Beyond Horizons a Half Century of Air Force Space Leadership, Revised Edition

8/7/2019 Beyond Horizons a Half Century of Air Force Space Leadership, Revised Edition

1/421


2/421

Beyond

Hor i zons


3/421

Hor i zons

Hal f Cent ur y of i r For ce Space Leader shi p

i sed

Edi t i on

avi d

N

Spi res

ni or Edi t or

ge

Bradl ey

ci at e Edi t or s

ck

Sturdevant

chardS Eckert

r Force Space

ommand

associ at i on wth

r Uni ver si t y

Press

998

For

sal e

by the

US Government Pr i nt i ng Off i ce

Superi ntendent of Documents Mai l

Sl op

SSOP

Washi ngton

D

20402 9328


4/421

Li brary

of Congress Cat al ogi ng i n Publ i cat i on

ata

S pi r e s Davi d

N

eyond

Hori zons

a

hal f

cent ury

of

Ai r

Force space

l eadershi p

Davi d N

Spi res

;

Seni or

e d i t o r

Geor ge

Br adl ey I I I ;

a s s oc i a t e

e d i t o r s Ri ck

St urdevant Ri char d S

Eckert

I ncl udes

bi bl i ographi cal references and

i ndex

Ast r onaut i cs M l i ta r y Uni ted

S t a t e s

Space

Warf are

3

Space Weapons

98 125908

S N 1 58566 060 4

F i r s t

Pri nti ng J u l y

1998

Second Pri nti ng

Sept ember 2001

Thir d

Pri nti ng

J u l y

2002


5/421

o

t he menn women

whom e r

or ce

space

hi s tory

n

t hose

who

recorded t i r achi evement s


6/421

Contents

Foreword

Pref ace

Edi t or s Note

I ntroducti on TheDawnof theSpaceAge

Arnol dandvonKarmanForm

a

Partnershp

2

N C

and the Rocketeers

Lay

theGoundwork

Rocketeers Lead

the Wy

4

Wrti me

Provi des the Momentum rnoldandvonKarman

Establ i sh

the

Foundati on 7

i Before

Sputn k

The

Ai r

ForceEnters the SpaceAge

1945- 1957

RandProposes

a

Wrl d-C rcl i ng

Spaceshp

14

TheAi r Force

Shuns Bal l i s t i c M s si l es 6

Bal l i s t i c M ssi l es

Rece veNew

L i f e 21

TheAi r

Force

Studi es

Satel l i tes

24

Satel l i tes

Rece veNewL i f e 27

Ei senhower

Facesthe

Threat

of

Surpri se

Attack

29

Trevor Gardner

Energ zes the

M s s i l e Program

The

Ai r Force Commts

t o

the

F irst

Ml i tary

Satel l i te

35

The

Admn strati on

Commts

t o

the

F i r s t Ci vi l i an Satel l i te

38

The

Ai r

ForceReconsi ders

a

Ci vi l i an Satel l i te

43

Retrenchmnt on the

Eve

of

Sputn k

44

Retrospecti ve

Fromhe

Threshol dof Space 47

2

From

Ei senhower t o Kennedy TheNati onal

Space

Program

and t he Ai r

Force s

Quest f or theM l i t ar y

SpaceMssi on

958

1961

50

Sputn k

Creates a

Nati onal

Cr i s i s

5

The

Ai r

Force

Sei zes

the

I ni t i at i ve

5

The

Government Organ zes

f or

Space 56

RPTakes Control 57

N S J oi ns theCometi ti on

6o

N S

Takes Shape 65

Renewng

theQuest

f or

the

Ml i tary

SpaceMssi on 68

The

Ai r

Force

Seeks t o Consol i date I t s Posi t i on 8o

vn


7/421

v i i i

The

Ml i tarySpace

Mssi onGoes t o

the

Ai r Force

86

TheAi r Force

Ri se

t o

Ml i tary

Space

Preemnence

93

3

TheAi r

Force

i n

the

Era

of

Apol l o A

Deam

Unf ul f i l l ed

96

The

Ai r

ForcePositi on i n

the

Spri ngof

1961 97

Sei z i ng

the

I n i t i a t i v e

101

Confronti ng

the McNamara

DefenseDepartment

TheAi r Force

Pl ans

andProgram

f or

SpaceLeadersh p

6

Deve opi ng

a Partnersh p wthNASA 9

TheAi r Force

Pursues a Dyna-Soar

and

SpaceStat i on 120

Set t i ng

Course

on

a Manned

Orbi t i ng Laboratory 126

AnEndanda

Beginni ng

33

4 From

he Gound

Up

The

Pathf rom

Experiment t o

Operati ons

136

Ar t i f i ci al EarthSatel l i tes BecomeOperati onal

137

Gound-BasedSpace

Survei l l ance

Comes

of

Age

6

AFl eet

of

Space

Vehi cl es

Sets

the

Course

162

SpaceI nf rastructure Provides the

Support

165

Organi zati on

Provides the Focus f or Space 168

V etnam

O fers the

Fi r s t

Ml i tary

Space

Test

169

The

Ml i tarySpaceCommuni ty i n

Transi t i on 7

Organi zi ng f or

Space

TheAi r Force Commts toSpaceand

an

Operati onal

Space

Command

174

ASpaceCommuni ty i n Dsarray

176

The

Nati onal Debateover DetenteandArmControl

178

The

Ai r

ForceCommts

to a

Space

Shuttl e

18o

The

Gow ngPromnence

of SpaceSystem i n the Late 1970s

184

Sovi et ASATTesti ng

Prompts

Space I ni t i at i ves 188

ADCOMsDemse

andthe

Search f or Space

Consensus 193

TheOrgani zati onal Pre ude

to

anAi r ForceSpaceCommand 196

The

Reagan

Admni strati on s Pl an f or Space i n 1981

2

The

Ai r

ForceForm

a Space

Command

2 2

An

Endi ngand

Poi nt

of Departure

2 7

6 FromSt ar Wars

t o t he

Gul f War

TheAi r

Force Moves t o

Create anOperati onal Capabi l i ty f or

Space 2 9

SpaceCommandSets

an

Operati onal

Agenda

A

Uni ted

St at es Space

Command

J oi ns the

Space

Communi ty 217

TheGow ng

Confl i ct

Over

Space

Roles

and

Mssi ons 219

The Chal l enger

D saster

Creates

anUncertai nLaunch Future 221


8/421

The

Response

t o

the

Chal l enger ShockWves

8

General Piotrowski Chami ons

Operati onal Space 23

The

Bl ue

R bbon Pane

Provi des

SpaceAgenda

4

Ai r

Force

Space

Commnd

Gai ns

the

Space

Launch

Mssi on

8

TheDecade n Retrospect

4

7

Comng

of

Age

Operati on Desert Stormand Norml i zi ng

M l i t ar y SpaceOperati ons 243

Operati on Desert Sh e d Preparati on

45

Operati on

Desert

StormComat

55

Lessons Learned and Norml i zi ng

Ml i tary

Space

59

8 nAi r ForceVi si on

f or

t he

M l i t ar y

Space

Mssi on

Roadmp

t o the st

Century

27

A

Generati on

of

Leadersh p

i n

Ml i tary

Space

Act i vi t i es

27

n

Ar

Force

Vi sion

f or Another Generati on

of

SpaceLeadersh p 75

Appendi ces

85

Notes

299

Gossary

4

Bi b i ography

346

I ndex

369


9/421


10/421


11/421

publ i c

t

l arge

s im l a r l y wi l l

gai n i nsi ght s

i nto i ssues andevent s

ei t her mnimzedor

omtted f rommai nstreamAi r Force

hi s tory

eyondHor i zons promses t o open t he door somewhat wder t o

s to ry that

t o

date

has

f or var i ous

reasons

not

r ecei ved

t he

at t ent i on

i t

deserves andr equi r es

Unquest i onabl y t he growng

avai l abi l i ty

of of f i c i l

records f romt he earl i er years

of

t heAi r For ce spaceprogramwi l l a l l o w researchers

t o i l l

i n

detai l s

m ssi ng

from

hi s

st udy andoffer new nterpretat i ons of some i ssues and

event s

As

t he

Ai r Force

moves i nto i t s second hal f cent ur y

t h i s

added

knowedge together wth

what

we

al r eadyknowf romt he

workof Dave

Spi r es

and

others canonl y hel p us understand

better

t he

f oundati on

upon

whi ch

theAi r Force of t he i century i s

emerging

Z

.w s~

THOMAS

S

MOORMAN

J R

General US F

Vi ce Chi ef of Staff of t he Ai r Force

Foreword


12/421


13/421


14/421

eyondHori zons

earl y

1970s

however twodevelopments

woul d

rei nvi gorate the Ai r

Force space

programthesuccess of

i nstrumented

satel l i tes

and the Space Shuttl e

Chapter

4

examnes

the Ai r Force s

l eadership r ol e

i n the emergence of

a r t i f i c i a l

earth

satel l i tes duri ng

the i 96os

f or

communi cati ons

navigati on

meteorol ogy

and

survei l l ance andreconnai ssance Thesemssion functions hadbeen i dent i f i ed i n

