Essay 8 My Participation in preparing and giving testimony before The National Commission on Space

Essay 8
MY PARTICIPATION IN
PREPARING and GIVING TESTIMONY BEFORE
THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON SPACE

At Washington, D.C., on September 1, 1985
As written in October, 1985

Some time ago I was asked to serve as a member of a LUNAR SETTLEMENT WORKING GROUP in conjunction with the activities of the NATIONAL COMMISSION ON SPACE.

The commission, established by the Congress at the request of the President, and appointed by the President, is currently holding hearings around the country gathering suggestions for national goals in space, where the US should be going, etc. I believe the motivation for its creation was the realization that we continue to make plans, authorize expenditures, and accomplish whatever, without any agreed-upon view as to our ultimate purpose. The idea to form a national commission was a very good one, and I was pleased to have been asked to be a member of any working group, even a lunar settlement one, whatever the reason. I have been told that I was asked in order that I might contribute to the working group a modicum of common sense and pragmatism--not a ringing endorsement, but one sufficient for the day.


The working group met in Washington early Monday morning on the 16th of September to prepare our testimony. Those present were a remarkable collection of very special people, each one tremendously talented in the ability to think broadly and deeply. We could have spent days in each other's company, for our disciplines and experiences were quite diverse, and the rate of learning was consequently very high. Those present included lawyers, Joanne Gabrynowicz from New York City, a very special lady indeed who should be in the United States Senate, George Robinson, Assistant General Counsel at the Smithsonian, and Sydney W. Falk, a lawyer from Austin, Texas, who also has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics! They were certainly not your run-of-the-mill lawyers, and I learned to have great respect for their ability to rise above the reputations they have these days to heights of amazing idealism. They pointed out to us the many legal problems that await us in space, but were marvelous in encouraging us in the belief that ways could be found to solve the problems, and to get on with development and evolution of human society. What wonderful people they were. There were two anthropologists, Ben Finney, from the NASA Ames Research Center, and Paul Bohannan, chairman of the Social Sciences Department at USC. Each of these is an expert on the historical migrations of the earth's peoples. Stephen Haycox, an historian from the University of Alaska, had all of the wisdom that the meeting needed and I am really in awe of him. Phil Quigg is a former Editor of FOREIGN AFFAIRS, and sufficiently intellectual that I was never quite sure that I understood what he was saying, and if I had, I might very well have disagreed. Wendell Mendell is really a great guy from the Johnson Space Center in Houston who forced us to be more practical than we would have liked to be. He and I could talk the same language, and that helped. William K. Hartmann is from the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, and can he ever write! Chris Joyner of George Washington University, Department of Political Science and Julie Anne Ford, wife of Falk and a professional, were also participants. Chris is the co-author with former Senator and Astronaut Harrison Schmitt of a proposal for a management system for our missions to Mars. Eric Jones, astrophysicist here at Los Alamos, a long time friend and colleague, was chairman.

Could people of such diverse training, experiences and views of the future arrive at any common position in advising the government about its goals? Boy, could we!! I have not heard such glowing idealism since I was young. Almost all participants are authors of books, popular articles of one kind or another, and I am forced to concede that they are authentic visionaries, and have me seriously outclassed. Nevertheless, the conversations and ideas were so stimulating that I have vowed to turn a corner, and become much more heavily involved in these kinds of activities. Every group needs help, and perhaps I can give some which can be of value. But I digress.


On Tuesday afternoon, September 17, the l98th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, we made our presentation before the Commission, Joanne reading our brief and appropriately pompous summary statement. Then each of us made an individual statement. As we became aware that almost all previous testimony to the Commission had been technical in nature, usually a plea for specific needs in terms of various parts of NASA's budget, we concentrated on the long-term goals and objectives of such programs, and the philosophy with which the United States should approach such endeavors. Our excitement grew as we realized that we were trying to emphasize what could only be described as a natural extension of the history of mankind in attempts to break away from the past by charting a course into the future. We concluded, probably as a result of massive delusion, that our activities were closely allied to those of the signers of the Constitution, who had a vision amidst problems of all kinds, a very uncertain, even bleak future, no money, very little support at home, and an unconquerable will to promulgate ideals and to push ahead. They were the Federalists (and eventually they broke on the rocks of distrust, internal dissention and sectionalism. There were, in some sense, elitists, and I remember that.) I now quote from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The name Federalists was first given to those who championed the adoption of the Constitution. They brought to the support of that instrument "the areas of intercourse and wealth" (Libby), the influence of the commercial towns, the greater planters, the army officers, creditors and property-holders generally--in short, of interests that had felt the evils of weak government of the Confederation--and also of some few true nationalists (few, because there was as yet no general national feeling), actuated by political principles of centralization independently of motives of expediency and self-interest.

The objectives of the Federalists were achieved to a considerable extent through The Federalist papers, a series of eighty-five essays. The encyclopedia says that they were distinguished more for their insight into problems of government and for their cool logic than for their eloquence, but they became a classic statement of American governmental theory. They were highly influential to legislators who voted on the constitution. It was Jefferson, however, who emphasized and urged individual freedom, and to a very large degree this was our emphasis as we tried to outline importance of the individual and to the individual in the expansion of mankind into the solar system, and beyond.

