JAVA - Intro

Introduction

Space science is not a professional discipline in the usual sense of that term as exemplified by the traditional terms astronmy, geology, physics, chemistry, and biology. Rather it is a loosely defined mixture of all of these fields plus an exotic and expensive operational style. The distinctive features of space science are the use of rocket vehicles for propelling scientific equipment through and beyond the appreciable atmosphere of the earth; the rigorous mechanical, electrical, and thermal requirement on such equipment; and (usually) the remote control of the equipment and the radio transmission of data from distant points in space to an investigator at a ground laboratory. Space science is primarily observational and interpretative, being directed toward the investigation of natural conditions and natural phenomena. But it can be and sometimes is experimental in the sense that artificial conditions are created and the consequences observed. Most space science has been and will continue to be conducted by unmanned, automated, commandable spacecraft. But some is conducted by human flight crews performing direct hands-on manipulation of equipment. The latter mode of operation is of dubious efficacy and, in any case, will probably be the technique of choice only in specialized sub-fields involving preliminary laboratory-type experiments under free-fall or low-g conditions.

The personal and professional backgrounds of space scientists are diverse, as is commonly the case in new and interdisciplinary fields. In accepting the invitation of Editor Wetherill of the Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences to write an autobiographical account of my career as a space scientist, I did so with a full realization of the diversity and individualism of those who belong to the fraternal order of space scientists. My account is a personal one and does not include references to primary sources as would a proper scholarly paper. Some of this account is abridged from my monograph Origins of Magnetospheric Physics (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983), but most of it is not.