowledge which could lead to learning the secrets
of life.]