The Wilmington morning star., 1947-09-07
Push Button


rHE fantastic scope of military
research confronting this ma
o,s scientists was revealed this
'1.epk by predictions that it is
H Historically possible to arm
aanerica with space ships operat-
~ bevond the pull of G. avity and
H. = ~nroiectiles navigating them
. slvt by the stars.
'V Tbe predictions would seem utterly
rnobable were it not for the fact
l nat man already has tapped atomic
lna aroy, the source from which the
GU draws its power.
Su Two Johns Hopkins scientists, DR..
lawrence R. Hafstad and DR.. Daniel
= "a siolev. already are looking over
.Loso possibilities of guided missile
J.~oyelopment. National security die
tstes, they say, that these be explored
10 the limit"
To Be Reckoned With
II NAV take years, they said, for
chemists to perfect mechanisms Of
nrooulsion, launching and guidance
s,t nush button warfare is definitely
technique to be reckoned with.
IN the present international at
.cosnbere it should be obvious" said
Dr. Hafstad. that failure to solve the
euided missiles problem might prove
Serv expensive indeed" They foresee
as theoretically possible:
Space ships, ~circling beyond the
oartb's gravitational pull like celestial
bodies, ready to plunge down and
snread destruction at the bidding of
men or robots directed by remote
control.
Missiles, guided by built-in tele-
SCOPES and other instruments that
would automatically track a ours to
target by reference to the stars, the
moon and planets.
Missiles "homing" on a target as
soon as an area is t~elevised exactly
matching a picture of the req carried
within tie missile.
Proiect:les following celestial "high-
ways Ct magnetic force which sur
round the earth.
On Leave to Government
Dr.. Hafstad, on leave as director of
the Hopkins Applied Physics Labora-
tory, is serving as secretary of the
Armed Forces Joint Research and
Development Board. His report, how
ever, is not AN official expression" of
the Joint Research and Development
Board.
DR.. Hafstad declared that the guild
ed missiles field is more complex and
difficult than the fields of radar, atomic
energy, proximity fuses and rockets
in all Of which he played a part.
Researchers, he said, must solve
major problems in the completely
new field of supersonic aerodynamics,
propulsion and launching before guild
ed missiles can become operational
weapons.
Another key problem, he said, is
the shortage of technical manpower
the need for men able to use the
cries not yet devised to solve prob
lens that are going to arise in mech
anlsms as yet unknown but due to be
invented over the next several years."
The problems of guidance, DR.. Half
stad declared, make other technical
problems "only incidental nuisances"
by comparison.
There are three main types of guild
ance systems:
l. A preset" system-like that of
the V-2-operates on a time-clock
basis, with the missiles flight de-
ter1nlned in advance. Its weakness is
accuracy.
z. A command" system involves
guidance by remote control but it
TAILS with respect to countermeasures.
.. The "beam-rider" where a mis-
sue tracks a beam locked on a target.
But a radar beam spreads out like a
cone and the divergent beam intro
uuees large possible errors unless
"nomlng" is added.