the

l a t e

1950s

andwoul d

remai nthe bedrock

of space

act i vi t i es f or the

remainder of

the

century Booster

and

i nf rast r ucture

support par a l l el ed

the

r i s e

of unmanned

sate l l i tes TheAi r

Force

developed

more

powerfu l aunchvehi cl es

and

est abl i shed

worl dwde networks

f or ground-basedcontrol

of

sate l l i tes

space

sur vei l l ance

and

m s s i l e warni ng By

the

endof

the decade unmanned

m l i t a r y

spacecraf t had

demonstratedimportant

operational

appl i cati ons

i ncl udi ng

duri ng

the

Vi etnam

conf l i ct

the

f i r s t use

of

satel l i tes t o support

mli tary

requ rements i nwartime

Chapter di scusses

the

compl ex i nt er pl ay

of

space pol i cy or gani zat i onal and

operational i ssues

t hat

cumnated i n the

formti on

of the Ai r Force s Space

Com

mand The

maturi ng

of

unmanned

sate l l i tes

and the

advent of

theSpaceShuttl e

compel l ed

the

ser vi ce

to

confront

and

reassess i t s fragmentedorganization

f or

space

and

the

heretoforedomnant r ol e

of the

space

research and

devel opment commu

ni t y

Wth the

i ncreasi ng importance

of

space

f or

operational

commanders the

cent r al questions became

whether

the

research anddevel opment commands

shou d

continue

to

l aunch spacecr af t

andprovide

on-orbi t cont r ol

and

whether

the servi ce

shou d create

an

operational command

f or

i t s space act i vi t i es The debate l ed

to the

establ i shment of amaj or

command

f or

space

operations

i n September

1982

Chapter

descri bes the

e f fo r t s

of Ai r

Force

Space

Commandi n

the 198os to con-

s ol i dat e i t s

control

over space

system andmovetheAi r

force

f rom

an

operational

agenda

f or

space

to the creati on

of anoperational mndset f or space Al ong

the

way

the

command

had t o achi eve

an

ef f ect i ve working r e l at i onshi p wth

a

new

uni f i ed

Uni ted

St ates Space

Commandand

deal wth the space

l aunch

c r i s i s resul t -

i ng

f rom

the

Chal l enger di sast er By

the

end

of the

decadeAi r Force l eader s i ncreas-

i ngl y re f err ed t o

the operati onal i zati on of

space i n maki ngspace

system

cr i t i cal

t o

the

warf ighter

Chapter

7

f ocuses on the r ol e of space i n the Persi anGul fWr i n ear l y

1991

Thi s

conf l i ct

represented

the

comng

of

age

of ml i tary

spaceby demonstrati ng

the

val ue

of

an operational mndset

f or

space Duri ngDesert

Storm spacesystem t hat

t r adi t i onal l y

had

supported str at egi c requi rements

proved

s uf f i ci ent l y

f l exi bl e t o

provide

essent i al

t act i cal support t o

the

warf ighter

The

f i nal

chapter serves as

both

a

summary

of the

Ai r

f orce

space

story and a

point

of

departure

f or

assessi ng

Ai r

Force spaceprospects f or

thenewcentury

The

Gu f

Wr

provided

the

momentum

or

the Ai r

Force t o

take

advantage

of

the

f ur-

t her

technol ogi cal

growth and refi nement

of

mli tary

spacesystemand

the

emerg-

i ng

trendstoward

gr eat er

ml i tary use

of

ci vi l andcommerci al

space

capabi l i t i es

i n

order t o bett er

i ns t i t ut i onal i ze

spacewthin

the Ai r

Force The

studyconcl udeswth


15/421

an

assessment of the Ai r

Force s

l eadershi p posi t i on i n the

ongoi ngdebate

over

servi ce

rol es

and

mssi ons and i t s vi si on f or the

nat i on s spaceprogramas

the

Uni ted States prepared

to enter the 21st century

Preface

I n

prepari ng

thi s

study

recei ved hel p f rommanyquarters

Above a l l

wsh to

thank

the

hi stor i ans at

Ai r

ForceSpaceCommand Drector of H storyM

George

Ski p Br adl ey

andDr R ckSturdevant and D R ck

Eckert

Al l

three read

the ent i re

manuscr i pt

and provi ded wse counsel

and

unsti nti ngencouragement

Ski p Bradl eydi rected the proj ect wth a f i rm

hand

and

provi ded

f u l l access

t o

the

weal th of i nformati on i n

the command s hi stori cal

archi ves R ck

Sturdevant

trackeddownmanydocuments

and

l abored mghti l y t o have cl assi f i ed materi al

downgraded andmadeavai l abl e f or myuse The knowedge

he shared

through

manyhours

of

di scussion contri buted substant i al l y t o my

understandi ngof

key

pol i cy

and

t echni cal

i ssues

O

speci al

note

earl y

i n

the proj ect

we

el ected

t o

defer

more

compl ete

coverage

of

the Ai r

Force-Nati onal Reconnai ssance

O f i ce

rel at i on-

shi p

unti l

a l arger porti on of thehi stori cal

record

i s accessi bl e R ck

Eckert of f ered

i mportant

suggesti ons

f rom

hi s perspecti ve

as

the

pri maryauthor

of

the

space

chapters

i n

the command s peri odi c

hi stor i es

He

al so

performed the

f i nal

edi ti ng of

the

manuscr i pt as wel l as

compl eted the

desi gn

and

page

l ayout

i n preparati on f or

pri nti ng al so

wsh

t o acknowedge

the

outstandingadmni strati ve support

provi ded

by

Ms Karen

Marti nof

the

command s

O f i ce

of

H story

ams peci al l y

i ndebted t o

three

hi s tor i ans

who

agreed t o

read and

comment on

the i n i t i a l

draf t f or accuracyand cl ar i ty M R

Cargi l l

Hal l

the

person responsi bl e

f or

contract

hi stor i es

at

the

Center

for Ai r

Force

Hi st ory of f ered

many

i ns i ghts

based on hi s extensi veknowedge and l ongexperi ence i n the ci vi l i an and

m l i t a r y

space

communi ti es N S hi stori anDr Roger Launi us

provi ded

val uablesugges-

t i ons

on

the porti ons of the

study

deal i ng

wth

ear l y rocket

devel opments

and i ssues

af f ect i ng N S al so

great l y benef i ted

f rom

the

comments

of Dr

Donal d

R

Baucom Bal l i st i c

M s s i l e

Defense Organi zati on

hi stor i an

whose

understandi ng

of

m s s i l e

defense and the St rategi c Defense I n i t i a t i v e i s

second

t o

none They, of

course

are not responsi bl e f or

my

i nt erpret at i on

of

the

A r

Force space

story

I ndi vi dual s

at

two

maj or

ml i tary archi ves

al so deserve speci al thanks D

Ti mothyC

Hanl ey

and D Harry

Wal dron,

I I I

of the

Spaceand

M s s i l e

System

Center

a t

Los

Angel es

A r Force

Base Cal i f orn i a generousl y al l owed

me

extensi ve

use

of thei r

i mportant

document

col l ect i on that beg ns

wth records of the

Western

Devel opment

Dvi si on

i n

the

ear l y

1950s

Col onel Ri chard

S

Rauschkol b,

com

mander

of the

A r Force Hi stor i cal Research Agency at Maxwel l

Ai r

Force

Base

A abama, al so

went

beyond

the cal l of

duty

t o support myresearch ef forts

As

a

resul t

benef i ted f romthe knowedge

and

hel pf ul ness

of

the

agency s

outstandi ng

group

of archi vi sts

and

hi stor i ans

al so wsh t o

acknowedge

D

Thomas Ful l er

Uni ted

St ates

SpaceCommandhi s t or i an whofurni shed usef ul documents

on

xvi i


16/421

an

assessment of

theAi r Force s

l eadershi p

posi ti on i nthe

ongoi ngdebate

over

ser vi ce rol es andmssi ons and i t s vi s i on

f or the

nati on s

space

program

as the

Uni ted States prepared t o

enter the

21st century

Preface

I n

prepari ng

th is

study

recei vedhel p frommanyquarters

Above a l l wsh

t o

thank

the

hi stori ans at Ai r ForceSpaceCommand Drector

of

H storyM

George

Ski p Br adl ey

and D Ri ckSturdevant and D Ri ck

Eckert

Al l three read

the enti re

manuscr i pt

andprovided

w se counsel and unsti nti ng

encouragement

Ski p

Bradl ey

di rected

the

proj ect wth a f i r m

hand

and

provi ded

