 Proudly we hail from New York City where the American stage begins here is another program with a cast of outstanding players public service time has been made available by this station for your army and your Air Force to bring you this story as proudly we hail the United States Air Force is entitled experiments in space this is the story of a project carried out in a new field of science the field of space medicine created by the United States Air Force Medical Service this project took Air Force men and machines on a dangerous and spectacular voyage into the upper atmosphere to the last frontier of flight our first actor will rise in just a moment but first young man if you're a high school graduate unmarried and otherwise qualified there's a future for you as an aviation cadet in the United States Air Force you'll receive a year of the world's finest flying training and graduate as a second lieutenant earning more than five thousand dollars a year here's the opportunity of a lifetime to serve your country and build a career that will fit you for responsible positions in both military and commercial aviation visit your army and Air Force recruiting station for details and now your army and your Air Force presents the proudly we hail production experiment in space the plane you hear is a v-47 Stratoget it's headed for the Aero Med Lab at Wright Air Development Center dating Ohio the two pilots of the controls major Clint Graves 33 World War two eighths in the front seat and first Lieutenant Bud Titus 24 a young jet fire in the rear seats are mystified by their new assignment to the Air Force Aeromedical Laboratory they know very little about aviation medicine or the work being carried on at Wright Air Force base as they cruise comfortably along their quiet full of vague misgivings and uncertainty finally but gives voice to a thought you know Clint when I graduated in the Jets last year I thought I was all through with school what goes on at this laboratory you know all they fool around with medicine bioclimatology physiology things like that they go what do they need me for well maybe they want you for a new experiment to find out which has the most brains total birds or jet jacket seriously Clint I don't like it our old outfit was the best in the Air Force I'm gonna figure an angle to get back to it lay off the angles too many of them keep a guy from flying straight and level well don't worry about me any place I want to get boy I get well in that case start calling the tower there's right up ahead Roger right tower this is Air Force jet 9-4-1-7 request landing instructions pretty good landing for an old veteran really greased it in oh well thank you pal after you open the door handling my crutches now crawl off to the old man's home yeah so this is the arrow med lab all those beautiful nurses I hope to see you're calling your clint the colonel dark well I'll be dark right good to see your clint it's been a long time hasn't not since V day in Brussels I guess right oh some celebration that was a bud meet my old flight surgeon Monty Rice I'm glad to know you are hey doc you are a colonel at that night gone quite a coincidence running into you here was not exactly a coincidence Clint I sent for you what you you sent for us Colonel but why doc what do you need guys like us for we're not medics or scientists well sometimes we need flyers here as much as we need doctors or scientists well why are we here well I'd rather you knew a little more first about the kind of work we do with the lab then perhaps your project won't come as so much of a shock that sounds ominous we're with you doc let's see the work here is the heaviest piece of equipment in our lab for a human centrifuge what the centrifuge it's a device for measuring the number of g-forces a man can stand as a jet pilot you know all about g-forces don't you Tyler Roger it's the weight of a pilot's body yeah the g is the unit of measurement we use to describe body weight under normal conditions now the centrifuge here allows us to study the effects of great accelerations on the human body to simulate certain conditions in a high-speed airplane depending on the revolutions per minute of this centrifuge we can vary the g-forces acting on the subject look at this and doc how's the work now the principle is really quite simple that gondola over there is whirled around like a bucket on the end of a string just as a stone would be pinned on the bottom of the bucket so a man in the centrifuge is pinned against the back of his seat brother that things not for me you've climbed into many jet fighters where you undergo the same forces that's what we use it for to find out how much a man can take and still be safe our physiologists have found that men spun in the centrifuge can take up to 10 G's and still move their arms and legs several of our experimenters have endured up to 17 G's in the centrifuge without blackout or redout brother and I thought I'd been on some rough mission well it isn't as bad as you think stand back and I'll show you the centrifuge in action no no no no no don't write in that thing on our account colonel we believe you know this time