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Magazine/Anthology, Science / Space Race, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Serial

[June 30, 1970] Star light… per stratagem (July 1970 Analog)

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photo of a man with glasses and curly, long, brown hair, and a beard and mustache
by Gideon Marcus

Up in the Sky

Apollo 13 may have made for great TV, but it's been terrible for NASA.  This morning, in testimony before Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, NASA Administrator Dr. Thomas O. Paine reviewed the results of the Apollo 13 accident investigations and announced that the next (Apollo 14) mission had been postponed to Jan. 31, 1971–a three month delay.  I imagine this is going to snarl up the meticulously planned schedule of Apollos 15-19, especially since Skylab is supposed to go up somewhere in that time frame.

A color image showing three satellites orbiting the Earth against a background of stars.  The orbit is indicated by a circle.  The image is titled Skylab Program Major Areas of Emphasis.  The satellite on the left is aiming a beam of light up at the top of the image, and is labeled Science: Solar Astronomy.  The satellite in the middle is aiming a beam of light down at the earth and is labeled Applications: Earth resources, materials, processing.  The satellite on the right does not have a light and is labeled Long Duration Missions: Habitability, Medical, and Work Effectiveness.

…If any of these missions happen.  In a recent poll of 1520 Americans, 55% said they were very worried about fate of Apollo 13 astronauts following mission abort, 24% were somewhat worried, 20% were not very worried, and 1% were not sure.  More significantly, a total of 71% expected fatal accident would occur on a future mission.  Perhaps its no surprise that the American public is opposed by 64% to 30% to major space funding over the next decade. 

The scissor-wielders on Capitol Hill are heeding the call.  Yesterday, Sen. Walter F. Mondale (D-Minn.), for himself, Sen. Clifford P. Case (R-N.J.), Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.), and Sen. Jacob
K. Javits (R-N.Y.), submitted an amendment to H.R. 17548 (the Fiscal Year 1971 Independent Offices and HUD appropriations bill.  Not a happy one.

It would reduce NASA's R&D appropriation by $110 million–which just happens to be the amount requested by NASA for design and definition of space shuttle and station.

A color diagram labeled Mission Evolution Through Hardware Commonality.  The legend explains the color coding of the vehicles.  Green: Space Station Module; Red: Space Shuttle; Orange: Nuclear Shuttle; Yellow: Tug.  The diagram has a black background and shows Earth in the top left corner, the Moon slightly left of center beneath, and Mars near the right corner of the image.  Curved lines connect Earth to Mars and to the Moon, and orbital circles surround each, with Earth having two orbitals.  On the smaller Earth orbital, three bodies are depicted.  An orange Nuclear Shuttle has a red space shuttle above it.  A Space Base and a Low Earth Orbit Space Station are both green and yellow.  On the outer orbital sits a green and yellow Synchronous Orbit Station.  On the surface of the moon, a green and yellow Lunar Base is perched, with a green and yellow Lunar Orbit Station on its orbital. On the curve leading from Earth to Mars, an orange Orbit Launch Vehicle carries a green Mars Spacecraft.  An unlabeled green satellite is on the Mars orbital, with a green Mars Base sitting on its surface.

Mondale excoriated the proposal: "This project represents NASA’S next major effort in manned space flight. The $110 million. . .is only the beginning of the story. NASA’s preliminary cost estimates for development of the space shuttle/station total almost $14 billion, and the ultimate cost may run much higher. Furthermore, the shuttle and station are the first essential steps toward a manned Mars landing. . .which could cost anywhere between $50 to $100 billion.  I have seen no persuasive justification for embarking upon a project of such staggering costs at a time when many of our citizens are malnourished, when our rivers and lakes are polluted, and when our cities and rural areas are decaying."

A black and white photo of Walter Mondale, a white man with dark hair wearing a suit and tie.  He is looking to the right of the viewer with a neutral expression.

This seems a false choice to me.  Surely there is such wealth in this country that we can continue the Great Society and the exploration of space, especially if we gave up fripperies like, oh I don't know, the war in Cambodia.  To be fair, I know Fritz Mondale opposes the war, too, but we're talking a matter of scale here–the shuttle and station are going to cost peanuts compared to the outlay for the military-industrial complex.

That said, maybe Van Allen is right, and we shouldn't be wasting money on manned boondoggles, instead focusing on robotic science in space.  On the third hand… "No Buck Rogers, no Bucks." 

What do you think?

Down on the Ground

A color image of the front cover of the July 1970 edition of Analog.  Beneath the magazine title, the featured story is listed: Per Stratagem by Robert Chilson.  Below, a large brown insectoid creature stands on six legs against a yellow background. It has four tentacles emerging from the top of its body and is wearing a tool belt with a pouch on it around the lower part of the carapace.  It is angled away from the viewer, such that the only feature visible on its pointed head is its large open mouth full of humanoid teeth.  Facing it, a white man with gray hair wearing a brown shirt and pants stands in a doorway, looking at the creature with a look of concern.  Another humanoid figure is in shadow behind him.
Illustration by Leo Summers

Well, if we lose our ticket to space in the 1970s, at least we'll have our dreams.  Thank goodness for science fiction, and even for the July 1970 issue of Analog.  Dreary as this month's mag is, it's got enough in it to keep it from being unworthy.

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