f u l l access

t o

the

weal th

of

i nformati on

i n the

command s

hi stori cal

ar chi ves Ri ckSturdevant

trackeddownmanydocuments and l abored

mghti l y

t o

have cl assi f i ed

materi al

downgraded

and madeavai l abl e f or my

use The

knowedge

he

shared

through

many

hours of

di scussi on

contri buted substanti al l y

to

myunderstanding

of

key

pol i cy

and

t echni cal

i ssues

O

speci al

note ear l y

i n

theproj ect we el ected

t o

def er

more

compl ete

coverage

of

the

Ai r

Force-Nati onal Reconnai ssance

Of f i ce rel at i on-

shi p unti l a l ar ger port i on of thehi stori cal

record

i s accessi bl e Ri ck

Eckert of f ered

i mportant

suggesti ons f romhi s perspecti veas the

pri maryauthor of

the

space

chapters i n the

command s

peri odi c

hi stor i es

He

al so performed

the

f i nal edi t i ng of

the

manuscr i pt as wel l as compl eted

the

desi gnand page

l ayout i n

preparati on f or

pri nti ng

l al so

wsh

t o acknowedge

the

outstandingadmni strati ve support

provi ded by

Ms KarenMarti n of the command s Of f i ce

of

H story

amspeci al l y

i ndebted

tothree

hi stori ans

who

agreed t o

read and

comment on

the

in i t ia l draf t f or accuracyand

c l a r i t y

M R

Cargi l l

Hal l

the

person responsi bl e

f or

contract

hi stori es

at

the

Center

f or

Ai r

Force

Hi st or y of f ered

many

i nsi ghts

based

on

hi s extensi veknowedge

and l ong

experi ence

i n the c iv i l ian

and m l i t a r y

space

communi t i es N S

hi stori an

D

Roger

Launi us provi ded

val uablesugges-

t i ons

on

the porti ons

of

the

study

deal i ng

wth earl y

rocket

devel opments and i ssues

af f ect i ng N S

al so great l y

benef i ted

f rom

the

comments

of

Dr

Donal d

R

Baucom

Bal l i st i c M s s i l e

Defense

Organi zati on

hi stori an

whose understandingof

m s s i l e defense and the

St rategi c

Defense

I ni t i at i ve

i s

second t o none They,

of

course are

not

responsi bl e

f or myi nterpretati on of

the

Ai r Force

space story

I ndi vi dual s

at

two maj or

ml i tary archi ves

al so deserve speci al thanks D

Ti mothyC

Hanl ey

andD

Harry

Wal dron,

of the

Spaceand

M s s i l e

System

Center

at

LosAngel es

Ai r

Force Base Cal i f orni a generousl y

al l owed

me

extensi ve

use of thei r

i mportant

document col l ect i on that begi nswth

records

of

the

Western

Devel opment Dvi sion

i n

the

earl y

1950s

Col onel Ri chard

S

Rauschkol b, com

mander

of the Ai r

Force Hi stori cal Research

Agency

at Maxwel l

Ai r

Force Base

Al abama, al so

went

beyond

the cal l of

duty

t o support

myresearch ef forts

As

a

resul t

benef i ted fromthe knowedge

and hel pf ul ness

of

the agency s

outstanding

group of

archi vi sts

and hi stori ans al so wsh

to

acknowedge Dr

Thomas

Ful l er

Uni ted

States SpaceCommand

hi stori an

whofurni shed

useful

documents on

xvu


17/421

BeyondHori zons

contemporary

space i ssues as wel l as hi s

perspecti ve

on i ssues af f ect i ng

the uni f i ed

command

Addi t i onal l y amrateful t o

Lee

Saegesser S

Headquarters

H story Of f i ce archi vist who

provi dedsoundadvice

andaccess t o hi s

subst ant i al

ho d ngs on

Ai r

Force NASAi ssues

Speci al thanks ar e owed

t o

two

i ndi vi dual s cent r al

t o

the

Ai r

Force

story

General

Bernard

Schr i ever

t he

father

of theAi r

Forcespaceprogram

gavemthe

benef i t

of hi s

vi ews on

the ear l y

years

andformer Ai r

Force

SecretaryandD rector

of

the

Nati onal Reconnai ssance Of f i ce J ohn

L

McLucas he pedbroaden

my

under

stand ng

of

spaceprogram and i ssues duri ng

the

i g6os

and

1970s

Final l y

shoul d

be recogn zed

that

a book

of

thi s

nature

coul d

not

have

been

compl etedwthout the

benefi t of

the

work doneby

the Ai r

Forcespace

pi oneers

and

the

hi stor i ans

whodocumented

andrecorded

the

Ai r

Force

story

Wwhoare thei r

hei rs

ar e

f orever

i n thei r

debt

Davi d Spi r es

Spri ng

99


18/421

ED TOR S NOTE

nearl y J anuary 1992 Li eutenant General

Thomas S

Moorman vi ce com

mander

of i r Force SpaceCommand cal l ed me t o hi s o f f i c e to

di scuss

a

proj ect

he

had i n mnd Speci f i cal l y

he asked

me t o l ook

i n t o

the

pos s i bi l i t y

of

havi ng

the Of i ce of i r

Force H story

prepare

a

hi story of the

Ai r

Force s

r ol e i n

space

s i nce i t s begi nn ngs

short l y

after Worl d

War

I n

Mar ch 1993 General

Moormanand mt w thDr Ri chard

Hal l i on

Chi ef

of

Ai r Force

Hi st ory

i n hi s

of f i ce at Bol l i ng AFB

Wshi ngton D

C General Moormanoutl i ned the proj ect

to

Dr

Hal l i on

andseveral

of hi s

staff

mmers

What General Moormanproposed

was

not on yvi si onary but al so hard

to

do

Hewanted

a

comrehensi ve

academc-

qual i t y book

that

woul d f or

the

f i r s t

t i me put

i n t o

an

uncl a ss i f i ed

t ext

a

survey

hi story

of the

ent i re range

of

act i vi t i es conducted

by

the

Ai r

Force

i n

space Not

on y

di dhe

request

a hi gh qual i t y

st udy

but

he wanted

i t

wri tteni n l ess

than

three

years and

publ i shed as soonafter

coml eti onas

possi bl e f ter di scussi ng several

ways

of

produci ng

the

book i n-house

at

the O fi ce

of

i r

Forcehi st ory Dr Hal l i on

suggestedcontracti ng-out

the

wri ti ng

of

the

hi s t o r y

t o a qual i f i ed hi s t o r i an and

author

Al though the O fi ce

of

Ai r

Force

H story had a

dedi catedhi s t o r i an

who

mnaged

contract

hi s tor ies

M

RCargi l l Hal l Dr

Hal l i on

had

a

di f f erent

mnage-

r i a l schem i n mnd

f or

t h i s pr oj ect

He

proposed that

the

Ai r Force Space

Com

mandH story Of f i ce

of

whi ch was Chi ef mnage

the

contract

to

ensure

t i mel i ness

and

qual i t y

as wel l as

ensure that

the

author sel ect ed

had access to al l the materi al s

Ax


19/421

Beyond

Hori zons

necessary

t o complete

the

pr oj ect

A though

I had

never managed a

proj ect

of

t h i s

nat ur e I f e l t t hat

retai ni ngcontrol

at

Headquarters A r Force

Spaceommand

woul dbe

of

consi derabl e

benef i t

s i nce

mch

of

the documentati on and

corporate

mmry

on

the subj ect resi ded

at

the

headquarters

Moreover,

f e l t

t hat

by

keepi ng

the

book smnagemnt

i n Col orado Spri ngs I

coul densure t hat

the

studywoul d

remin f ai thful

t o

the goal s

and

expectati onsof

the l eadershi p

of

the

commnd

who

hadgenerousl y

agreed

t o

fund

the proj ect

woul d

l i k e t o

make

the

f i r s t of

mnyacknowedgments at t hi s poi nt Thi s pro-

j ect si mpl ywoul dnot be as i t i s

wthout the gui d nghand

of

General

Moormn

He

not onl y concei ved

the i dea

f or

the

book

and

set i t s i ni t i al

di rect i on

but he al so

spentmnyhourswthmexpl ai n ng

thehi story of the Ai r

Force i n space General

Moormn

an

hi s t o r i an

hi m el f i f

he

hadthe ti me coul d cert ai nl y

have

authored

t h i s study As i t

was

he

pat i ent l y

worked

wthm

to devel opa

pr oj ect

outl i ne

t hat

eventual l y become the

basi s

f or

the

content porti on

of

the

cont ract s

statement

of

work I owea

great

debt of

grati tude

t o General Moormn

who

not onl ygavemhi s

vi si on

of the

Ai r

Force s

r ol e i n space

but

i nspi red mt o t ackl e t h i s

proj ect

wth

enthusi asm

and

exci tement

W

began the process

of contracti ngwth anauthor

or authors)