it'll be a dry run y'all clear okay here she goes that's seven G's now and seven G's the blood is as heavy as liquid iron your blood would be as heavy as much as that crazy merry-go-round the consulate gets up to a speed of 173 miles per hour we discovered that when a man is lying in the prone position the G forces act from back to chest and can more easily be tolerated that's how you boys will pilot rocket someday rocket not just an old-fashioned jet pilot you better start looking ahead Titus there's no doubt that aviation will eventually grow into space flight at the lab here we're just preparing for the inevitable doc I had no idea aviation medicine included such spectacular stuff why it's almost like science fiction it's by no means science fiction Clint and it's by no means also spectacular now take the valuable work Lieutenant Meadows is doing down the hall that's the side of it you should see too right down the hall here what goes on here looks like something between a model kitchen and a chem lab that's exactly what it is Meadows is working on in flight feeding problems where aircrews are sometimes kept aloft the long stretches of time oh brother look at that stake over there if that's an example they've come a long way from the K-rashes we used to get on missions oh yes Meadows has helped us develop an entire line of in-flight foods that do credit to any fine restaurant Lieutenant Meadows I was just describing your work to these gentlemen I hope you don't mind indeed not turn I'll go right ahead brother talk about being spectacular you're the most spectacular thing I've seen so far lieutenant but I'm just a plain garden variety specialist in the Air Force Medical Service well I'm trying to interest my two friends in our work Lieutenant Claire Meadows major Clint Graves my Lieutenant Bud Titus how do you do they've been assigned to us temporarily it would be nice working with you permanently lieutenant I'm I'm very good at eating steak if that interest you and not in the least you seem to me more like the type of pattern oh you mustn't mind but lieutenant these supersonic boys try to talk as fast as they fly well anyhow we've interrupted lieutenant Meadows long enough let's get on to my office where I'll tell you about the T1 suit yeah will you say that again please Colonel the T1 suit the most important project at the base right now and the reason you men are here as soon as I get this safe open you'll have a look at it so far we've kept the T1 pretty much under wraps I here she comes now this gentleman is the T1 suit that does look like something a man from Mars would wear unless we've been on the wrong track very shortly it'll be standard Air Force equipment for what masquerade no nothing quite so bizarre it's to be used for flying in the upper atmosphere up there crews meet many of the same environmental hazards that exist in space the T1 is a pressure suit you mean to be used in case of emergency that's right Clint today engineers can build planes to penetrate the upper atmosphere the only trouble is this fragile human frame of ours isn't adequate to man them it's the job of aviation on medicine to keep human factors in pace with the amazing progress of aircraft designers and engineers that's why we're developing the T1 suit Colonel I'm sorry but I said before I'm just an old-fashioned jet pilot I'm not even keeping pace with you let me put it this way but you know that without protection man will suffocate for lack of oxygen at high altitude yes around 50,000 feet the entire process of respiration comes to an end yes sir but what about pressurized cabins they take care of all that don't they they do but what happens if the cabin becomes depressurized through an accident or enemy action well it explodes in decompression right that's why we've developed this T1 suit it's a vital piece of emergency equipment if cabin pressure drops the suit is built to inflate automatically it forms a protective envelope of its own for the man inside it has anyone tried it yet no we're only approaching that final stage now test with personnel that's the job I want you to do for us why us because Clint here has the kind of all around flying experience we need moreover he majored in biophysics at college sounds like interesting work doc wait a minute all I ever thought about Colonel in college was flying jets where do I fit in as Clint's co-pilot I assume the two of you would make a good team that and your difference in age among other factors which we check made the two of you seem to be excellent for the kind of experimental work that must be done well frankly sir I'm not so sure I go for this deal well I guess orders are orders no no no no but that's not the way I want now that I've had the chance to explain the job to you in person I want things on a voluntary basis some of the work might be dangerous it deals largely with the unknown the final decision is your you are listening to the proud to be hail production experiment in space the return in just a moment for the second act daring and imagination courage and science these have propelled us straight into the jet age the age of airspeed faster than sound