at least a partially closed space feeding system
by the time it is critically needed and, eventually, an ideal one
for long voyages of man into the remoter reaches of outer
space.[54]

If the optimists are right, it is conceivable that the information gamed
from this research will have profound influence on food and agricultural
processes in the future. The use and growth of synthetics or new foods,
and their effects on the soil, could prove invaluable as the worlds
population climbs and the demand for food multiplies. Better
understanding of weather processes, as provided through space
exploration, will also be valuable in terms of agriculture. Long-range
accurate weather prediction would be worth millions of dollars in proper
crops planted and crop damage avoided.

Meanwhile, as in other technological areas, space research is providing
specific new tools for the food and agriculture industry. Infrared food
blanching, for instance, is highly effective in preparing foods for
canning or freezing. The development of a new forage harvester based on
principles of aerodynamics uncovered by missile engineers is another
example.

COMMUNICATIONS

This is a field of enormous promise, and its practicality has already
been demonstrated to the extent of placing satellites into precise
orbits, such as Tiros (weather) and Transit (navigation), and of
communicating at long distances--23 million miles in the case of Pioneer
V. As a result:

Government and industry technicians are rapidly developing new
Earth satellites to beam not only television programs but radio
broadcasts and phone conversations to every spot on Earth that's
equipped to receive them. Thus this space project, far more than
most, will touch the ordinary citizen. The goal: a workable,
worldwide communications system in space before this decade is
over. It will be, declares one researcher, "the ultimate in
communications."[55]

Incidentally, the first worldwide communications system of this type,
and whether it is conducted in English or Russian, may have crucial
prestige and propaganda ramifications.

Such facilities should be possible through a system of carefully placed
satellites so that radio signals can be relayed to any part of the globe
at any time.

Moreover they appear to be essential when one considers that within the
next 20 years existing techniques are apt to be stretched beyond
reasonab