i nMay

1993 and

submtted

a

Request f or Proposals (RFP) i n

September

of t hat

year

Af ter

rel easi ng

t he

RFPs

we

recei ved

a

numer

of

excel l ent proposal s

d

l i k e

to

mkeanother

acknowedgment

here

The

contracti ngprocess

i s

mchmre

compl i cated

than

I

ever i mgi ned, andI devel oped

a great

deal of

admrati on

and respect

f or the

ded catedcontracti ng o f f i c i a l s at

Peterson

AFBs 21st

SpaceWng

whoprovi ded

the

expert i se to

complete

the

contract Unfortunatel y,

the

contracti ng of f i ci al s

had

l i t t l e

or no

experi ence i n

contracti ng

f or

t he wi ti ng

of an

academc

qual i t y

hi storybook,

and

we

l earnedtogether the f i ne nuances of t h i s uni que

process

Wat amazedm

was

t hat despi t e

the

f act

t hat t h i s

proj ect

i nvol ved

a

rel at i vel y sml l amunt

of

mneycompared

t o

what

contracti ng of f i ci al s

norml l y

managed,

they

treated

m

sml l workl oadwth as mchconcern

and

ded cati on

as

any

of theother l arge scal e

andmul ti -ml l i on dol l ar tasks

they

norml l y compl eted I

am

ndebted t o

the 21st

Contracti ng

Squadron f or the

outstand ng

support

theygave

the proj ect

f rom

the

f i r s t day

of

work

tothe

very f i nal

dayof contract compl eti on

I n

part i cul ar I am

especi al l y i ndebted

to two

contracti ng of f i ci al s Ms

Gerald ne

Humhrey

and

Ms

DonnaTi ernan Thei r

professi onal exper t i se w l l i ngness t o

understand

the

r equi r e-

ments

andstandards

I i ns i s t ed on, and

pati ence

were cri t i cal

t o

the success of

t h i s

endeavor Gerry

Humhrey

workedwthmf rom

the

begi nni ng

t o

the end of the

proj ect

and

I

amrat ef ul

f or her

constant support

and i nt erest

Sel ecti nga contractor was noeasy task as

both

Ms HumhreyandMs Tiernan

warned

m

The

sel ect i on team

t hat assi sted

m

was i nval uabl e

M R

Cargi l l Hal l

of

the O fi ce

of

Ai r

Force

H story

and

D R ck Sturdevant

of the Ai r

ForceSpace

ommandH story

Of ice

spent

mny

hours

revi ewngandevaluati ngproposal s


20/421

Edi t or s Note

I

can

not

overesti mate

M Hal l s

hel p

as hi s experi ence i n

contracti ng hi s tor i cal

st udi es

at the O fi ce of Ai r

Force

H story

was

i nval uabl e at

l l

st ages

of

t h i s

pr oj ect

Dr

Sturdevant s

knowedge of

space

hi story

andhi s wde rangi ngpubl i cati on

record

ensured

that

had

an

expert s breadth

of

knowedge

i n sel ect i ng

the correct

contractor

Af ter many

months

of

work

the

contract was

f i n a l l y

awarded i n

December

1993

t o

Dr Davi dNSpi r es who teaches hi story

at

the Uni versi ty

of

Col orado

i n Boul der

Dr

Spi res

was

uni quel yqual i f i ed As an

Ai r

Force

of f i c er

he

taught

hi story

t

the

Ai r

ForceAcademy and

he

has

al s o authored

a

numer

of

books

on

Ai r

Force

hi story as

contract

author

f or the O fi ce

of

Ai r

Force

H story

He

not onl y proved t o bean

abl e wr i t er but

has demonstrated

real personal

i nter est i n

the

success f ul completi on

of

t h i s

proj ect

Both

the

Forewordand

Pref ace

have

gi ven ampl i f i cati on t o

the

nature

of

t h i s

study I

woul d

l i k e t o

add that

t h i s work

was

compl eted

on

schedul e

and

as bud

geted

Thi s was accompl i shedi n

no

smal l

measure

because of the

ded cati on

of a

numer of peopl e manyof whom

have

al ready

namd I woul d

l i k e toacknow

edge sever al

others

who

may

not have been menti onedpreviousl y Li eutenant

Col onel Wl l i amSemmer

an

I nd vi dual

Mobi l i zati on Augmentee assi gned to

Ar

ForceSpace

Command s

Drectorate

of

Hi st ory hel ped sel ect

photos edi ted copy

and

produced

the

gl ossar y and i ndex H s

sever al read ngs

of

the narr ati ve

ass i sted

us

i n el i mnati ng

a

numer

of

errors and i ncons i st enci es 2ndLi eutenant Deni se

Bost i ck

a r eser vi st worki ng i n the Drectorate of H story f or a ti me tookgreat pai ns

