Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-06-21
U. n. Mapping Drive
In Spoce-for-Peoce

miles up. would do the job very
we'll.
For maximum efficiency, how
ever. tracking and telemetering
stations scattered throughout the
world would have to monitor the
sputniks, and dozens Of coun-
tries should launch simultaneous
sounding rockets, reporting the
information thus obtained to a
central clearing house. This OBJ
viously would require close inter-
national cooperation.
Everyone would gain, the U. N.
points out-but everyone would
have to help. It is everyone's
weather. One day 1t might be
possible to experiment with Joint
and cooperative control of wealth
er patterns.
Improved radio communications.
The u. N. estimates that a system
of perhaps 25 satellites equipped
to reflect radio signals, plus as
few as three sputnikS in equatori-
al orbit. 100 degrees apart, doing
the parallel job of recording mes
sages and rebroadcasting them.
could provide a system of world
wide communications beside which
present-day methods would look
like relics Of a horse-and-buggy
age.
But again there is the proviso:
Everyone would have to cooper
ate. There would need to be
agreement on ALLEGATION OF radio
frequencies. or the result would be
a chaotic babble.
Manned space fight. Within a
short time men will venture into
space-firSt in rockets, then in
DRIFTING vehicles. In a matter of
decades man will reach, investi-
gate and return from the moon,
interplanetary space and ultimate
ly, at least. the near planets" Ito
quote from the report of a U. N.
technical committee).
Who Is the Pioneer?
Who will come back first and
report to the earth what it is
like on the moon? Will he try
to classify the information top
secret? Will he bring back bio
logical, chemical or radiation con-
tamination? Will he know Of dan
gers that subsequent explorers
could avoid?
Cooperation among countries
doing this kind of exploration OBJ
viously would multiply the benefits.
reduce the dangers and hasten
the achievements of the adven-
ture.
And all this is just the begin
ming. There are scores of other
areas in the space field where CO.
operation would be either helpful
or essential-many Of them already
spelled out in the U. Ms first
studies.
Some people propose that the
U. N. itself undertake to explore
outer space. They argue that the
subject is too important to risk
the possibility, and the conse-
quenceS. of competition.
But countries would first have
to be willing to turn the job over
to the U. N. Moreover, it would
be fabulously expensive under
taking, and in practice most of the
cost probably would have TO be
borne by the United States.
At least for the time being,
therefore, the U. N. simply plans
to set up under Secretary-Gen-
eral Dag Hammarskjold a central
clearing house to collect, co-or-
dinate ana disseminate informa-
tion-thuS Offering to individual
governments a means of cooper
ating when and If they recognize
the need for it. A decision to this
effect is due to be taken next
Tuesday.
1t is a halting first step. One
day the people on planet earth
may be lured. or forced, into
burying their hatchets and COM
ing together because of the pros
poets and dangers involved in the
new dimension which has been
added to their lives.