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<!DOCTYPE HTML>
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<HEAD>
<TITLE>Chariots for Apollo, ch1-1</TITLE>
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<h2>1957 to Mid-1961</H2>
<P>
The orbiting of Sputnik I in October 1957 stirred the imagination and
fears of the world as had no new demonstration of physics in action
since the dropping of the atomic bomb. In the United States the effect
was amplified by realization that the first artificial satellite was
Russian, not American. Yet the few scientists and engineers working in
Project Vanguard and other U.S. space projects were surprised only at
the actual timing. Indeed, they had already considered means of sending
man around the moon.
<p>
Modern rocket technology dates from the Second World War; the
development of intercontinental ballistic missiles in succeeding years
resulted in machines that could eventually launch vehicles on space
missions. In this same time, man's flying higher, faster, and farther
than ever before suggested that he could survive even in space. Sputnik
I caused alarm throughout the United States and the ensuing public
clamor demanded a response to the challenge.<a href="#source1"><b>1</b></a>
During the next year, many persons in government, industry, and academic
institutions studied means and presented proposals for a national space
program beyond military needs. After decades of science fiction, man
himself, as well as his imagination, moved toward an active role in
space exploration.
<p>
Concurrently with the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) in late 1958 - a year after the first Sputnik<a
href="#source2"><b>2</b></a> - a proposal (which became Project Mercury) was
approved to fly man in near-earth orbit.<a href="#source3"><b>3</b></a>
<hr>
<p>
<a name="source1"><b>1</b>.</a> Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, and
Charles C. Alexander, <cite>This New Ocean: A History of Project
Mercury</cite>, NASA SP-4201 (Washington, 1966), pp. 28-29; Martha
Wheeler George, "The Impact of Sputnik I: Case-Study of American
Public Opinion at the Break of the Space-Age, October 4, 1957,"
NASA Historical Note 22, 15 July 1963.<p>
<a name="source2"><b>2</b>.</a> Senate Special Committee on Space and
Astronautics, <cite>National Aeronautics and Space Act: Hearings on S.
3609</cite>, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., 1958; House Committee of Conference,
<cite>National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958: Conference Report (to
accompany H.R. 12575)</cite>, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., 15 July 1958;
Public Law 85-568, 72 Stat. 426, <cite>An Act to provide for research
into problems of fight within and outside the earth's atmosphere, and
for other purposes</cite> (hereafter cited as the <cite>Space Act of
1958</cite>), H.R. 12575, 85th Cong., 29 July 1958.<p>
<a name="source3"><b>3</b>.</a> NASA, <cite>First Semiannual Report to the
Congress: October 1, 1958–March 31, 1959</cite> (Washington,
1959).
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