THE THRESHOLD OF SPACE

Dr. James H. Turnock
~December 17, 1961

            I passed through the doorway, the heavy curtain fell in place behind me, and I found myself in almost impenetrable darkness.  However, my eyes soon adjusted to the lightless environment, and I stepped up to the railing which was not visible in the eerie gloom.  I caught my breath as I gazed at an awe-inspiring sight.

            I was standing on a space platform about a half million miles above the surface of the Earth which was slowly rotating beneath me.  Although its surface was partially obscured by clouds, the familiar land-masses were visible. The Moon and two small, wheel-shaped space platforms similar to ours could be seen orbiting the Earth.  I began to see the stars, pinpoints of light in the inky blackness, quickly oriented myself by locating the Big Dipper and the Pole Star, and then readily found Orion, Scorpio, and other familiar constellations.

            Four larger objects, elements of our Solar System, stood out in the brilliant panorama.  The huge planets, Jupiter and Saturn, dominated the heavens in front of me.  To the left, low in the sky, was Venus, the well-known Morning Star.  Looking past my right shoulder, I could see the red planet, Mars, whose ability to sustain human life has been the subject of so much conjecture and controversy through the centuries.  I was standing on the Threshold of Space.

            From this vantage point I was about to participate in the greatest even in history – the penetration of outer space and the unraveling of the mystery of the Red Planet.  With my companions, I would soon witness the landing of the first manned expedition on Mars.  In our realization of the importance of the occasion, we were all completely silent.

            Suddenly a voice shattered the stillness: “Platform Alpha, this is Deep Space Control.  In a few moments we’ll switch to the launch area.  Everything is in the readiness for the launching of the Nova rocket.  Colonel Shirra and his spacecraft crew have checked out off of their equipment, and we are not in the final stages of the countdown.  There’s the signal.  We not switch to Launch Control.”

            “All stations, this is Launch Control.  We are at T minus ten seconds and counting.  Five … Four … Three … Two … One …. FIRE!  --- It looks like a perfect lift-off.  All the engines are burning evenly.  Radar tracking O.K. --- Soon after the second stage ignites, all space platforms will be able to view the craft.”

            Looking down, I could see the tiny rocket slowly circle the Earth and then commence the long journey through silent space.  When the spaceship neared its destination, we were invited to observe its landing on the other world through television signals from equipment which had been placed on Mars by an earlier, unmanned expedition.

            A panel in the wall of our viewing area opened up and we saw, clearly illuminated, the surface of Mars.  Soon the space rocket came into view and, with its huge retro-rockets slowing it down, settled majestically on the reddish Martian desert.  The hatchway opened, ladders were automatically lowered, and the crew descended onto the rugged surface of the bleak wilderness.  The well-trained astronauts worked quickly setting up their communications equipment and scientific instruments, since that had with them only a limited amount of oxygen and pressure-generating apparatus.

            At the proper time the crewmembers returned to the spacecraft, carrying data and specimens to be used for further research on Earth.  Across the thirty-million-mile void we heard the rumble and then the roar of the mighty engines and watched the ship rise, free from the gravitational pull of the distant planet.  The television picture disappeared, and we were again plunged into darkness as we followed the rocket in its pathway through the stars on the long homeward journey.

            This simulated adventure takes place daily in the exhibit, The Threshold of Space, at the IBM Space Computing Center in Washington, D.C.  As a visitor leaves the Center he is certain that an actual journey to a distant planet will soon take place and that mankind is, indeed, standing on the Threshold of Space.