James Van Allen: 1914-2006

August 10th, 2006

Posted by: Roger Pielke, Jr.

James Van Allen has died. Here is a provocative excerpt from one of his most recent writings on space policy:

In a dispassionate comparison of the relative values of human and robotic spaceflight, the only surviving motivation for continuing human spaceflight is the ideology of adventure. But only a tiny number of Earth’s six billion inhabitants are direct participants. For the rest of us, the adventure is vicarious and akin to that of watching a science fiction movie. At the end of the day, I ask myself whether the huge national commitment of technical talent to human spaceflight and the ever-present potential for the loss of precious human life are really justifiable.

In his book Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1989), David H. De Vorkin describes the glowing expectations for high-altitude piloted balloon flights in the 1930s. But it soon became clear that such endeavors had little scientific merit. At the present time, unmanned high-altitude balloons continue to provide valuable service to science. But piloted ballooning has survived only as an adventurous sport. There is a striking resemblance here to the history of human spaceflight.

Have we now reached the point where human spaceflight is also obsolete? I submit this question for thoughtful consideration. Let us not obfuscate the issue with false analogies to Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Lewis and Clark, or with visions of establishing a pleasant tourist resort on the planet Mars.

One Response to “James Van Allen: 1914-2006”

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  1. Jim Clarke Says:

    Perhaps the difference between high altitude ballooning and space flight is that not that many people want to go high altitude ballooning.

    If (or when) manned space flight becomes reasonably safe and reasonably cheap, one would have no shortage of willing passengers, myself included. Plus, there is potentially a lot more to do in space than there is just hanging around in the stratosphere.

    In the short term, robots can and probably should take care of most of the science in space. In the long run, it will likely be private for-profit companies that make manned space flight a permanent reality.