Scientific Cooperation – Precedent for Space

The Space Age arrived during the International Geophysical Year (IGY), which was actually an 18-month period that extended from July 1, 1957 to December 31, 1958. The IGY was an interna­tional effort to coordinate worldwide measure­ments and data collection of geophysical (earth, oceans, atmosphere) properties, as well as to investigate an expected peak of sunspot activity and a number of solar eclipses. It was apolitical and non-nationalistic, coordinated by the Inter­national Council of Scientific Unions, and 67 nations participated.

The American participation was done under the auspices of the National Academy of Sci­ences, with the stated goal: “. . . to observe geo­physical phenomena and to secure data from all parts of the world. . . .” The IGY sought to capitalize on the many innovative technologies that were appearing after the Second World War, including computers, rocketry, and radar.

The International Geophysical Year was patterned on two previous international scien­tific undertakings. The first was the Interna­tional Polar Year (IPY), which took place from 1881 to 1884, now known as the 1882 IPY. It was the first series of coordinated interna­tional expeditions ever undertaken to the Polar Regions. The project was inspired by the Aus­trian explorer, Carl Weyprecht, who believed that nations should put aside their competition for geographical dominion and, instead, fund a series of coordinated expeditions dedicated to scien­tific research. Eleven nations participated in the effort, and 12 stations were established and main­tained in the Arctic for the three-year period.

A second expedition was conducted on the 50th anniversary of the first, and it became known as the 1932 Polar Year, or the Second

International Polar Year. The Second IPY was promoted by the International Meteorological Organization to take advantage of several new technologies, such as precision cameras and high frequency radio, and to investigate the newly discovered “jet stream.” Forty countries partici­pated and 40 permanent observation stations were established in the Arctic. The contribution of the United States was the establishment in Antarctica of the meteorological station on the Ross Ice Shelf during the second Byrd expedition. The Second IPY was primarily concerned with the investiga­tion of meteorology, magnetism, atmospheric sci­ence, and the mapping of ionospheric phenomena that advanced radio science and radio technology.

Many scientific accomplishments have been recorded through these three international cooperative endeavors. Because of the IGY, for example, scientists defined the mid-ocean ridges (furthering the understanding of the effects of plate tectonics and verifying the formation of continental shapes), discovered the Van Allen radiation belts, charted ocean depths and cur­rents, studied earth’s magnetic field, measured upper atmospheric winds, and studied Antarctica in great detail.