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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1959)
SPffi Family WeeJcly December 13, 1959 An interview with BRIG. GEN. DONALD D. FLICKINGER, USAF by James C. G. Conniff About the launching of a manned satellite, Washington opinion i is firm on two counts: 1) we will orbit a man successfully by 1961, but 2) the Reds will probably beat us to it! By much? Two months to nearly two years. How come? The Soviets will risk killing their astronaut rather than let the U. S. be first to put a man in' space. This coldly utilitarian mentality of the Russians forces on us the need to answer quickly and correctly some sharp questions. Thanks to jet fighters and space probes, along with atomic-submarine cruises, we already have the answers to many puzzles about space travel. But there is one question nobody can really answer till an Ameri can or Russian astronaut does the honors: can flesh and blood, can man's mind and emotions, survive in space? . To learn the odds, family weekly sent me to Washington to inter view Brig. Gen. Donald D. Flickinger, USAF-(MC). General Flick inger is vice chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Ad ministration's special committee on life sciences. He is also in charge ' of bioastronautics (the "human factors" in space medicine) for the Air Research and Development Command at Andrews Air Force Base near the capital. A surgeon and, at 51, an experienced pilot, Don Flickinger was the Air Force expert on the three-man interservice medical team which selected our seven Project Mercury astronauts from 110 vol unteers. With Army and Navy colleagues, the general now has the crucial task of grooming the winners for their big adventure. Q. Frankly, General Flickinger, what chance have theBe men of com ing back alive? A. They will be in a far better posi tion to accomplish their mission and live to repeat it than they are in any of the high-performance jet aircraft they have all flown as career test pilots. Q. Is this because they arc superior specimens, or because the space cap sule itself will lie so thoroughly tested? A. Both. Our astronaut trainees are superior people, physically and men tally. Before we send them up we will -have fully conditioned them to handle and survive anything that will come their way at the altitudes now envi sioned. They will carry no space first aid kits. They will be able to perform their duties, normally and naturally, under all circumstances. On top of that, we will give the capsule itself, with all its equipment, a series of maximum demand laboratory tests. Q. When you say the astronaut will perform "normally and naturally," General, do you mean he will not be drugged in any way? A. Apart from wanting to make clear that we plan to have him at the peak of mental and physical form, that is exactly what I mean. Family Weekly, December 13, 19S9 Q. But hasn't aeromedical re search found that a certain "pep pill" effectively combats boredom from prolonged, repetitive tasks like. those in a space capsule with out a letdown later? A. Yes, but for what we call these "first-generation" space flights, such a compound is unnecessary for two reasons. First, our astronaut is going to be too busy to grow bored or drowsy. When he's not talking to us, we'll be talking to him. Secondly, in line with our plan to let him make only two or three circuits of the earth at 90 min utes each, he won't be up there long enough to need drugs. Q. What about other narcotic aids for the physical and mental strain of being rocket-driven into orbit at 18,000 in.p.h. like tranquilizers, antinausea drugs, bowel-and-bladder inhibitors, and such? A. We will use none of them. Tran quilizers would dull alertness, slow split-second responses, and imperil man, machine, and mission. Against the danger of nausea and dizziness from concentrated G-forces at launching followed by a sudden eerie weightless ness in orbit, we are going to build into the capsule its own controls to prevent excessive tumbling. We are also installing tested Sty m f 'u CM ( rv v . restraints to keep the astronaut from being disoriented by the "floating-in-air" effects of zero gravity. Bodily excretory problems will be dealt with by a blend of conscious precondition ing and diet, for the most part, rather than by reliance on drugs. Q. How can you be sure these types of "conditioning" will work at alti tudes where man has never been? A. My answer to that is not intended to detract one iota from the courage of our astronauts or the calculated adventure in store for them. It is a fact, however, that the drama of our national effort to orbit an American airman and bring him back safely makes people forget that we have already encountered practically every difficulty space presents in 1) high altitude balloon flights and 2) high performance jet aircraft. Through . manned exploratory flights in rocket ships like the X-15, we expect to know even more about the total space-flight picture before orbiting a man. Q. Does that mean we've licked the radiation problem in space? A. Unfortunately, no. We are gaining new data on the nature and extent of radiation in space almost daily, but anti radiation shielding of astronauts and of instruments, too will prob ably be a space-medicine headache for some time. The answer to your basic question about man's ability to survive in space must therefore be that, as of this moment, he cannot mainly because of 1) severe limits on the length of time he can safely be exposed to radiation of whatever intensity, 2) the present state and prospects of shielding technology, and 3) our imperfect knowledge of the kinds and degree of radiation to be found there. However, while all this is regrettably true of higher altitudes and longer trips, what we anticipate for these first flights is something quite different. The estimated 120-150-mile level where our early astronauts will orbit is not saturated with lethal radiation, as outer space may prove to be. Fur thermore, the brief duration of the