TRAVEL IN SPACE

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27733, 10 August 1955, Page 13

TRAVEL IN SPACE

“Less Than Fifty Years Away” MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 8. Less than 50 years separates man from travel in outer space, a scientist who has sent animals through the cosmic ray barrier predicted today. Space travel itself is known to be relatively safe, said the scientist. Dr. Otto Winzen. The big problem is in leaving and re-entering the earth’s atmosphere. ■* Dr. Winzen heads a research firm in Minneapolis which is trying to solve that problem for the United States armed services, by sending balloons carrying live animals into the crucial areas where cosmic rays break up and explode. “Maybe in 20 or 30 years we will have the answer,” said Dr. Winzen. “I foresee space travel by the end of the century,” he said. “Before the exit and re-entry problems can be solved, much must be learned about cosmic radiatipn.” Dr. Winzen has revealed that his latest experiments are designed to determine the effect of radiation on living tissue. Dr. Winzen believes that the danger spot in the exit and re-entry puzzle lies round 118,000 ft where cosmic rays strike the earth’s atmosphere, break up and explode. Animals in Stratosphere He has sent test animals in a sealed air-conditioned gondola into the danger area three times in the last week. After the first 26 hours’ flight at 125,(MV)ft the 40 mice, rats, hamsters and fruit flies .were parachuted safely to earth. Scientists now are studying the animals to determine any adverse effects from the flight. The second flight, concluded last Saturday, included pregnant animals, so that the study can be continued on their offspring. While test animals have been sent far higher above the earth in rockets, the Winzen tests are the first in which they have undergone prolonged exposure to cosmic rays. The gondola used in the Winzen experiments is an aluminium sphere, 30in in diameter and l-32in thick. It is completely pressurised and insulated by two inches of plastic to protect the animals from the heat of day and the

cold of night. It carries its own oxygen supply. The animals are provided with carrots, raw potatoes, and celery to eat during the journey. Foods with considerable water content were chosen because containers of water wopld spill. Dr. Winzen uses a plastic balloon the height of a 25-storey building which holds 2,000.000 cubic feet of helium gas. A strip of plastic 9ft wide and three miles long is needed to manufacture each balloon, which is destroyed after the flight through the stratosphere.