Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-22

Some enthusiasts have gone over
board in acclaiming last summers
Project Argus as "the greatest scientific
experiment of all time" Actually, as
one of our atomically knowledgeable
friends has suggested, more modest
and restrained assessment would seem
to be in order. For the event, although
full of enormously significant POSSIBLE
tiles, must be regarded as something
representing only shallow penetration,
not break Through, into the unknown
areas of nature-a mere exploratory be-
ginning.
Even so, there can be no doubt that
these American tests in the South
Atlantic - three high altitude nuclear
detonations some 800 miles above the
earth-have achieved results of excep-
tional Importance. In strictly Scien-
tif1c sense, for example, they have
confirmed Nicholas ChriStofiloS' theory
about how our planets magnetic field
can be counted upon to trap" electrons
unleashed by atomic blasts far above us.
They have indicated, too, that additional
experimentation of the same sort prom
Uses to promote vast expansion Of mans
basic knowledge as regards the space
and universe around him.
OF course, in keeping with our Inter-
national Geophysical Year commitments,
what Project Argus has taught US in
the non-military field will be made
available in due time to the world at
large. On the other hand, as far as
the projects military meaning is con-
cerned, certain data will remain claS-
Sified, regardless of those who clamor
about the peoples right to know. Such
secrecy seems reasonable and necessary.
After all, given an age as dangerous as
the one we live in, there is much to be
said for holding ones tongue on occa-
sion. BY way of illustration, our Argus
tests may well have given US some Spe-
cial insight into how high-altitude
nuclear explosions can be employed to
disrupt electronic communications and
radar warning systems, or perhaps they
have shown us ways to avoid such dis
ruptionS. Similarly, as some experts
have indicated, the tests may have re-
vealed information helpful to the effort
to develop effective defenSes against
intercontinental balliStic missiles. If so,
why should we publicize in detail what
we have learned? Why should We shout
about it from the rooftops?
And there are other questions. All
who have been closely associated with
Project Argus appear to share the view
that it has opened up tremendously
promising new world of experimentation.
Why then, they ask, should there not
be additional high altitude nuclear
tests? Like the ones that can be staged
underground, such tests do not involve
radioactive fallout threatful to human
health So why not continue with them
for the sake of pure science, even though
they have military significance as well?
Why not proceed from the shallow pene-
tration to the deep penetration of the
mysteries of our universe? Why should
man debar himself from these probingS?
Indeed, how can he do so without en-
claiming his mind and SHINING against
his own questing nature?
AS for the political implications Of
Project Argus, they strongly suggest that
the Anglo American Soviet test-ban
conference in Geneva should consider
the feasibility of an agreement that
would do the following: O) Prohibit the
fallout-causing types of nuclear expert
ments, but (2) permit-possibly under
internationalized supervision-the stag
ing of underground and high-altitude
detonationS. In terms of scientific prog
reSs, in terms of the acquisition of basic
new knowledge, some such arrangement
seems eminently desirable.