Robert M. Dienesch - Eyeing the Red Storm: Eisenhower and the First Attempt to Build a Spy Satellite

When Americans went to bed on October 3, 1957, little did they realize that the night sky was about to change forever. The only forewarning was a small article in the New York Times, Soviet Expert Tells West of Test of Rocket. Found at the bottom left corner of the first page on the morning of October 4, the piece would have garnered only passing interest had it not been for the events of the day.

At Tyuratam in Kazakhstan, just minutes before midnight on October 4, a Soviet rocket blasted off. At its top sat the Soviet Unions contribution to the satellite program of the International Geophysical Year ( IGY ). Weighing only eighty-four kilograms, the polished metal sphere of Sputnik, meaning traveler, was an oversized radio beacon. Its sole purpose was to orbit the earth and make electronic noise. And what a noise it made! It permanently altered the tranquil night sky. The earth and the moon were no longer alone. A man-made signal pierced the eerie silence of space.

Americans did not immediately grasp what had happened. Traveling at over seventeen thousand miles an hour, the satellite (complete with its booster and protective shroud following in its wake) flew over the United States twice before the U.S. government became aware of it. Radio Moscow first broke the news to the world, playing up the achievement for its propaganda value. In the United States the shock and disbelief were evident. Believing strongly that the nation had to act and that the Americans IGY counterpart to Sputnik VANGUARD would not provide results in the near future, Werner Von Braun, long a vigorous advocate of satellite research and director of the Development Operations Division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency ( ABMA ), felt that all he needed was the opportunity to launch a satellite. He saw the Soviet success as a challenge that the United States had to meet immediately.

Most of the rest of the country reacted with shock and fear. The event shook Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson ( D - TX ), who quickly realized its political implications. Following dinner on the evening of the 4th, he led guests at his Texas ranch outside to stare at the dark sky, which was no longer reassuring but now created a sense of dread. The consequences for U.S. national security were very clear. If the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) could put a satellite in orbit, the same rocket booster could theoretically deliver a nuclear warhead to an American city. That prospect held enormous potential as a means of challenging Dwight D. Eisenhowers Republican administration (195361).