What is the claim:
i have come to texas today to salute an outstanding group of pioneers, the men who man the brooks air force base school of aerospace medicine and the aerospace medical center. it is fitting that san antonio should be the site of this center and this school as we gather to dedicate this complex of buildings. for this city has long been the home of the pioneers in the air. it was here that sidney brooks, whose memory we honor today, was born and raised. it was here that charles lindbergh and claire chennault, and a host of others, who, in world war i and world war ii and korea, and even today have demonstrate american mastery of the skies, trained at kelly field and randolph field, which form a major part of aviation history. and in the new frontier of outer space, while headlines may be made by others in other places, history is being made every day by the men and women of the aerospace medical center, without whom there could be no history.
many americans make the mistake of assuming that space research has no values here on earth. nothing could be further from the truth. just as the wartime development of radar gave us the transistor, and all that it made possible, so research in space medicine holds the promise of substantial benefit for those of us who are earthbound. for our effort in space is not as some have suggested, a competitor for the natural resources that we need to develop the earth. it is a working partner and a coproducer of these resources. and nothing makes this clearer than the fact that medicine in space is going to make our lives healthier and happier here on earth.
i give you three examples: first, medical space research may open up new understanding of man's relation to his environment. examinations of the astronaut's physical, and mental, and emotional reactions can teach us more about the differences between normal and abnormal, about the causes and effects of disorientation, about changes in metabolism which could result in extending the life span. when you study the effects on our astronauts of exhaust gases which can contaminate their environment, and you seek ways to alter these gases so as to reduce their toxicity, you are working on problems similar to those in our great urban centers which themselves are being corrupted by gases and which must be clear.
and second, medical space research may revolutionize the technology and the techniques of modern medicine. whatever new devices are created, for example, to monitor our astronauts, to measure their heart activity, their breathing, their brain waves, their eye motion, at great distances and under difficult conditions, will also represent a major advance in general medical instrumentation. heart patients may even be able to wear a light monitor which will sound a warning if their activity exceeds certain limits. and also by the use of instruments similar to those used in project mercury, this nation's private as well as public nursing services are being improved, enabling one nurse now to give more critically ill patients greater attention than they ever could in the past.
and third, medical space research may lead to new safeguards against hazards common to many environments. specifically, our astronauts will need fundamentally new devices to protect them from the ill effects of radiation which can have a profound influence upon medicine and man's relations to our present environment.
i think the united states should be a leader. a country as rich and powerful as this which bears so many burdens and responsibilities, which has so many opportunities, should be second to none. and in december, while i do not regard our mastery of space as anywhere near complete, while i recognize that there are still areas where we are behind--at least in one area, the size of the booster--this year i hope the united states will be ahead. and i am for it. we have a long way to go. many weeks and months and years of long, tedious work lie ahead. there will be setbacks and frustrations and disappointments.
frank o'connor, the irish writer, tells in one of his books how, as a boy, he and his friends would make their way across the countryside, and when they came to an orchard wall that seemed too high and too doubtful to try and too difficult to permit their voyage to continue, they took off their hats and tossed them over the wall--and then they had no choice but to follow them.
this nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space, and we have no choice but to follow it. whatever the difficulties, they will be overcome. whatever the hazards, they must be guarded against. with the vital of this aerospace medical center, with the of all those who labor in the space endeavor, with the and support of all americans, we will climb this wall with safety and with speed-and we shall then explore the wonders on the other side.
you.