Sputnik, VonBraun, and Open Skies

[Obviousman]

Most space buffs know about the launch of Sputnik, and how VonBraun probably could have launched a Jupiter-C with an orbital payload earlier than the Soviets. In fact, they were ordered to place a ballast in the final stage of the Jupiter in case anyone got ideas about 'accidentally' achieving orbit.

(Yes, that's not quite correct but it will do for this question)

History tends to record this as being a stuff-up by the US, and being followed by a scramble to catch up after the Sputnik launch.

I have another opinion, and would like to hear peoples thoughts on it.

The Eisenhower administration was well aware of the capabilities and relative merits of all the competing launch vehicles (Atlas, Vanguard, Jupiter). It would seem - even without hindsight - that the Vanguard option was a poor choice (even considering the political implications of a "German" rocket).

During this period, Eisenhower had proposed an "Open Skies" policy with the USSR. This would be a bi-lateral agreement to allow reconnaissance overflight of each other in order to allay fears about weapons development / intentions. The USSR rejected the proposal.

The US administration knew well that once orbital flight had been achieved, payloads of 'spy satellites' would soon follow. There was a fear, though, that this 'orbital overflight' might be seen as a violation of sovereign territory by the USSR. The USSR might protest and seek to obtain a ban on intelligence gathering payloads.

I believe that the Eisenhower administration purposely 'knobbled' their own orbital attempts until the USSR had achieved orbital flight. Once the USSR had their own payload in orbit, crossing over US territory, they could not easily complain about similar US actions.

I think this was actually a very shrewd move by the administration to pave the way for reconnaissance satellites.

Comments?

[gwiz]

I first heard this idea floated about ten years ago. My take, unless some good evidence turns up, is that it is just an exercise in restoring Eisenhower's reputation. He wasn't afraid to send aircraft on reconnaissance missions over the USSR, so why should he have worried about satellites?

Fact is, the USSR caught the USA half asleep.

[PhantomWolf]

Fact is, the USSR caught the USA half asleep.

I disagree. The US weren't asleep, their politicians just didn't consider it important. It was not a gambit by Eisenhower, nor was a lack of awareness of the situation, they just didn't consider it a threat, or a necessity. If they had cnsidered a Soviet satellite to be a threat, they wouldn't have worried but how they got their own up there, they would have given von Braun and co the go far far eariler, rather than waiting for them to all threaten to resign before letting them launch. The US was more interested in other areas, and space wasn't a big deal, until Kennedy needed something to smooth over his disaterous Bay of Pigs incident. Suddenly space was huge, and the Space Race was on. Until that moment though, only few people were really interested, and few of them were in Government.

[Apollo Gnomon]

I recently read a book about Jack Northrup. He designed a "flying wing" that the USAF was briefly interested in. Then the military decided they were totally UNinterested in it, and paid for the prototypes to be cut up, right there on Northrup's taxiway.

The military had many reasons for their decisions, including how many aerospace companies they wanted to feed between wars, but I think one of the major parts had to be this: The Soviets had already reverse-engineered the b29 (and other equipment), and the flying wing had a natural resistance to radar, just by it's shape.

The game being played by the US and USSR was complicated and had many parts. The Pentagon brass probably wet their pants when they realized what they had (an invisible high-capacity long-range bomber) that the soviets would copy as soon as they saw one in action.

So they threw out the design for a weapon they couldn't counter yet.

My on-topic point? Nobody was half-asleep. The game was more dangerous than anything else yet played.

I agree with the original post. The choice of missile/satellite platform to roll out FIRST was an important and complex decision. Egos had to get out the way. You don't tip your whole hand of cards at once, if it makes sense to force your opponent into revealing some cards first. Then you can play trump.

[Al Johnston]

That would require a degree of Governmental omniscience never displayed before or since

[gwiz]

A flying wing configuration has severe drawbacks in longitudinal control capability, making it very difficult to fly. This configuration only became practical with the development of computerised stability augmentation, which was not available when Northrup's design was produced in, as far as I remember, the late 1940s/early 1950s.