"Space spin-off in postoperative care: a Doppler ultrasound stethoscope is an impressive example of microminiaturization. It is enormously more sensitive than an acoustic stethoscope; the gain can be controlled, and, because of its Doppler nature, fluid flow volume and direction can be inferred by a skilled operator. Being ultrasound at extremely high frequency, it is highly directional; an acoustic stethoscope is not.
"It generates a tight beam of ultrasound beyond the range of the human ear. This beam strikes something and bounces back, causing interference beats in the audible range. It behaves much like Doppler radar save that the radiation is ultrasound rather than electromagnetic. Thus it is a non invasive way to explore inside the body without the dangers of x - ray ... and is able to 'see' soft tissues that x - ray can't see.
"Both characteristics make it especially useful for protecting pregnant mothers and unborn babies. I am not departing from the call; babies unborn and newly born, and mothers at term must be classed as 'temporarily but severely handicapped.'
"Doppler ultrasound was used on me before, during, and after surgery.
"After my convalescence I was again examined by computerized axial tomography. No abnormalities - - other than the new plate in my skull.
"This brain surgery is not itself a spin-off from space technology ... but note how repeatedly space spin-offs were used on me before, during, and after surgery. This operation is very touchy; in the whole world only a handful of surgical teams dare attempt it. Of the thousand - odd of these operations to date, worldwide, Dr. Chater has performed more than 300. His mortality rate is far lower than that of any other team any - where. This is a tribute to his skill but part of it comes from his attitude: he always uses the latest, most sophisticated tools available.
"I was far gone; I needed every edge possible. Several things that tipped the odds in my favor are spin-offs from space technology.
"Was it worthwhile? Yes, even if I had died at one of the four critical points - because sinking into senility while one is still bright enough to realize that one's mental powers are steadily failing is a miserable, no-good way to live. Early last year I was just smart enough to realize that I had nothing left to look forward to, nothing whatever. This caused me to be quite willing to 'Go - for - Broke' - get well or die.
"Did it work? I have been out of convalescence about one year, during which I've caught up on two years of technical journals, resumed studying - I have long been convinced that life - long learning helps to keep one young and happy. True or not, both my wife and I do this. At present Tam reviewing symbolic logic, going on into more advanced n - dimensional, non - Euclidean geometries, plus another subject quite new to me: Chinese history.
"But I am working, too; I have completed writing a very long novel and am about halfway through another book.
"I feel that I have proved one of two things: either I have fully recovered.. . or a hole in the head is no handicap to a science - fiction author.
"I must note one spin-off especially important to the aged and the handicapped: spiritual spin-off.
"'Man does not live by bread alone.' Any physician will tell you that the most important factor in getting well is the will to live - contrariwise, a terminal patient dies when he gives up the fight.
"I have been in death row three times. The unfailing support of my wife sustained my will to live.. . so here I am. In addition I have believed firmly in space flight for the past sixty - odd years; this has been a permanent incentive to hang on, hang on! My wife shares this; she decided years back to die on the Moon, not here in the smog and the crowds. Now that I am well again I intend to hang in there, lead a disciplined life, stay alive until we can buy commercial tickets to the Moon ... and spend our last days in low - gravity comfort in the Luna Hilton, six levels down in Luna City.
"Foolishness? Everyone in this room is old enough to know by direct experience that today's foolishness is tomorrow's wisdom. I can remember when 'Get a horse!' was considered the height of wit. As may be, anything that gives one a strong incentive to live can't be entirely foolish.
"I get a flood of mail from my readers; a disproportionate part of it is from the very old and the handicapped. It is impossible to be a fan of my fiction and not be enthusiastic for space travel. Besides, they tell me so, explicitly, in writing.
"Examples:
"A college professor, blind from birth. He's never seen the stars; he's never seen the Moon. The books he reads and rereads - has read to him by his secretary - are about space travel. He went to a lot of trouble to look me up... to discuss our space program.
"A teen - age boy, tied to a wheelchair, who wrote to ask me whether or not he could become an astronautical engineer - some 'friend' had told him that it was a silly ambition for a cripple. I assured him that an engineer did not need legs even on Earth surface, advised him in what courses to take, and referred him to a story by Arthur C. Clarke in which a double amputee, both legs, commands a space station.
"A housewife with epilepsy, grand mal, who doesn't expect ever to be able to go out into space... but finds her greatest interest in life, her major relief from the tedious routine she must follow, in our space program.
"Avery large number of elderly people who wrote to me immediately after the first landing on the Moon, all saying, in effect, that they thanked the Lord that they had been spared long enough to see this great day.
"I could add examples endlessly. Just let me state flatly that my files hold proof that the aged retired, the shut - ins and the disabled of all ages get more spiritual lift out of space flight than does any other definable group of our citizens. For many of them the television screen is their only window on the world; something great and shining and wonderful went out of their lives when the Apollo Moon program ended.
"Even if a space program had no other spin-off, isn't that sort worth 5 a day?"
AFTERWORD
Later: No, to most citizens of the United States the entire space program plus all its spin-offs is not worth even 5 per day; the polls (and letters to Congress) plainly show it. And they won't believe that 5 figure even if you do the arithmetic right in front of their eyes. They will still think of it as "all that money" being "wasted" on "a few rocks."
It is easy to prove that the space program paid for itself several times over in terms of increased gross national product... and in new technology... and in saved lives. But they won't believe any of that, either.
NASA has two remarkable records: first, a space program far more successful than anyone had dared hope; and, second, the most incredibly bumbling, stupid, inept public relations of any government agency.
A Congressman's counsel pointed out to me that NASA and other government agencies were by law not permitted to advertise themselves. Oh, come off it! - it does not matter whether a man is called a "public information aide" or a flack; a press agent defines himself by what he does. The man who was NASA's boss flack all during the Moon program had the endearing manners of Dennis the Menace. He's gone now - but the damage he did lives on, while our space program is dying.
Still... if you aren't willing to give up and start studying Mandarin or possibly Japanese, you can write to your congressman and to both your senators and tell them how you feel about it. If you do, send copies to Don Fuqua (Democrat, Lower House) and to Barry Goldwater, Sr. (Republican, Upper House). A strong space program has many friends in both parties and in both houses - but it is necessary to let them know that they have friends.