to

f i n d and reproduce

a numer

of photos whi ch appear

i n t hi s book

andass i sted

i n

a numer

of admni strati ve

tasks i n

support of i t s

completi on Colonel

Bi l l y

Meazel l

I nspector General at

Ai r

ForceSpaceCommand generousl ycontri buted

hi s

ti me

and t al ent t o create

the

dust j acket ar t Despi te

an extremel y

busyschedul e

he donatedhi s spare

ti me

to create

an a r t i s t i c

representati on

of

thehi story of the

Ar Force i n space

M Freda

Norri s

and M

Karen Marti n

Edi t o r i al As si s t ant s i n

t he

D rectorate of

Hi st ory accompl i shednumerous admni strati ve tasks

not onl y i n

the

producti on

of the

book but al s o i n

the

contracti ng

process

as

wel l

as

the

con

tract

management aspect of t h i s task Freda and

Karenmadea much

more s i g n i f i -

cant

contri buti on

than

t hei r

normal

modesty

al l ows

themt o

admt

D

Spi r es has

al readymenti onedthe contri buti ons

of our

three outsi de

r evi ewer s M R

Cargi l l

Hal l of the O f i ce of

Ar Force

H story D

Roger

Launi us Chi ef

of the

NASA

H story Of f i ce andD Donal d

aucom hi s t o r i an f or t he

Bal l i s t i c M s s i l e

Defense Organi zati on

I

woul d

l i k e

t o addmy

personal appreci ati on

to them

They

spent

manyhours

advi si ng

meonthemanagemnt

of

t hi s pr oj ect as wel l as

gi vi ng

Dr Spi r es the

benef i t of

t hei r vast pr o f ess i onal exper t i se

i n space hi story

am

i ndebted

to

them

f or t hei r w l l i ngnes s

to

spend

both

t hei r pr of essi onal

ti me

and

i n manycases

t hei r

personal t i me t o

review

andcommnt

on

the

manuscr i pt

At t hi s

poi nt

I need t o

acknowedge two

people

who

have

l abored

unceasi ngly

to hel p

compl ete

thi s

study

Dr

R ckSturdevant

and

D R ck

Eckert Both D


21/421

BeyondHori zons

Sturdevant andDr

Eckert ar e Staff H stori ans i n

the Ai r

ForceSpaceommnd

D rectorate of

H story

and

have

workedwthm

si nce

mappoi ntment as Chi ef

of

that

of f i ce

i n

spri ng 1992

They

are

both

l ongti me

Ai r

Forcehi s to r i ans

and

have

worked i n Ai r ForceSpaceommnd

f or mnyyears

Thei r

knowedge of space

hi s tory

and the

commndhas proved

i nval uabl e

at every step

of theway

Dr Spi r es

has

graci ousl y acknowedged

thei r

contri buti ons but

need

to thank

them

even

more Theynot on yspent

mchprofessi onal ti me

provi d ng

research materi al to

Dr

Spi r es, gui d nghim

o other sources,

and

revi ewng

and

edi t i ng

the

book but

havecounsel edmnumerous ti mes i n everyphaseof

the

management of thi s

pr oj ect

They haveperformed j obs

too

numerous t o

name but

woul d l i k e to

acknowedge speci f i cal l y

thei r

contri buti ons as Associ ate Edi tors

As Sen or Edi t or ,

chose

to

adopt

a

semnari ngmthodf or reviewng each

chapter

Dr

Spi r es agreed

and

i t was duri ng

these

semnars hel deach ti meDr Spi r es compl eted

a

draft

chapter,

t hat

they

mdeespeci al l y s i gni f i cant contri buti ons t o t hi s

pr oj ects

Thei r

i nsi ghts andcomment s

werenot

on y usef ul t o Dr Spi res as hecompl eted

f i nal

chapter drafts but served toprovi dean

hi stori cal

f ramework

t hat hel ped mol d

the

context

and

subtext

of the

proj ect

Dr

Sturdevant was especi al l y

cr i t i cal

i n ensuri ng

that mnycl assi f i ed documents

were

downgradedf or Dr Spi r es use He

s

one

of

the

most

ded catedpr of essi onal s serving i n the

Ai r Force

H storyProgram andone

cannot

prai se hi s contri buti ons

enough

Dr

Eckert

has

been unquest i onabl y

the

dri vi ng

force i n completi ng thi s study Hehas probabl y

read the

mnuscri pt more

than

any

of

us

as an

edi tor

t i s

due

t o hi s personal ded cati on

that

havebeen

f reed

f rom he mndanetask

of copy-ed ti ng Fortunate y

f or t he

proj ect,

hi s knowedge

of

spacehi s tory al so

al l owed

hi m

o

make s t yl i s t i c and

content changes

of

gr eat

val ue

t o theauthor Moreover Dr Eckert s exper t i se

i n

wordprocessi ng proved

i nval uabl e

as hedeveloped

the

l ayout andcompl eted

the

pageproofs

as

wel l

as

the

el ect roni c

f i nal

di sk

copy

of

the

book

He

worked

di l i gent l y t o

ensure t hat l l

as-

pects

of

the pri nti ng

process

werecompl eted

wth the hi ghest standards

H s work

wththe

Defense

Pri nti ng Servi ce was

cr i t i cal

t o theti me yproduct i on

of

thi s

vol ume Thi s book woul d

not havebeen

possi bl e

wthout

the

ded cated servi ces

of m

two

col l eagues, Dr Sturdevant andDr

Eckert, and thank them or thei r

dedi cati on professi onal i sm

and

advice t hat

was gi ven f r eel y

throughout

thi s l ong

four-year process

al s o need

thank the

headquarters staf f

who

supported

the

D rectorate

of

H story s

ef forts

t o produce

thi s studyspeci al thanks goes

t o

the

D rector

of

Fi el d

Support Colonel

Robert

Koen g whoas Chai rmn

of

the

command s othAnn -

versary

Commttee

ensured

t hat

funds

were

avai l abl e

to pr i nt

thi s book So

mny

staff

members

at

the

headquarters provi dedsupport

toward

the

completi on

of

thi s

study

that

i t

i s

i mpossi bl e

to

namthem

l l

woul d

however l i k e t o espec i al l y

thank

thosestaf f

mmerswhoread the

mnuscri pt

as part of the

secur i ty

and

pol i cy

review

process

overseenby

the command s D rectorateof

Publ i c

Af f ai r s


22/421

Most

i mportantl y a

pr oj ect of t hi s nature can not be

successf ul l y

concl uded

wthout support f rom

the

top From

he

f i r s t

day

t hi s

proj ect

began

the

l eadersh p

at

Ai r

Force Space

Command

has provi ded

unfai l i ng support

both

i n terms

of

fundi ng and manageri al

gui dance woul d

especi al l y l i k e to thank the twoVi ce

Commanders

who

supportedt hi s

proj ect i n every

phase

of

i t s accompl i shment

Li eutenant

General

Thomas S

Moorman

r

and

Li eutenant General

Patri ck

P

Caruana They provi ded

l eadersh p t o

ensure

theproj ect

was

appropri atel y sup

ported

and thei r

personal

i nterest

i nspi red

al l those

par t i c i pat i ng

i n

the effort

woul d al so l i ke t o

thank the commanders

of

Ai r

Force Space

Command

each

of

whom

n

turn

never waver ed i n thei r support

and

i nter est f or t hi s study General

Charl esHorner General

J oseph

Ashy

and General

Howel l

Estes I I I Thei r

comments and advi ce

each

ti me

bri efed the

pr oj ect

to them

were al wayspos i t i ve

and

f requentl y i nsi ghtf ul

Fi nal l y whi l e

Ai r

Force SpaceCommand

has

provi dedfundi ng

and

support

f or

t he compl eti on of t hi s

st udy

the

command

has exer ci sed

onl y securi ty

and pol i cy

revi ewof

the

manuscri pt

The

content and concl usi ons ar e s ol el y those

of

the

author

and

donot

necessari l y

refl ect

the

vi ews

of the

D rectorate

of

Hi st or y

Ai r

Force SpaceCommand

or the

Uni ted States

Ai r

Force

George

radl ey

D rector

of

H story

Ai r Force SpaceCommand

Edi t or s Note


23/421

INTRODUCTION

The

Dawn

of

the

Space

Age

I n maki ng t he

deci si on

a s

t o

whet her or

not

t o

under t ake

const ruct i on of such a

[ s p a c e l c r a f t

now[ 19461,

i t

i s

not

i nappropri at e

t o

vi ewour present s i t u a t i o n a s

si ml ar

t o

t h a t i n ai rpl anes pri or t o t he f l i g h t of t he W i ght brothers .

We

can

s ee

nomore

c l e a r l y

a l l

t he

u t i l i t y

and

i mpl i cat i ons

of spaceshi ps t han t he W i ght brothers

coul d

s ee f l e e t s of

B-29s

bombi ngJ apan

and a i r transports c i r c l i n g t he

gl obe

.

n

1946,

t he aut hor s of t he f i r s t Ai r Force-sponsoredProj ect Rand (Research

andDevel opment)

studyon t he feasi bi l i t y of

a r t i f i c i a l

earth

s a t e l l i t e s

apt l y

charact eri zed

t he chal l enge

and uncert ai nt y surroundi ng

t he count ry ' s

i n i t i a l

f or ay in to t he space age Postwar

skept i cs

d i smssed

proposed s a t e l l i t e

and

mssi l e

proj ect s as excessi vel y

c o s t l y , t echnol ogi cal l y unsound, ml i t ar i l y unnecessary, or

simpl y too f ant asti c,

whi l e

space advocat es t hemsel ves remai nedhard pressed t o

convi nce

opponents

and s t i f l e

t hei r own

sel f - doubts

.

Space

r epr esent ed

anew

ocean, a

vast unchartedsea yet t o be expl ored Thedawn of t he space age

brought many

quest i ons

but offered f ewanswers .

Coul d

s a t e l l i t e s be successf ul l y

produced, l aunched, and orbi t ed? I f t echni cal l y f e a s i b l e ,

what ml i tary-or

c i vi l i an sc i ent i f i c - f unc t i ons shoul d they

perform

How

should space f unct i ons

be organi zed? What space pol i c y woul dbest

i nt egrate

space i n to

t he

nat i onal

securi t y

agenda?What

shoul d

be theAi r Force

rol e i n

space?


24/421

Beyond

Hori zons

I n

vi ew

of

t he uncert ai nt i es

i nvol ved, t he peri od

f romt he

cl ose

of t he

Second

Worl dWar

t o t he l aunchi ngof t he f i r s t

Sputni k i n t he f a l l of 1957 proved t o be t he

concept ual

phase

of t he nat i on' s

space program

Onlyby

t he md- 195os, a

f u l l

decade after t he

1946

Rand st udy, coul d observers i dent i f y two

si des

of anat i onal

space

pol i cy

t hat would

characteri ze

t he

Ameri can

space

programfrom

t he

Ei senhower presi dency t o t he

present day One

s i d e compri sed

a

c i v i l i an

s a t e l l i t e

e f f o r t ,

termed Proj ect Vanguard, desi gned t o l aunch a

s c i e n t i f i c

s a t e l l i t e by

t he

end

of 1958 a s part of t he I nt ernat i onal Geophysi cal Year . ' F i l e ot her , an Ai r For ce- l ed

ml i t ar y

i n i t i a t i v e , sought t o

pl ace

i n to

eart h orbi t

a

str at egi c r econnai ssance s a t e l l i t e

capabl e

of provi d i ng

v i t a l

i nt el l i gence about Sovi et of f ensi ve

forces

.

