Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-11-16
BY WILLIAM HINES
Star ccianna Wr;far

Star Science Writer
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16.-A
brilliant young Harvard astron-
omer says that if man wants
to meet other intelligent be-
ings, he had better start going
out looking for them.
The nearest such people"
are light years away, says DR..
Carl Sagan of Harvard Univer-
sity. But this should not stop
the human race if its I ambi-
lions in space are truly Olym-
plan, he adds.
The 28-year-old DR.. Sagan
believes man will be ready to
reach out to the stars within
a century or two. When that
time comes, he will be only
one of countless races rowing
the universe and touching
down occasionally on likely
looking planets, DR.. Sagan pre-
diets.
He outlined his far-out views
yesterday in an address to the
American Rocket Society. His
talk left even the forward
looking members of this big
space group goggle-eyed at its
implications.
In an interview, DR.. Sagan
expanded on his mathematics
laden text. His improniptu re-
marks were probably as valid as
his equations, since as the as
tronomer acknowledged - vir-
tually all the variables in his
calculations are sheer guesSes.
Sees Life Common
AS DR.. Sagan sees it, life is
fairly common phenomenon
IN the universe. This view is
widely held by scientists. A
certain proportion of this life
has developed true intelligence.
and a smaller proportion has
equalled or surpassed human
ity in brain power, he holds
= again with wide scientific
agreement.
DR.. Sagan further believes
that when civilizations reach
the present human level, one
OF two things happen. With
the power of humiliation in
their grasp, these societies
either wipe themselves out or
learn to live in peace. If the
former, DR.. Sagan says, the
civilization ends in a hundred
years; if the latter, it prob
ably will endure for a hundred
million.
Even the turbulent middle
age phase of the parent star.
when it gains brightness, is not
too much for such an advanced
civilization to survive, DR.. Sa-
gan adds.
Once safely past the danger
point, the civilization advances
rapidly, and begins to reach far
out into space, he believes. This
is the point where humanity
will be 100 years from now
DR.. Sagan says, with fingers
crossed.
True star-ships, designed to
travel the trillions upon tril-
lions of miles that separate the
the solar system from the
next family of planets, could
conceivably be built within a
century. he says. They would
probably be as big as a nuclear
submarine and specially adapt
ed to travel at almost lights
speed of 10000 miles a second.
Special Breed of Men
Only with such capabilities
Will 1nterStellar travel be posi-
BILE, DR.. Sagan emphasizes. And
even when this comes to pass,
the men who make the trip
will have to be a very special
breed. Each crew must kiss it's
loved ones goodby, knowing
that those remaining behind
will be dead long before the
crew returns.
What spares the crew, DR..
Sagan says. will be a principle
known as time dilation," based
on Einstein's relatively theory.
This theory holds that when
an object. such as a star ship,
is travelling very close to the
speed of light, time seems to
SLOW down" for it and every
thing aboard it. Meanwhile,
time goes on at its normal
rate for slower-moving objects
such as the earth.
DR.. Sagan'S idea - which is not
original with him is that a
crew could set out for a star,
say 40 light years away, and
be accelerating almost to the
speed of light, could cover the
distance in a period that
seemed to be only a fraction of
that time-say eight years. But
to earth-bound humans the
same period would be longer
than.a lifetime.
Allowing a year or so for ex-
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