of flight into the farthest frontiers of the sky young man how would you like to master one of those jet planes sleek powerful aircraft which represents the last word in military aviation they're considered safer to fly than the old propeller plane if you qualify for and successfully complete the interesting exacting training of an aviation cadet you'll have the chance as a pilot in the United States Air Force practicing a challenging career in the service of your country you'll start as a second lieutenant earning more than five thousand dollars a year if you're between nineteen and twenty six and a half in good health single and meet mental and educational requirements you're eligible to apply for the sixteen month flight training course see if you can qualify at your nearest Air Force base or local United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station you are listening to proudly we hail and now we present the second act of the experiment in space come on over you know it's not a bad officer club they got here right pull up a chair and enjoy it but you've been sitting on the back of your neck around here for two days about time you told doc whether you volunteer for the T1 project or not all right all right don't rush me I I spent the afternoon being briefed on the first test they're gonna run on the suit in the altitude chamber you should have been there well I never did like those overgrown pressure cookers Clint nope the T1 ain't for this fly boy oh you were right when you call yourself just an old-fashioned jet pilot these new ideas can it do so do you don't they boy look Clint you're not gonna get a rise out of me that way I don't care easy but this this screwy suit just isn't my me looking for you Clint hey can I see a minute yeah sure thing that this is us bud yeah I've asked lieutenant Meadows to keep you company while I go over a few things with Clint we won't be long oh take your time Colonel well well well well sit down lieutenant it's a pleasure thank you well you've been dropping any more fresh jet jockeys in the deep freeze over at your lab I guess I did seem cold when we met but you have to admit you were pretty brash well if brash means being knocked into a flat spin you're quite right there you go again wouldn't you say that line of yours will flame out some day hey you're some gal you dig jet guy enough to find my way around the flight line you forget I'm in the Air Force oh no no not for a minute it gives us so much in common seriously lieutenant I want to apologize for the stuffy way I treated you I didn't realize you were one of Colonel Rice's volunteers oh I admire the job you're doing wait a minute I'm well I mean you see it's like this what I what I mean now lieutenant this modesty is I'm becoming stay as brash as you are okay lieutenant if you like me brash that's what I'll be how's about dinner tonight for a start oh sorry I yeah I have some important lab worth to see oh what about tomorrow night more lab work well when oh wait a minute wait a minute is this a stall Friday and I'm really sorry I can't make it sooner all right all right Friday it is and now believe it or not I have to get back to the wait a minute Lieutenant the Colonel ordered you to stay with me keep me company I heard him like you I volunteered for the job what happened you're losing your fatal grip where go I know Claire she went back to her land oh yes yes that's that's right Colonel you know people are sure busy around here now Clint's told me you've decided the T1 isn't for you sorry I won't be here for our altitude chamber test on Friday on Friday huh well who says I won't be here Friday Colonel I volunteer what well but what made you change your mind well I'll tell you Clint I've got some important lab work of my own Benson you understand clearly how we want the altitude chamber operated on this experiment oh yes sir evacuate pressure up to 50,000 feet according to the Brookings graph I have a control memo right in front of me I'm not a member boys stay on intercom all the time the automatic computers will figure most of the information for let me stress one thing report immediately if you have even the slightest suspicion of some malfunction malfunction I got a heavy date tonight but it'd be doing her a favor if you got deflated now go on get in what's the rush we got reserve feet and we any last-minute questions Clint but oh take her away doc good luck see you in a rock bag at Benson right there altitude 23,000 feet sir hold them there a minute Benson how's it going boys let pipe cinch fine be especially alert from now on you'll be working in red line density stage two Benson altitude 40,000 feet sir hold it a minute Benson Clint you're at angels 40 Roger doc how about you bud no complaints sir stage three Ben hold that level a moment Benson you're at 50,000 feet we'd never know all the instruments check out perfectly on the board out here 50,000 feet is what we call the functional border of space that's as far as respiration is concerned we'll hold you there a couple of more minutes and then start repressurizing looks like some air pads blue I can't have to be pressurized slowly or