Scientific Uses of an Artificial Earth Satellite

Abstract

S the announcement that the United States plans to launch artificial satellites for physical research during the International Geophysical Year, there has been much speculation about what actually will be done in the satellite. Many of the researches and techniques which have appeared in print are beyond the capabilities of the first satellite vehicles as they are now envisioned, and must be considered as future possibilities when larger and heavier satellites are launched. The following listing of things which can be done in a research satellite attempts to differentiate between those experiments which can be carried out in the first small birds and those experiments which will probably have to await further development of engineering techniques. I t should be emphasized that the pictorial outline does not represent actual plans. I t is simply a review of near-term possibilities in the fields of geophysics and astrophysics. Long-range future possibilities are many. Some are listed in Table 1, and there undoubtedly are many more than those listed here. In fact, the establishment of a new technique and the opening of a new frontier will be just as important a result of the first satellite launching as will the first researches carried out with artificial satellites. The launching of the first space satellite will be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, philosophical and scientific achievements of mankind.