IGY and Sputnik 17 January 2019

Warfare drove science War provided a need for scientific and technical development, leading to government support Vannevar Bush described the bargain in ‘The Endless Frontier’ WWII achievements: RADAR, A-bomb, missiles, computers US policy was a conscious application of the Manhattan Project approach, for state direction of science

Hirohima 1945

Bikini 1954

V-2

Space precursors Early pioneers were driven by dreams of space flight Bolsheviks were committed to material growth through science German military developed V-1, V-2 carried bombs to England, invulnerable ‘buzz bombs’ US, USSR captured German experts A-bomb led to Cold War: atomic weapons and ICBMs to deliver them

IGY International Geophysical Year (1957) Planned exploration of Earth and Space Each nation announced plans US, USSR proposed launch of a small artificial satellite US plan selected NAS/Navy Vanguard over Army/JPL Explorer (not to interfere with military) USSR plans not considered credible

Sputnik Announced after successful launch on 4 Oct 1957 No US vehicle was ready then Immediate alarm and danger! Sputnik had immediate discontinuous effects Free world looked to US for moral superiority of liberal institutions and its dominant military Both threatened

Sputnik launch after 100-th birthday of Tsiokolvsky, before 40-th anniversary of Russian revolution How had the Russians come so far? Interest in materialist progress; Totalitarian command economy; Effort to surpass technical achievements of capitalist states; technology serves progress! Sputnik was a famous victory expressing much that is good in Russian culture

Von Braun had already shown multi-stage rockets capable to launch to orbit in 1954, but not yet demonstrated Solid state, miniaturization important because of limited rocket lift (James van Allen later told his student George Ludwig ‘use transistors’). Reliability also critical, along with magnetic recorders

Vanguard Explodes 1957

US Response Meet the competition of direct military threat and to free enterprise and political freedom Vanguard launch 6 Dec 1957 failed spectacularly on TV: ‘Kaputnik’ LBJ Senate hearings on space/defense Belatedly, Von Braun and Army were enlisted Successful Explorer I launched 31 Jan 1958, discovered ‘Van Allen Belts’

Sputnik changed the Cold War Presaged nuclear parity Ended scientific superiority Highlighted vulnerability New era for military, politics called for total loyalty to prove the superiority of American institutions

Krushchev and McDougall Kruschev: Artificial Earth satellites will pave the way for space travel, and the present generation will witness how the freed and conscious labor of the people of the new socialist society turns the most daring of mankind’s dreams into reality McDougall: Russian rocketry and revolution embraced again. The fires of the rocket were themselves kindled by the bombs astride the carriage of Tsar Alexander II

How did the Soviets do it? Impressive large rocket No high-level guidance needed Soviet ideology of distrust and competition assured secrecy Eager to surpass the West in technology Materialistic progressivism No economic competition did not hinder defense technology

All Hell broke loose Sharp slap to American pride Suggested Soviet technical and military parity Eisenhower was under siege for the rest of his term There was no doubt that the Army’s Redstone could have launched a US satellite a year earlier

Background Russians were adept at propaganda Eisenhower distrusted the ‘Military-Industrial-Complex’ American resources were limited because of free enterprise Mobilization would be costly, detract from other priorities, limit other scientific and humanitarian objectives

Early Space Developments NACA became NASA: existing facilities were converted NASA got some Army and Navy facilities New launch vehicles: Scout, Centaur, Saturn & nuclear SNAP (nuclear fission reactor) Early 1959: fewer than 1/3 of first 37 launches reached orbit Echo and Telstar planned: comm sats would become a commercial success Space policy was uncertain after narrow JFK victory in 1960 12 Apr 1961 Yuri Gagarin (Vostok-1) one orbit 5 May 1961 Alan Shepard [5 minutes in space]

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a U. S The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a U.S.federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NACA was pronounced as discrete letters, rather than as a whole word (and after NASA first was established, its initials were pronounced as discrete letters in the early years). Among other advancements, NACA research and development produced the NACA duct, a type of air intake used in modern automotive applications, the NACA cowling, and several series of NACA airfoils which are still used in aircraft manufacturing. During World War II, NACA was described as "The Force Behind Our Air Supremacy" due to its key role in producing working superchargers for high altitude bombers, and for producing the cutting-edge wing profiles for the North American P-51 Mustang. NACA was also key in developing the area rule that is used on all modern supersonic aircraft, and conducted the key compressibility research that enabled the Bell X-1 to break the sound barrier

On March 5, 1958, James Killian, who chaired the President's Science Advisory Committee, wrote a memorandum to the President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Titled, "Organization for Civil Space Programs," it encouraged the President to sanction the creation of NASA. He wrote that a civil space program should be based on a "strengthened and redesignated" NACA, indicating that NACA was a "going Federal research agency" with 7,500 employees and $300 million worth of facilities, which could expand its research program "with a minimum of delay”

Summary Sputnik made the Cold War total It signaled parity and credibility for Soviet propaganda Increased federal activity in all areas Technology, education and race relations became points of comparison US responded in kind to Soviet technocracy Openness and cooperation touted, military aspects shielded Eisenhower: Everything Americans accomplished was the product of unrestrained human talent and energy, relentlessly probing for the betterment of humanity, not the outgrowth of a soulless barren technology, nor of a grasping state imperialism