|
Claiming the High Ground
Dr. Wernher von Braun along with the team he directed, realized early on in the race for space with the Soviet Union a relatively inexpensive Minimum Satellite Vehicle with a payload of 5 lb. was possible with components available from weapons development of the Army Ordnance Corps. Such components reached an advanced development stage and were expected to attain a sufficient degree of liability by 1956, to warrant use in a satellite vehicle. In view of the launching and tracking problems of a satellite vehicle it was suggested to establish a joint Army-Navy-Air Force satellite vehicle project. Office of Naval Research, endeavoring to establish a satellite project, expressed definite interest in the proposal. In retrospect it is difficult to recapture the sense of fear and anxiety that, for many Americans, characterized the early years of the Cold War. >From the United States' perspective the Soviet Union and its communist allies appeared to be on the offensive around the globe. These were the days of the "Red Menace": a time when school children crouched under their desks during air raid drills; worried homeowners built fallout shelters; and the government conducted an intrusive campaign to ferret out shadowy "communist sympathizers" suspected of plotting against the nation. . .world. October 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial earth orbiting satellite, Sputnik I. Using primary documents found in the collections at the USSRC, the reader is able to conclude for himself the course of action taken by the US Government. |
