Astronomers Will Discuss Space Travel

"Astronomers Look at Space Travel" is the subject of a panel which tonight will climax the 97th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

The panel, which will deal with the advantages of establishing an observatory in space, will begin at 8:15 in Sanders Theatre.

John P. Hagen, director of the artificial satellite program at the Naval Research Laboratory, will be the principal speaker. The panel will include Fred L. Whipple, professor of Astronomy and director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, who will give a general introduction to the possibility of space travel.

Also on the program will be Gerald de Vaucouleurs, from the Lowell Observatory, who will discuss what might be learned from the observation of a planet at close range, and G. M. Clemence, of the U.S. Naval Observatory, who will discuss the tracking of ships in space.

Although the program is free and open to the public, tickets must be obtained from the Harvard College Observatory.

Present plans for earth satellites call only for a 20-inch sphere bearing a small load of instruments. The panel, however, will consider the possibility of a manned observatory, which would have the advantage of viewing planets and stars unobstructed by the earth's atmosphere.

The discussion, which will be nontechnical, will be moderated by Joseph Chamberlain, general manager of the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium in New York City.