That doesn't discourage Dr. Freund, who is 75 years old. He has invested $1 million of savings held by him and his wife, the novelist Hisako Matsubara, in his research, he said. Their son, Minoru Freund, is the director of the Center for Advanced Aerospace Materials and Devices at the NASA Ames Center in nearby Mountain View, Calif., and has worked with his father on his theories. The pair hope that satellites could help them take their theories to the next step.