The

Ai r

Force

pl ayed

a

cent ral

r o l e

duri ng t he f ormat i ve era bef ore Sput ni k

and

af t erwar d

when t he nat i on' s

l eaders establ i shed

space

pol i cy and

organi zed

t o con-

f ront

t he Sputni k

chal l enge

. TheNat i onal SpaceAct of 1958

created

t he c i v i l i a n

agency,

t he

Nat i onal

Ai r

and

SpaceAdmni str at i on

(NASA),

t o

operat e

t he c i v i l i a n

space e f f o r t , whi l e

t h e Ai r

Force and

ot her ml i tary servi ces

andagenci es j ockeyed f or

posi t i on

w t h i n t he

Def ense

Depar t ment and t he overal l nat i onal space program

Al thought he Ai r Force

won

t he cont est f or ml i t ar y supremacy among t he s e r -

v i c e s ,

i t

seemed

t o

many

Ai r

Force l eaders t hat

t he

pol i cy of promoti ng t he

peace-

f ul uses of space

meant

a d i m ni shed

r o l e f or Ai r Forc e space

i nt erests and a threat

t o t he

nat i on' s securi t y .

Nevert hel ess,

by t he endof

t he

Ei senhower

admni st rati on,

t h e Ai r Force

space

program

reveal ed

t he

basi c

def ense

support mssi on charact eri s-

t i c s

i t would

retain f or

t he remainder of

t he cent ur y

.

Arnol d

and

von

Karman

FormaPartnershp

The

Ai r

Force

space

saga

began

w t h

t he

part nershi p

of

General

Henry

H

Hap

Arnol d, Commandi ng Gener al of

t he ArrnyAi r Forces (AAF), and t he br i l l i ant

s c i e n t i s t ,

D

.

Theodore

von

Karman,

Di rect or of

t he

Guggenheim

Aeronaut i cal

Labor at ory

a t t he

Cal i f orni a

I nst i tute of

Technology

(GAFCT) . Toget her they

provi ded

t he emergi ngAi r For c e w t h a st r ong

research

anddevel opment f ocus

andchamp onedAi r

Force

i nt erests i n t he

new

mssi l e and s a t e l l i t e

f i e l d s

. Thei r

l egacy wouldendure

Hap

Arnol d

and

D

. von

Karman f i r s t

met

i n

1935, when

Arnol d v is i ted

hi s

f ri end,

D . Robert

M l l i kan,

head of

t he

Cal i f orni a

I nst i tute

of Technology (Cal

Tech) i n

Pasadena,

Cal i f orni a,

whi l e

ser vi ng

a s commander of t he F i r s t Wng,

Gener al

Headquar t er s

Ai r

Force,

a t

nei ghbor i ng

March

Fi el d

.

The

two

men

coul d

hardl y

have appeared more

di f f erent Arnol d radi at ed

physi cal

energy

and

heart i ness f rom

hi s

l arge

f rame,

whi l e t he

short,

sl ender

i nt el l ectual

Hungari anel ni gre

exuded

a

qui eter,

l e s s forceful presence . Yet

t he

twoment ook

t o each ot her i mmedi atel y The

Ai r

Corps

bri gadi er general ' s l ong- st andi ng

i nt erest

i n

avi at i on

t echnol ogy

and

associ at i on w t h t he Nat i onal Advi sory

Commttee f or

Aeronaut i cs

(NACA) hel ped

spark an i mmedi atepersonal

and prof essi onal

f r i endshi p . Back

i n t he

Fi rst

Worl d


25/421


26/421

Beyond

Hori zons

ai rpower, and sol ved

a host

of aeronauti ca

probl ems .

Al armedby

report s of

German

turboj et

devel opments

i n

1940,

f or examp e,

the

NACAest ab l i shed

a

Speci al

Commtteeon

J et

Propul si on, and f ol l owed i n 1944 wth a

Speci al

Commtteeon

Sel f - Prope l l e d Gui ded

M ssi l es

. Al thoughthe

NACAi ntended t o work

di l i gent l y

wth

the

Navy and

Army

Ai r Forces

on

these

threats,

the

need t o provide

qui ck

f ixes throughout

the conf l i c t

meant

t hat

basi c

research

became secondary At

war' s

end

the

NACA

provedeager

t o

l earn f romthe war

by

conti nui ng i t s cooperati ve

research

e f for ts

wth

the

m l i t ar y

. I n

an

agreement si gnedbetween the

NACAand

the

servi ces i n

1946,

the

part i es

agreed that the

ef fec ts

of

accel erated

enemy

research

anddevel opment i n preparati on f or war hel ped

to

create anopportuni ty f or

aggres-

si on wh chwas promptl y expl oi ted Th s l esson i s the most expensi vewe ever had t o

l earn

W

must make

cer t ai n t hat

wedo

not f or get i t .

The

NACA' s

postwar v is i on

embracedsupport of Ameri can

supersoni c

f l i ght

probes

by

means

of smal l

sol i d -propel l ant soundi ng rockets, and

the

X seri es of

hi gh- al t i t ude,

rocket-propel l ed

research ai rcraf t

. The

f i r s t rocket-powered

ai rcraf t ,

Bel l

Laboratory' s X-1,

broke

the sound

barr i er on

14

October

1947

wth

Captai n

Charl es Chuck

Yaeger

at

the control s

.

H s

h is tor i c f l i ght became

the f i r s t

of

many

i ncreasi ngl y

hgher and faster experi mental ai rcraf t

f l i ght s toward

the

f r i nges

of

space The l a s t ,

the

s i ngl e -p l ace X-zoADyna-Soar (named f or dynamc soari ng) ,

woul dbe

the Ai r Force' s best hope

t o l aunch

a mannedboost-gl i de rocket

ai rcraf t

to the

border

of space Al though i t di dnot

become

operati ona after i ni t i al

develop-

ment

i n the

l ate

1950s, the Dyna-Soar

served as

a precursor of the

Space

Shuttl e of

the 198os

.

Al though

the

NACA

expressed i nt erest

i n

rocket

propul si on, i t s

focus

r e-

mai ned centeredonaerodynamc

experi ments

and mannedf l i ght wthn the eart h' s

atmosphere. Space research seemed

whol l y

outsi de i t s experi enceand i nt erest s . 7

Rocketeers

Lead theWy

Spacef l i ght

represented

acha l enge

f ar

more daunti ng than

t radi t i onal avi ati on

Al though f u ture Ai r Force

l eaders woul d

l ay cl a mto spacef l i ght

as a

l ogi cal exten-

si on

of

Ai r Force operati ons i n the

atmosphere,

avi ati on

technologyof fered onl y

l i mted sol uti ons

on

the

road

to outer space

. Al though

the

t echni cal advances t hat

l ed

f rom

reci procati ng

t o j et turbi ne engines

powered ai rcraf t hgher

i n to

the upper

atmosphere,

the

oxygen-dependent

ai rpl aneremai ned

conf i ned t o

the atmosphere

Rockets,

on

the other hand, operate

i ndependent

of

theatmosphere

by re l y i ng on

the i r

own

i nt ernal

propel l ants

:

f uel

andoxi di zer

.

I n the i r

f l i ght through

i ncreasi ngl y

thnner

atmosphere

on

theway

t o

ai r l ess

space,

rockets

become progressi vel y

more

e f f i c ient

. Al thoughthe

post-Worl d

Wr I I

Ameri can

rocket research

ai rpl anes coul d

provide useful

i nformati onon

the

gui dance

and

control chal l enges facing

vehi c l es

i nthe upper

atmosphere,

thei r smal l

rockets

coul d

never

break

the bonds

of

gravi t y,

andthey

remai ned

primari l y

aerodynamc

vehi c l es

. To operate ei t her manned

spacecr af t

or

i nstrumented

sate l l i tes

i n outer space, rockets needed suf f i c i ent t hrust


27/421

TheDawn

of

the

Space

Age

to

boost t h e i r

payl oads i n to

orbi t

where cent ri f ugal

force bal ancedthe

eart h' s

gravi t at i onal f i e l d

.

Thecha l enge of manned

spacef l i ght

had capti vated the

i maginati ons

of

dream

ers

f or

centuri es

.

Yet

the i r

i deas

remai ned

onl y

i d l e musi ngs

unt i l

technologi ca

progress i n the l ate 19t h century

l ed

seri ous

enthusi asts

t o consi der

l i qui d-propel -

l ant rockets as

boosters of

spacecr af t .