flights (3-18 hours) will result in exposure at the rate of only 45 or so milliroentgens per 48-hour- period Compare this with a single-chest Xa-ay where you get 1,200-1,500 milliroent gens, or with the 300 milliroentgens a week permitted in industry. In this exclusive interview, an Air Force expert gives straight forward answers to the toughest questions about human space travel Q. Are you saying, General, that in effect these "orbital altitudes" of first-generation space flight are not really outer space but just part of the upper atmosphere? A. Not at all. For all practical pur poses, the altitude of our manned satel lite will be space, period. Except for intensity of radiation, I assure you as a scientist that it has otherwise the same phenomena as outer space or deep space: no atmosphere, intense darkness, extreme temperatures, utter silence, zero gravity, and so on. Q. But even at these altitudes and with all your conditioning, won't the first astronaut have to learn the hard way. to survive the "break off phenomenon"? A. By this you mean panic and disorientation that are supposed to result from being so far above one's home planet in an absolutely weight less state for a prolonged period especially after having briefly weighed many times more than normal during launch acceleration. It sounds like a one-two punch of formidable dimensions, I agree, but as for its destructive or unbalanc ing effect on the mind, we in astromedicine are no longer worried about it. , Our reasons include 1) the reassur ing data obtained from more and more extended research into human weight lessness during zero-gravity ma neuvers in conventional aircraft, 2) experience in supersonic jets, and 3) perhaps most of all, our intention never to give the astronaut an idle moment to start thinking about how high up and feather-light he is. Q. But with his internal organs also weightless, along with his food and drink, how will he swallow and keep nourishment down? A. Again, it will be a matter of care- ful conditioning, assisted by. conscious . nprypus P" mnsfiilar rnntrnl nvpr the rr L swallowing mechanism--plus-praetice-rw" in guarding against involuntary - re gurgitation. Even a belch, in the weightless state, could bring up food particles and cause choking. It will be a rigorous self-discipline, reinforced by tubed-food-paste feeders and aes thetic variety of menu. Long before attempting to put an American in or bit, we doctors will have worked out with the astronauts themselves every last possible hitch in this area, and gotten proof that it's been licked. We are practically at that point now. Q. What about air supply and dis postal of waste gases in a pressurized space capsule? A. We have learned a good deal about this particular problem right here on earth, from long submerged voyages by atomic submarines. They " had only the air they took down with them and, through secret reprocess ing techniques, used it over and over. The astro naut will have to do the same. His equipment will also have to "wash" or absorb possibly toxic concentra tions of trace gases that would not even be noticed in less confined quarters. But we have sojved all such problems. Q. Suppose a meteor ite punctures the space capsule? A. The threat of this is remote. If it did happen, our man is wearing a full-pressure suit designed to keep him alive and in control till he can effect re-entry. Q. Is there danger of sending the astronaut into space forever by launching error? A. Hardly. We will have attained such precision in rocketry as to make this hazard negligible.. Q. But suppose it did happen? A. We would detect it long before orbital altitude was reached or rather, exceeded. In such a crisisr we. have means-of freeing the astronaut " and getting him back down safely. " Q WhaMtfheoket''mltrepxlium nn-whictr-we-tiaiT not-only sur- explodes at launch or before-It can vive but in time move freely to enrich get the man-capsule into orbit? human knowledge. A. There is a sub-rocket mounted on a pylon above the capsule for just such a possibility. The astronaut can fire it , on his own or at our signal, depending on who first realizes there is trouble. If the astronaut for some reason can not respond, we can fire it for him from the ground. The escape device will hurl the capsule free and shoot it high enough for safe descent by parachute. The sub-rocket itself breaks away at a prearranged altitude to avoid encum bering the capsule. Q. Won't the physical buffeting at launch knock out even a toughened astronaut? A. We are sure it won't because right now we are putting these men through grueling centrifuge, spin-table, and high-speed pneumatic "jumping-jack" tests that demand of them everything the actual launch will demand. They are standing it just fine. Q. Haven't there been some less than encouraging psychological reac tions to your prolonged confinement, monotony, heat-endurance, total darkness, and absolute-silence tests? . A. In earlier investigations, there were hallucinations, anxiety, claus trophobia, irrational hostility that sort of thing. But our much more re fined and intensive studies of the 110 volunteers taught us what we need to know for the elimination of people sus ceptible to these weaknesses, and for reducing to near-zero the risk of emo tional failure in our chosen astronauts. Q. If for some unforeseeable rea son something did go wrong with an astronaut's mind, mightn't he refuse ' to come down at all? A. You may be absolutely certain that no matter what happens, we can in any given 10- 12-minute period bring man and machine safely to earth. Q. General, what danger is there of a manned space capsule colliding with one of the satellites already up? A. We know their altitudes and orbits. Avoiding such disastrous con tact is well within our capability. Q. Finally, there is no question in your mind, General, that we can, and will, solve these problems A. No question whatever. We are committed to space, irrevocably All - the evidence indicates that it is a me . Family Weekly, December 13, 19S9
