Karlos wrote:
@metalman
Is it so hard for you to believe that a rival you were in fierce competition with simply had the technological upper hand for a while?
Summary of the article:
How America Chose Not to Beat Sputnik Into Space
By T. A. Heppenheimer The Soviet launch of Sputnik was a surprise, and they had a early lead in payload launch.
The U.S. decided to hold back on firing of the fourth stage of a Jupiter-C military rocket in 1956, The US wanted to establish the legal right to conduct satellite overflights as a matter of international law.
Launching a Vanguard rocket with a scientific mission, which was based on rockets that had been designed and built for scientific research, was the launch to establish the predicent, however the Soviets launched Sputnik, Oct 4th 1957.
On November 3, the Soviets launched Sputnik 2. Weighing more than half a ton, it was six times as heavy as Sputnik 1, and it carried a dog named Laika as a passenger. Sputnik 2 foreshadowed the orbiting of a man. Suddenly the public became worried.
On December 6 the Vanguard rocket crashed on the launch pad, disintegrating into an enormous fireball.
On January 31, 1958, just 84 days after receiving go-ahead, the four stage Jupiter-C rocket that could have flown in 1956, placed Explorer 1 in orbit as the first American satellite.
The Soviets got to spend a few years exulting in the “missile gap.” and demonstrating showy space firsts, the US quietly built a mlitary space-based reconnaissance system to monitor the Soviets.