Amongthe

p oneers

of l i qui d-propel l ant

rocket research l i nked to vi si ons of manned

spacef l i ght , t h r ee

men-Russi an

Konstanti n Tsi ol kovsky, German-RomanianHermannOberth, andAmeri can

Robert

Goddard-paved

the

way f or

the

succ essf ul

mli tary

and c i vi l i an

space

programs

of

the

second hal f of

the

20th

century Wh l e t hei r research

i ni t i al l y

l ed

to

producti on of bombardment

rockets

f or

use

by

t hei r

r espec t i ve m l i t ar y

forces

i n

the

SecondWorl d

War,

they a l l remai nedcommtted

t o vi si ons

of spacef l i ght

v

Theearl i est of the space t ri umvi rat e,

mathemati cs

teacher Konstanti n

Eduardovich

Tsi ol kovsky,

i n

1895

publ i shed

the

f i r s t

t echni cal

essays

on

ar t i f i c i a l

earth sate l l i t es . Bythe end

of

the

century, hehad

worked out the theory

of

a

l i qui d-

f uel ed rocket dependent

on kerosene t o acheve suf f i c i ent exhaust vel oc i t y . For

the

next

20 years

he

i mmersedh mel f i n t heoret i cal

studi es

but remai ned l argel y un-

knownt o the worl doutsideRussia Yet,

by

the

ti meof

hi s deathi n

1935,

hi s p oneer-

i ngwork

hadhel ped

the

Sovi ets

establ i sh a strongprewar rocket and

j et-powered

ai rcraf t devel opment program

wh ch

l ed t o

the space

programof

the

postwar

era

.

Al thoughHermann

Oberth

al so taught mathemati cs andproduced i mportant

t heoret i cal

studi es

on

spacef l i ght, he

assumed

the

rol e of

publ i c i st

f or

rocketryand

spaceexp orati on to

ent husi ast i c European

audi ences

after

Worl dWr I . I n

1923 he

est ab l i shed

hi s

reputati on

i nthe

new

i e l d

of astronauti cs

wth

the

semnal

publ i ca-

t i on,

The

Rocket i nto Interp anetary

Space,

i n wh ch

he

descri bed

the

t echni cal

requi rements f or

propel l i ng

sate l l i t es i n to

earth orbi t

.

I n 1927

he

hel ped

f ound

the

GermanSoci ety f or

Space

Fl i ght , wh ch

became

the

most i nf l uent i al of

the numer-

ous rocket

soc i et i es

i n Europe

By 1931, Oberth s workwth

the Soci ety

came t o

the

attenti on

of

the German

Army,

wh ch

saw

i n

sponsorsh p

of

t he youngrocket

sc ient ists

a

means of

obta ni ng

bombardment

rocket s

f or

an

armysore l y con-

strai ned

by

the Versai l l es

Treaty

Amongthe Society members whoj oi ned the

Army

proj ect i n

1932

was a 2o-year

ol d

engineer namedWernher

vonBraun Af ter

1933,

the

Nazi regi me

expanded

the Wehrmacht

programand i n 1937 begandevel op ng

the

Peenemuende

experi mental

s i t e

on the

Bal t i c

coast

under

supervi si on

of

Captai nWal ter Dornberger

. Al thoughvonBraunand hi s

col l eagues

hadnow

o

focus on l ong-range

rockets

to

hel p

f uel Germany' s

mli tary expansi on,

they

con-

ti nued t o

dream

of

manned

spacef l i ght

. Duri ng the SecondWorl d

War,

wh l e

the

Luf twaf fe

produced

the

V1aerodynamc pul se- j et c rui se

mssi l e, the

Wehrmacht' s

Peenemunde

rocketeers devel opedthe f ar more

i mpressi vebi g

rocket,

the

V-2

Known

as

the

A-4 t o the rocket speci al i sts , the V-2 measured 46

feet i n l engt h,

wei ghed

34,000

pounds,

andapproached a range

of

200 ml es under

69, 1oo pounds


28/421

Beyond

Hori zons

of

thrust

produced

by

i t s l i qui d-propel l ant engine

To

the

Al l i es

the V-2presented

a

f ri ghteni ng

weapon

t hat

coul d

not

be

thwartedwth

any

knowndefense

Af ter the

war Ameri cansdi scovered

t hat

German

p ans

had c al l ed f or

an

i nt ercont i nent al

ba l l i s t i c

mssi l e

t o st r i ke

New

York by

1946

To

the

German

rocketeers,

however,

the A-4a ways represented

t he f i r s t rungon

the l adder

t o

space Af ter the war, the

Ameri can

Army' s

Operati on

Papercl i p brought

Dornberger,

von

Braun,

and ahost

of

other Germanrocket expert s to the

Uni ted St at es,

where

they

j oi ned the

Army' s

rocket

programwth

t h ei r vi si ons

of

spacef l i ght

s t i l l

al i ve

.

TheGerman

rocket

spec i al i s ts f r eel y

acknowedged the i r

debt t o Ameri can

rocket

pi oneer, Robert

HGoddard . Unl i kehi s Russi anand

German

contemporar-

i e s ,

Goddard

i mmedi atel y movedbeyond t heoret i cal

studi es

to pract i cal experi men-

t at i on . Hea ways f oundapp i ed researchmore

exc i t i ng than t heoret i cal studi es

.

Fromi s

post

as

a

physi cs professor

at

Cark

Uni versi t y, Goddardbegan

experi -

menti ngwth

powder

rockets,

and

i n

1914

recei ved a

patent

f or hi s

l i qui d-propel l ant

rocket engine

I n 1920

the

Smthsoni an

rel easedhi s

hghy

t echni cal

paper,

A

Method

of

Reach ng

Extreme

Al t i tudes,

wh chdescri bed

vari ous rocket-propel l ed

experi ments

that coul d

beconducted as h ghas

50 ml es

i n al t i t ude .

H s

paper al so

i ncl uded a t heoret i cal argument

f or rocketi ng a

payl oad

of

f l ash

powder t o

the

moon, wh chdrewpubl i c censure after a NewYork Times reporter r i di c ul ed the

i dea

i n

pri nt .

The

experi ence l e f t

Goddard

badl y scarred and

more thanever

i ncl i ned

t o

f ocus

on pr i vat e research

.

By

1926

he

had bui l t

and tested

the f i r s t l i qui d-propel l ant

rocket , and i n 1935 successfu l l y l aunched

a

gyroscopi c - s tab i l i zed

rocket

t o an al t i -

tude

of 7000

feet . Event ual l y ,

the

p r o l i f i c experi menter

amassed

an

amazi ng

214

patents

f or hi s

desi gns and devi ces

.

But

Goddard preferred

worki ng

al one

and

j eal ous l y guarded hi s work f rom

other space

ent husi ast s

l i k e the i ntrepi dmembers

of

the

f l edgl i ngAmeri can Rocket

Soci ety

I n

t he 193os

Goddard

movedhi s i ncreasi ngl y

compl ex

l i qui d

propel l ant

experi -

ments f rom

Massachusetts

t o

the NewMexi co desert, where

he

worked

wth

hi s

w fe

and

vari ous

assi stant s

supportedby

grants

f rom

the

Guggenhei m

Foundati on

Guggenhei m

of f i c i al s

qui t e

nat ural l y

sought

t o

bri ng

GoddardandvonKdrmdn' s

Cal

TechRocket Research Proj ect

teamtogether . Charact er i st i cal l y , Goddardproved

rel uct ant , andvon Karman

refused

t o col l aborate wthout f u l l di scl osure

of

Goddard' s research resul t s .

Desp tethe

acknowedged i mportanceof Goddard' s

work

f or

f u ture

rocket

devel opment, act i ve

col l aborati on

between

vonKdrmanand

Goddard mght

wel l

havep aced

the

postwar Ameri can

rocket

programon better t echni cal

f ooti ng

and

created

morei ncent i ve f or

theAi r

Force t o

promote

research i n

ba l l i s t i c

rather

than

aerodynamc

mssi l es

after

thewar .

Cooperati on

between the

twocamps

woul d

cer t ai nl y have

hel ped the

neophyte

rocket group

at

Cal Tech, wh ch

haddevel oped

convi ncing

theori es

about rocket f l i ght but hadno experi mental

data t o work wth

Moreover, as

Mal i na

recal l ed, i n

the

1930s most sc ient ists

general l y

consi dered


29/421

The

Dawn

of theSpaceAge

rocket experi ments a par t of sci ence

f i c t i on

.

