Jul 24 1945

From The Space Library

Professor J.B.S. Haldane, an Oxford academic, writes an article "A Man Made Moon" for the Daily Worker newspaper. In this article he discusses the recently revealed plans for an orbiting space mirror proposed as a weapon of mass destruction by German scientists. Haldane dismisses the concept as being beyond current technology but in the process articulates that such a mirror would have to be launched into space by rockets, would have to orbit above the equator at an altitude 22,000 miles above the surface and, if manned, would radio its reports back to earth. He also states that if anyone is likely to launch rockets into orbit it will be the Soviets who have the large open spaces where a misfired rocket could fall without causing damage. He also asserts that they are "the only organisation which finances research for any purpose except war on a scale large enough to make such a project possible."

At this time Arthur C. Clarke is rewriting his seminal paper on geosynchronous communication satellites, which he will submit for publication a few days after Haldane's article appeared. Clarke later said that "Haldane was the preeminent populariser of science of his generation." Haldane like Clarke would leave England to live in Asia. Both men would live the rest of their lives there, Haldane in India and Clarke in Sri Lanka.