The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

Chapter Chapter 26 26 - - Unmanned Unmanned Unmanned Exploration
Exploration
was the Redstone
missile, which was
first flown in
August of 1953.
The Redstone had
a 200-mile range
and reached a
speed of 3,300
mph.
In 1946, the
Air Force began
research on the
first intercontinental
ballistic missile
(ICBM). The project
had to be
canceled in 1947
due to a lack of money. From 1947 to 1951, the Air
Force did not have an active ICBM Program. Shortly
thereafter, two major occurances changed the national
priorities and money became available to restart the Air
Force ICBM Program.
First, in 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atom bomb, and the United
States lost its nuclear monopoly. Second, in 1950, the Korean War started. In
1951, the Air Force gave a new contract to Convair to build an ICBM. They
called the missile the Atlas.
In 1953, scientists developed a way to build nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on
missiles. In 1954, based on studies from the Rand Corporation and the Air Force Strategic Missile
Evaluation Committee, the Atlas Missile Program was the Air Force’s highest priority. The missile
became operational on September 1, 1959.
By 1955, the Navy perfected the Viking and the Aerobee, the Army had a successful Redstone, and
the Air Force was beginning production of the Atlas. In August 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
announced that the United States would place several small satellites into orbit during the International
Geophysical Year (IGY), which started on July 1, 1957. This project was called Vanguard.
At this time, the United States had two vehicles able to put a satellite into orbit. One was the Navy
Viking (with an Aerobee second stage and a solid-fuel third stage) and the other was the Army’s Redstone
(with an upper stage). The Navy’s entry was selected in 1955 to Launch the Vanguard satellite.
Soviet Union Efforts
Werner von Braun
As for the Soviets, they also had captured partially built German V-2 rockets at the end of the war.
However, as mentioned earlier, von Braun and his team had escaped to the United States. The Soviet
553
The Redstone Missile
The Atlas