Science Past from the issue of November 5, 1960
By Science News
âBUMPERSâ FOR SPACE SHIPS
â Sound-proofed âmeteor bumpersâ for space ships are needed to provide important psychological and physical protection for astronauts traveling through fast moving concentrations of space dust as they leave the earth, Dr. Fred L. Whipple, director, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and a professor of astronomy at Harvard University, reported. The sound of the tiny âcosmic puff ballsâ as they hit the space vehicles may give the occupying astronaut âthe sense of being under military siege,â he warned scientists attending the symposium.⊠The concentration of space dust close to the earth is 100 to 10,000 times as high as that encountered some 80,000 miles in space.