CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING
NEWS
NOVEMBER
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Hundreds Ask to Be Scientist/ Astronauts NASA decision to recruit scientists for space program gets enthusiastic endorsement from scientific community The scientific community has enthusiastically endorsed NASA's decision to recruit scientist-astronauts (C&EN, Oct. 26, page 31). Already some 500 scientists have applied for the program, which has been called "one of the greatest challenges" ever to confront U.S. science. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration hopes to receive a few thousand applications before the Dec. 31 deadline. By spring of 1965, a group of 10 to 20 scientists will have been selected. Selection of this group will represent the partial achievement of a goal long sought by some U.S. scientists. Science in Space. For some time now a debate has raged over the role of science in the U.S. space effort. Since the man-on-the-moon project makes up the bulk of the space program (about 60% of NASA's budget is geared to a lunar landing), the debate has centered on the lunar project. A vocal section of the scientific community has labeled the project an "engineering stunt" which ignores the scientific exploration of space. This same group has pushed to get a more active role in the lunar project and thus in the total space effort. The scientist-astronaut program may help fill this role. A look at the development of the whole astronaut program shows generally how the scientist-astronaut idea evolved. The first two groups of astronauts, picked in 1959 and 1962, consisted entirely of qualified test pilots. In selecting the third group this past year, NASA dropped the testpilot requirement. It allowed pilots with a minimum of 1000 hours of jet flight time to qualify for astronaut training. This last group snared two civilians, the first two of the astronaut group. Now, the scientist-astronaut program eliminates any flight training as a qualifying factor. New Turn, About a year ago the
Perspicacity Is Quality Most Needed in Scientist/Astronauts "The abilities of scientists with equivalent training vary over an enormous range so that an outstanding one might be ten thousand times as effective as an average one for the type of mission envisioned. The quality most needed in the present case might be summed up by the single word "perspicacity." The task requires an exceptionally astute and imaginative observer but also one whose observations are accurate and impartial. He must, from among the thousands of items he might observe, quickly pick out the significant ones, spot the anomalies and investigate them. He must discriminate fine detail and subtle differences in unfamiliar situations, synthesize observations to gain insight into a general pattern, and select and devise key observations to test working hypotheses. He must have the good judgment to know when to stop a particular set of observations and then to turn to the next."
training of the astronauts took a new turn. While the scientist-astronaut program was already being talked about, there was a more immediate need for men who had training in science. Again, with the moon landing in mind, NASA began putting its pool of astronauts through an intensive cram course in geology. NASA considers this study program to be equiv-
alent to a four-year course in geology. Looking beyond the lunar landing, NASA plans to give astronauts courses in astronomy, astrophysics, and other sciences as the need arises. While the role of science in the space effort is debated, engineering still remains dominant in NASA's thinking. Some members of the scientific community have stated, for the NOV.
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record, that they feel it is imperative that a scientist be among the first group to land on the moon. According to a NASA spokesman, however, this will not be the case. The first moon landing will be mainly an engineering operation. The proficiency of the astronaut to maneuver the spacecraft remains paramount to the success of the mission. Another indication that the engineering aspects of space flight remain firmly entrenched in NASA's planning is shown by what is in store for the 10 to 20 scientists that are picked to be trained as astronauts. All those who are not qualified pilots, and this will probably include most members of the group, will be given individual flight training to qualify them as pilots of high-performance aircraft and helicopters. Flight training for the scientistastronauts will begin in the fall of 1965, end by the fall of 1966. Following flight training, the group will begin astronaut training. During this training the scientist-astronauts will work on various research projects for about six months. By late 1968 the scientist-astronauts will be ready for space missions. While the initial lunar landing will not carry a scientist, the NASA space team is already considering return trips to the moon, and permanent lunar labs, which are certain to include scientist-astronauts. Other projects, such as manned earth-orbiting labs and manned missions to Mars, are also in store for scientist-astronauts. Screening. The difficult task of screening applicants for the scientistastronaut program has fallen to the National Academy of Sciences. The academy's Space Science Board has already outlined the qualifications required of a scientist-astronaut. Candidates must have a bachelor's degree and a doctoral degree in a natural science, engineering, or in medicine or the equivalent in experience. Besides such minimum scientific qualifications, the space board has spelled out some special qualifications that are difficult to define. According to the board, the quality most sought after in applicants "might be summed up by the single word 'perspicacity.' " In a report to NASA, the science board says that "The task requires an exceptionally astute and imaginative observer but also one whose observations are accurate and impartial." 28
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While these qualifications are hard enough to define, the ability to recognize them further compounds the academy's task. The science board, though, has some thoughts on this aspect of their job also. Published and unpublished reports will be used to judge the applicants' "technical ability and imagination in dealing with problems." Also, each applicant will be required to take or submit his past score on the Graduate Record Examination. Applicants may also be asked to write brief essays on their field experience, research activities, or the primary scientific objectives of a manned lunar landing. As difficult as the selection task may be, the academy is not without prior experience in picking exceptional scientists. The academy's Office of Scientific Personnel selects appointees for various government-sponsored fellowships and assistantships and handles the election of Fulbright scholars. This office will aid in selecting the scientist-astronauts. NASA will go through a preliminary screening of the applicants based on various personal qualificationsage, medical records, and so forth. The remaining applicants will be passed on to the academy. Then a thorough screening of scientific qualifications will narrow the group down to about 75. The 75 applicants will go through a thorough physical examination and a limited space simulation test program. Here NASA will familiarize them with the space environment and also check their ability to withstand the stresses of launch, space flight, and re-entry. Based on these test results, the group will be narrowed down to 10 to 20. The scientist-astronaut program grew out of a space science study session held at State University of Iowa in 1962. The academy's space science board, in a report from that session, goes into great detail on the scientific role of man in space exploration. This report gives some inkling of what future role scientists will play in space research. The report describes the ground scientist who would direct assistants remotely located to perform an experiment. It also mentions the ultimate role of the scientist in space exploration. This is described as the scientist-passenger, who would take part in space missions solely to carry out scientific experiments.
Pulp-Paper Strikers Bargain In Washington, D.C. Last week federal mediators in Washington, D . C , were attempting to unsnarl the first large western paper strike in 30 years. Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz and William Simkin, head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, hoped to bring a quick end to a dispute that closed 32 western paper plants on Nov. 12, and left 15 of 16 others limping along with supervisors and office workers at the controls. Disputants in the strike are the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, a new union that ousted the AFL-CIO last October, and the Pacific Coast Association of Pulp & Paper Manufacturers, an organization of 18 companies which operates 48 plants in Washington, Oregon, and California. Decisions. Though more than one issue separates the two groups, both admit that the rights-of-parties issue is the thorniest. A contract offered to the union by the paper companies says that all decisions not specified by the contract can be made exclusively by management. A spokesman for PCAPPM says that management needs this clause because the union is new. Transcripts of discussions and policy statements developed during past contract talks with the deposed AFL-CIO unions can no longer be used to interpret contracts with the new union, according to the spokesman. Thus management feels it must have the rights clause or it might lose its freedom to manage as it has in the past. The union says it doesn't want to interfere with management's rights to manage, but that it too has rights spelled out in the past transcripts and policy statements. The workers would lose these rights by the present rights-of-parties-clause, according to a union spokesman. Another Issue. Another issue on which the two sides differ is whether all present workers should be required to join the new union. The management group has offered to require all workers hired after last June 1 to join the union plus require members of the union now to remain members. But it balks at a WPPW demand that workers who have remained AFLCIO loyalists join the new pulp and paper workers union.
