WEBVTT FILE

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-Still on the subject
of stars and outer space,

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another group of astronomers
told a recent meeting

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of the American Rocket Society
in San Diego, California

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that they are designing
a satellite

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that will carry
a bank of telescopes

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into an orbit 500 miles,
or 800 kilometers, high.

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By thus sending a telescope
up above the Earth's atmosphere,

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they hope to pierce
a blanketing ocean of air

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that has,
for the most part,

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obscured man's detailed view
of the universe.

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The orbiting
astronomical observatory

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will supply much new knowledge
of the heavens,

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hidden from view
of Earthbound telescopes

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because of the screening effect
of the Earth's atmosphere.

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The telescopes will probably
be carried into space

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atop one of the Vega
rocket vehicles

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now being developed for
the United States Space Agency.

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The observatory
would consist of

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from 1 to 6 telescopes
and other equipment.

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Dr. Fred Whipple, director of
the Smithsonian Observatory

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at Cambridge,
Massachusetts,

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was chairman of
the astronomy section

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that discussed
the space-telescopes project

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at the San Diego meeting.

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Here, in a recorded interview
with the Voice of America,

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Dr. Whipple commented on
the significance

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of such an undertaking.

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-The remarkable progress
in space sciences

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that has now been achieved
was illustrated this morning

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in the session on astronomy
from a space platform.

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It appears now
that it is possible

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to put an astronomical
telescope into a satellite

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and thereby build
an astronomical observatory

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in space.

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And in this fashion,

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then, it will be possible
to observe the universe

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from above
the Earth's atmosphere.

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The Earth's atmosphere,
of course,

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has been the
great deterrent

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to the full effectiveness
of the telescopes

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we have on the ground,

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not only because it
disturbs the light rays

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as they come in
and distorts the images,

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but because most of
the radiation from space

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cannot pass
the atmosphere at all.

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So that this
morning's meeting

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in which
four scientists

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discuss in detail plans
for the building of telescopes

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in space represents
a great step forward.

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-Dr. Whipple visualized a
program of satellite telescopes

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of increasing size

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performing increasingly
more complex functions.

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-The first telescope
to be put into a satellite

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will probably be
directed on the sun

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to focus far ultraviolet
solar radiation.

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It will not be
a very large one,

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but will include devices
that will spread the light out

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into its different
wavelengths, or colors,

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but of course, operating
in the very far ultraviolet,

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And then will come
a general survey of the sky

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with small telescopes of the
order of 8 inches in aperture,

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which will look at the sky
in different wavelength regions,

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again, in the very
far ultraviolet.

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Definitely
in the current plans

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is the introduction
of a telescope

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of perhaps 24 to 36 inches
aperture into space,

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and that in a relatively
short time scale.

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The discussion today, being on
the practical planning level,

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did not take into account
the possibilities

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of much larger telescopes,

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which may be planned
in the more distant future.

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But the conference does
represent the very realistic

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thinking of astronomers
and rocket experts

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on the problems
of basic research,

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basic studies
of the universe

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by means of a telescope
in a satellite --

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in fact, a telescope
that is a satellite,

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or a satellite that is
a telescope in orbit.

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-That was Dr. Fred Whipple,

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director of
the Smithsonian Observatory

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at Cambridge,
Massachusetts,

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discussing the launching
of space telescopes.