The Antarctic Treaty

The work of the IGY led directly to the Antarc­tic Treaty of 1959, which regulates international relations concerning Antarctica. Antarctica is the only continent on earth without a native human population, and none of the continent has been appropriated under claim of right of discovery. The treaty’s main aim is to establish Antarctica as a continent to be used by all nations for peaceful purposes and for cooperative scientific research. Military activity, weapons testing, nuclear test­ing, and radioactive waste disposal are prohibited. The Treaty went into effect on June 23, 1961, and over 40 nations are signatory to it.

The Antarctic Treaty is a singular achieve­ment by the governments on earth, and it stands in stark contrast to the history of nationalistic exploration and colonization that began with the Spanish expeditions led by Columbus in 1492. One of the reasons that Antarctica was never colonized, of course, is the fact that its climate has been inhospitable to long-term human pres­ence. It is obvious that outer space possesses the same characteristics, even more so. The existence of the Antarctic Treaty, then, held out some hope in many quarters of the world that the Space Age might bring a more hopeful future to humankind.

The Space Race Begins

Compounding the frustration of the United States over Sputnik, the Soviets launched a second, and larger, satellite (Sputnik 2) on November 3, 1957. This one carried a live animal, a dog named Laika, into orbit. Laika is believed to have survived only for a few hours due to an inability to properly regulate temperature in the capsule. But the Sovi­ets were obviously making strides in space. The propaganda value to the U. S.S. R. was significant.

On January 31, 1958, the United States finally launched its first earth satellite, Explorer 1. Although smaller than either Sputnik 1 or Sput­nik 2 (Explorer 1 weighed 30.8 pounds compared to 184 pounds for Sputnik 1 and 1,120 pounds for Sputnik 2), it accomplished more than the Sputniks; its mission payload Geiger counter was responsible for the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts.9

While the launch of Explorer leveled the playing field, it also launched the contest that would preoccupy the world for the next 30 years, the Space Race. The shock of Sputnik also caused the United States to swiftly cre­ate a permanent federal agency dedicated to the exploration of space. All U. S. nonmilitary space activities were placed in the venerable, presti­gious National Advisory Committee on Aero­nautics (NACA).10 In 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which converted NACA into NASA, and charged the agency with the broad mission to plan, direct, and conduct aeronautical and space activities, to involve the nation’s scientific community in its mission, and to disseminate information about its activities.

The stage was now set; the actors (the United States and the Soviet Union) took their places on the stage; the world audience looked on; the only trouble was nobody had a script.