Aug 25 1968
From The Space Library
U.S.S.R.'s leading geneticist, Prof. Nikolay P. Dubinin, told International Symposium on Genetic Effects of Space Environment in Tokyo biological experiments on various Soviet satellites beginning with Sputnik I had disclosed that space flight caused higher frequency of mutation, chromosome damage, and disruptions in normal cell division mechanisms. "Dynamic flight factors," he said, were responsible; doses of cosmic radiation registered were too small to account for all genetic changes observed. Symposium was held in conjunction with 12th International Congress of Genetics. American scientists also suggested "dynamic flight factors" of vibrations, acceleration, and weight- lessness might be factors in genetic damage observed aboard American spacecraft. (Reinhold, NYT, 8/26/68)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial on NAS-NRC Space Science Board recommendation that NASA "embark on an ambitious program" of interplanetary flights and expand other areas: "The program would be costly, of course, but nowhere near as costly as war, and the benefits, if the goals were reached, would be incalculable. Expenditures for purposes such as this must be fitted into the schedule of national priorities. Certainly outlays to relieve the plight of our cities and to end poverty come first. But the United States is uniquely qualified to take the lead in the sort of peaceful scientific endeavor that requires both technical skills and money, and it should not lose sight of its obligation to expand the area of human knowledge." (St. Louis P-D, 8/25/68)
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