your suits level to blow up to how bad is he I can't know what about you it's too much of a chance I will do Benson depressurize SOP complete but Colonel what about graves think his suit can take it the other man's time reserve is running out pull out the stops Benson stage one yes sir 6000 feet sir open her up not too bad the tubes that didn't blow out crazy not take it easy but you'll be okay in a few minutes three of the tubes blew out in suit thank the Lord the other 12 hell yeah I felt like a mule kick me in a stomach hey look here's how it happened a valve clock it was close huh I'm sorry I couldn't do better for you you found out something we had to know does that mean we have to start all over again I should say not no we learned what we wanted to from the chamber the next step is to redesign the valves according to what we learned today then we'll test the suit in flight next few weeks Clinton Bud put in long hours working with Colonel Rice on the suit and Bud is doubly busy because he's also courting Clare meadow the two pilots run more than a dozen tests on the suit most of them in flight between flights Colonel Rice and his staff modify the suit make infinitely small adjustments and readjustments which are suggested by the reports of the two pilots and the mass of statistical information the instruments record finally the colonel is ready to order a full production model on the T1 suit but first there's one thing they must know can a man bail out in it at the functional border of space where no one has ever tried it before and survive that's the big question then one gray dawn Clint Graves Bud Titus Colonel Rice and a third pilot Jake Evans sit quietly in the ready room taking pure oxygen preparing for the big hop that's enough oxygen boys let me check over your suit once more but yes sir I've been in the suit so much recently Colonel I ought to wear it for pajamas I'll just stay wide awake this morning but that's all I ask level off one thing about it there's no turbulence up here well this is where I get off right Colonel run over the checklist with Jake once again but location here Jack battery and radio Jack bailout bottle Jack GI regulator that covers it any sign of decompression sickness but okay then we're ready to complete the test prepare for bailout and take good care of that oxygen bottle Roger doc and by the open Bombay Clint it's all yours but proceed with bailout but leaves in the space through the perpetual dark blue above 40,000 feet where the stars always shine he's promise downward only the T1 suit stands between his earth-conditioned frame and sudden death in the outer regions of the atmosphere if it's good enough falling falling a free fall of 30,000 feet the longest man has ever tried and then the automatic shoot pairs open the pigs are squealing and grunting man you should have seen that farmer's face he got one look at the old T1 suit lit out of the place like he had a rocket booster in his hip-hop oh he was not such a secret for me why honey when a girl's fiancee makes history she should be told about it that makes us even clear he didn't breathe a word to me about this engagement party well like I always said doc Bud's just a shy old-fashioned anyway congratulations but every happiness to your book thank you Colonel I guess you know by now how grateful I am you had me sent here for one thing I never would have met Claire I'm grateful to you you and Clint deserve as much credit as anyone for the success of the T1 suit I just said a telegram to Washington recommending production on the T1 they make a formal model I wear at the Bud's wedding that's very apropos well I hate to break up the party but I must call it a night oh doc don't go it's still early not for me don't forget we in space medicine have a big job getting you pilot set for things to come I have to be at work first thing tomorrow morning on a new project the biggest yet young man do you have a flair for scientific subjects physics mathematics electricity astronomy as an aircraft observer in the United States Air Force you would use your technical knowledge as a rated flying officer on an Air Force flying team in an interceptor bomber reconnaissance or transport plane you'd be trained to operate the latest in electronic and radar equipment you'd be a member of a flying team trained in such skills as navigation bombardment radar interception and others you're eligible to apply if you're between 19 and 26 and a half single and have a high school diploma if you pass written and physical entrance examination you'll start on a 14 month intensive training course then graduation aircraft observer wings a commission as an Air Force Lieutenant earnings over $5,000 and an interesting assignment as flying officer in your United States Air Force this has been another program on proudly we hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station proudly we hail is produced by the recruiting publicity center for the United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting service this is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in the same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we hail