In a very real sense, the multitude of tasks awaiting those who plan and prepare for planetary settlements are not unlike those faced by the Federalists in so far as government is concerned, but because of the much greater consequences of planetary migration, every small step is much more important, and more complex. But start where you are! We are toying with the idea of trying to establish the SPACE SETTLEMENT PAPERS as a parallel to THE FEDERALIST PAPERS as a means of attracting support and understanding of those issues which must be addressed if the U.S. is to play a significant role in the migration of peoples into the solar system. Please remember, that if we abdicate interest and concern for this endeavor, others will gain control of human history, and this nation will become an archaic backwater, called upon to respond to whatever demands are made upon us. We can lose our heritage, our dreams and the opportunity to participate in the future in any meaningful way.


When we appeared before the National Commission on Space, the members of the commission themselves had a tendency to be a bit awesome. Their chairman is Dr. Thomas O. Paine, former administrator of NASA and a direct descendant of Tom Paine, a personage of some note. The vice chairman is Dr. Laurel L. Wilkining, a planetary scientist. Other members are Dr. Luis W. Alvarez, Nobel Laureate physicist--the man who suggested why the dinosaurs disappeared; Neil Armstrong, of whom you may have heard; Dr. Paul J. Coleman, a geophysicist: Dr. George B. Field, an astrophysicist: Lt. Gen. William H. Fitch, U.S. Marines; Dr. Charles M. Herzfeld, ITT Corp.; Dr. Jack L. Kerrebrock, M.I.T.; Ambassador Jeanne J. Kirkpatrick, former U..s. ambassador to the U.N.; Dr. Gerald K. O-Neill, famous advocate of space colonies; Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan, astronaut; Dr. David C. Webb, space development consultant; Brig. Gen. Charles E. Yeager, U.S. Air Force test pilot, and Gen Bernard A. Schriever, U.S. Air Force. All of these people were present except for Kerrebrock and Kirkpatrick.

When it came my time to speak, I chose to focus on the spirit with which the "migration" of which I am a product was accomplished. After mentioning that all four of my grandparents homesteaded on the prairies about a hundred and ten years ago, I chose to tell a story of my Grandmother McComb's first airplane ride. The stewardess was quite impressed that she was having her first ride at age 94, and after talking down to her a bit, finally asked if Grandmother didn't think it was quite impressive what man had been able to do, and what progress had been made? Grandmother treated this question seriously, turned away from the window where she had been trying to see everything, thought for a moment, and then replied. "We should have made some progress! After all, we have been working on it for more than 50 years!" I pointed out that she had used the word "we", and had felt a part of all the progress that had been made. She was a participant. From there I tried to make the point that each person needed to feel that he was a participant, and that our space program would ultimately succeed only if the hopes of the people of the United States, and of the entire world, were at the core of space program planning. Eric also spoke to the dreams which fuel our drives for progress. We added this dimension in an attempt to get the Commission to understand that there is a lot more to the space program than the development of technologies and science, and that there is a lot more at stake than national prestige and next year's budget.


Because we spoke on the 198th anniversary of the signing of the constitution, we finished by having Joanne Gabrynowicz speak on the significance of the day. She was terrific, giving a speech without notes, and drawing a parallel with where we stand today compared with where the signers stood, not so long ago. She did it much more eloquently than I was able to do, and when she finished, there was applause from everyone! Now that is virtually unknown in that particular environment. Ah, the power of the spoken word!

Will we have any impact at all upon the way this nation will move? I wouldn't blame anyone for saying no, for there is ample evidence that one person's hopes and dreams are easily swamped by the complexities of life, whoever he may be. But never underestimate the ultimate result of the twists and turns of national policy--and many if not all of those shifts are caused by an individual dedicated to the dream he has for what is possible. And that's where we sit at the moment.

We are supposed to have a draft of a written submission to the Commission by October 1, and the final document ready on November 1. One of the Commissioners told Eric, Joanne, and me that our presentation was quite unlike any which they had had so far, that he was very impressed with what we were trying to say, and that he would get as much of our report as he could into the document that goes to the President and to the Congress next March. He asked us to get all of our points into the document, for then he could reference them. Well, that's progress of a type. We are going to give it the old college try, but we are also looking to find ways to get the issues before the public. Prof. Haycox explained how a number of individuals in Alaska were able to get the majority of people in the U.S. to support Alaskan statehood when there were all kinds of opposition and apathy, and the number of Alaskans was few indeed. It was almost entirely an individual effort. (Incidentally, Gov. Walter Hickel is a member of our group, but was not present at our meeting.) So, we will finally come to plotting and scheming, you may be glad to hear.

And one of these days we're going to get organized!


Additional note: Our SPACE SETTLEMENTS PAPERS were published in 1994, and had an utterly trivial impact on the public.