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Show Monday, February 2, 1987 Cable's Discovery Channel examines of last frontier exploration space LANDOVER, Md. Space travel has always been the object of wonder and fascination. Once, not long ago, the possibilities of success seemed endless. Then came Challenger. Has the shuttle tragedy sapped the national will to explore our last frontier? "Space: Last or Lost Fron- tier?, a s' Q o of The Discovery Channel and the National Space Society, offers a blueprint for landing astronauts on Mars by the year 2035. But the program concludes that this ambition can only be realized if the public, itself, embraces, the lofty challenge. Authors Isaac Asimov and Louis L'Amour, television personality Hugh Downs, National Commission on Space chairman Dr. Thomas Paine, physicist Gerard O'Neill, NASA general manager Phil- ip Culbertson, and others join author and host Ben Bova to discuss goals that may guide our next 50 years in space. The program, making its American television pre- miere on The Discovery Channel this month, includes rare footage of early rocket experiments that took place 50 years ago. Flickering imnever before seen on ages television of scurrying about a primitive launch pad in pith helmets and jodhpurs stand in stark contrast to the sophisticated machines that landed a man on the moon only two generations later. If that much technological progress was crammed into the last 50 years, the pro- gram guests argue, then landing a manned craft on Mars by 2035 is Is space the last or lost frontier? The Discovery Channel will try to answer that during February. scientists surely feasi- ble. Both Asimov and L'Amour stress that the pioneers of space are not unlike the early pioneers who settled this country, and that their efforts and the efforts of those who go after them will ultimately be seen as epic in proportion. Asimov and L'Amour also discuss what has been called the "Space Bill of Rights" and the con cept of a free society in space, a society bered Earth. by unencum- the politics of Created by Congress and appointed by President Reagan, the blue ribbon advisory board that made up the National Commission on Space was designed to formulate an aggressive civilian space agenda to meet the challenge of carrying America into the 21st century. How will we meet this challenge? What future does this new frontier hold? How will our lives be improved by the efforts of those who go beyond the limits of Earth? These are the questions addressed by the commission's recently releasd report, "Pioneers the Space Frontier." The National Space Society, which endorses the com- - missin's recommendations, is a membership organization that supports a noin-prof- it strong civilian space program. Finally, the commission asked "How should we fulfill these goals? To answer this question, they established 12 technological milestones to mark our natin's progress. Included are achievements such as establishing a permanent space station, beginning routine shipment of materials from the moon, and the mining of asteroids. Implausible? Consider, if you will, the way America looked only 50 years ago. In 1935 Pan American Airways inauguruated trans-Pacifi- c service. The last Pony Express rider turned over his mail pouch to a young bi plane pilot. And almost nobody expects to fly the Atlantic that's for daredevils like Lindbergh but half a million people per year cross in ocean liners. Compare that picture with the way America looks today. More than 25 million people fly the Atlantic every 0 year. Astronauts flew at miles per hour to the 24,-79- Moon 18 munication years ago. Com- satellites are flashing color television sig- nals around the world. A spacecraft has transmitted pictures and data from Ur- anus across 1.8 billion miles, and is now flying on to Neptune. The National Space Society has been bringing people together around the country to discuss the issues affecting space exploration. In a re cent meeting in New York, Hugh Downs hosted a roundtable discussion with Isaac Asimov and officials from NASA and industry to speculate on high-rankin- g America's commitment to space exploraiton. The put forward by the speakers in the program was point-of-vie- unanimous: w future space programs will not happen less the public becomes unin- volved. "Space: Last or Lost Fi was produced by Wolf Pictures for The Discovery Channel and the National Space Society. The program airs Monday at 6 p.m. MST; Tuesday at 7 a.m. MST; and Wednesday at 9 p.m. MST in FutureView, the science anthology series of The Discovery Channel (Cable TV). on-tie- r" |