Wth s o

l i t t l e

avai l abl e pract i cal

dat a,

Goddard' s assi st ance

would

have beenwel comed by von

Karman

and

t he young

rocket eers,

who

proceeded l argel y i ndependent l y of Goddard

Warti meProvi des the

MomentumArnoldandvon

Karman

Establ i shthe

Foundati on

Meanwh l e, von

Karman

and hi s Cal Tech rocket teamconti nued t hei r research i nt o

hi gh- al t i t ude soundi ng rockets and j e t - a s s i s t e d

t akeof f (J A CO devi ces

by

examni ng

pot ent i al

f u e l types, rocket nozzl e

shapes,

react i on

pri nci pl es, and thrust measure-

ments They

managed t o

keep t hei r experi ments af l oat w t h ver y l i t t l e

money u n t i l

General

Arnol d

came

t o t he

rescue

i n 1938

. Lat e

t hat

year, Arnol d, now

hi ef

of t he

Army

Ai r Corps, hel ped convi nce t he Nat i onal Academyof Sci ences t o provi de

i n i t i a l fundi ngf or t he Cal Tech

proj ect

.

Short l y

thereafter, i n J anuary 1939, t h e Ai r

Corps

assumed

di rect i on

of

t he

program

and

i n

J une

awarded

the

researchers

a

$i o, ooo

cont ract . Von

Karman expl ai ned t hat t he

programs l a b e l ,

Ai r

Corps J e t

Propul si on

Research,

GALCT#1, i ncl uded

t he

word

j e t

rat her t han rocket

because of w de- spread skept i c i smamong hi s

col l eagues

. As oneof themtol d hi m

he

was

wel come

t o

t he

Buck

Roger s

j ob.

Mal i na wse l y

commtted

hi s

team

o

expl ore bot h

l i qui d-

and

sol i d-propel l ant

rocket

engi ne

research

.

Theteammade

rapi d

progress once they devel opedt he f i r s t

r e l a t i v e l y l ong- durat i on, cont rol l ed- expl osi on sol i d-propel l ant engi ne . I n August

1941, t he Cal Tech engi neers

carri ed

out

thei r f i r s t f l i g h t

t es t s i n whchCaptai n

Homer

Boushey,

usi ng

f our JATOcani sters attached

t o

hi s

Ercoupe

monop ane,

rapi dl y

cl imbed t o

an

al t i tude

of

20

f e e t

.

Mal i na

was

ecstat i c . Conti nued

t e s t

suc-

cesses

brought

i n a J ATOcont ract f romtheNavy, andvonKarmanandMal i na i n

1942 deci ded t o capi tal i ze on

t hei r

growng

proj ect

by formng

a pri vat e

company,

Aeroj et

Engi neeri ng

Company,

t o produce t he j e t cani sters

andwork on

ot her

rocket- rel at ed

contracts

they expect ed

t o recei ve.

I n

l a t e

1943, a f t e r revi ew ng i nt el l i gence reports

onGerman

rocket

devel opment,

von

Karman

wrote a

br i e f

paper enti t l ed, Memorandum

on t he Possi bi l i t i es of

Long-RangeRocket P r o j e c t i l e s , i n wh chhe proposed

t hat

t he

AAFsupport

devel opment of

a

1o,ooo-pound ai r- breat hi ng

mssi l e

w t h

a

sevent y- f i ve- ml e

r ange a s

an

ext ensi on

of J ATOresearch .

When

t he

AAF

demurred, t he

Army

OdnanceDepartment

st epped

i n

and

offered

von

Karman

a

f a r

more

chal l engi ng

cont ract . Thesci ent i st readi l y agreed t o

theArmy' s proj ect ,

whchcal l ed f or

produci ng

a

20,000-pound


rocket wtha

burn

t i me of sixty

seconds

and

a

rangeof near l y

for ty

ml es

. Ogani zedunder FrankMal i na,

t he

l arge

proj ect

becameknown

a s ORDC T ( represent i ng Odnance,

Cal i f orni a Inst i tu te of

Technol ogy) ,

unt i l

renamed t he J e t

Propul si on

Labor at ory

(J PL)

i n November 1944

.

Thei r work

woul d l ead t o t he

successf ul

l aunchi ng of

t heWC

orporal

s e r i e s

of


soundi ng

rockets

a f t e r t he

war .

Meanwhi l e, a s t he Army' s Od-


30/421

Beyond Hori zons

nanceDepartment

f ocused

pri mari l y on rocket s, t he AAF' s Ai r Mat er i el Command

preferred t o s t r es s ai r- breat hi ng mssi l es .

Duri ng

muchof

t he

war , vonKarmdn

served a s

an

aeronaut i cal

t r oubl eshoot er

f or

HapArnol d,

t he

Commandi ng

Gener al

of

t he

AAF

By

1944

Arnol d

had

become

convi nced t hat t he next war, unl i ke t he l a s t , woulddemand

f ar more t echni cal

competence

As

Chi ef

of

t he

Army

Ai r

Forces, he sai d, hi s

j ob

was

t o

proj ect [ h i ms el f ] i n t o t he

future; t o

g e t

t he

bes t br a i n s

a v a i l a b l e , have

themuse

a s

abackground t he l a t e s t s c i e n t i f i c devel opment s i n t he a i r

ar ms . . . and

determne

what s t e p s t he Uni t ed

S t a t e s

shoul d t a k e t o have

t he be s t Ai r

Force

i n t he

wor l d

t went y y e a r s

hence

.

I n September of

t hat

year he cal l ed onvonKarmdn

t o

l ead

a

study

group

compri sedof c i v i l i a n and

ml i t ar y

experts

t o

chart

a course

f or

t he

Ai r Force

future

.

Arnol dout l i ned hi s

obj ecti ves

f or t he groupi n a 7November

1944

memorandum

AAFLongRangeDevelopment Program

I n order t o pl ace Ai r Forceresearch

and

devel opment program

ona

sound

and

cont i nui ng b a s i s ,

he cal l ed f or a pl an

whose

f arsi ghted t hi nki ng

would

provi de a

sound

prescri pt i on

f or prepar i ng Ai r

Force research anddevel opment program a s wel l a s congr essi onal fundi ng r e -

quest s

. Because our countrywi l l not support a

l arge

st andi ngArmy and person-

nel casual t i es

are

d i s t a s t e f u l , we w i l l cont i nue t o

f i ght

mechani cal rat her t han

manpower

wars . G ven

t hese

const rai nt s,

he

s a i d ,

howcan

sci ence

be used

t o

provi de t he Ai r Forcew th t he best means t o ensure t he nat i on' s securi t y?

WthArnol d' s str ong support t o overcomeany bur eaucr at i c i mpedi ments,

von

Kdrmdn began

work

i mmedi at el y,

and

byDecember

had

brought t oget her

a group

of twenty-two renowned

sci ent i st s

and

engi neers

. Cal l i ng i t s e l f

t he ArmyAi r Forces

Scient i f i c Advi sory Group, i t

woul d

remai n i n

pl ace

andcont i nue a s t he Scient i f i c

Advi sor y Board a f t e r t h e Ai r Force became a separat e servi ce i n September 1947

Fol l ow ng f i e l d t r i ps t o EuropeandRussi a t o

assess

t he

current state

of

research,

von

Kdrmdn' s

groupon22

August 1945

i ssued a

pre l i mnary

report, Were

W

Stand,

whchexpl ored

t he

fundamental r e a l i t i e s of future a i r

power

. The report argued

t hat t echnol ogi cal

advances l ed byGermany dur i ng t he war s e t t he

st age

f or an a i r

force

t hat must embracesupersoni c f l i g h t , l ong- r ange gui ded

mssi l es w t h hi ghl y

destr uct i ve

payl oads,

and

j e t propul si on t o achi eve a i r superi ori t y

.

Von

Karmdn

vi ewed

government-supported

research cent ers onthe

Germanmodel a s ama or

el ement

i n

t he

postwar nat i onal def ense

structure

. WereW

Stand

rai sed cruci al

quest i ons

about

t he f uture of a i r power , andthe Scient i f i c

Advi sory Groupi nt ended

t o

provi de answers

i n i t s f i n a l report t o

General Arnol d

due

a t t he

end

of t he year .

Meanwhi l e, whi l e

vonKarmdn

andhi s team

i n

l a t e 1945 gat hered addi t i onal

f i e l d

data andprepared thei r

f i n a l

report

t o t he AAF

c h i e f ,

Arnol d

t ook addi t i onal steps

t o shape t he future Ai r Force' s

s c i e n t i f i c f ocus .

Two

of t he most i mportant i nvol ved

t he creat i on of

Proj ect

Randand

a

new

Ai r

Staff

of f i c e t o est abl i sh

and

di rect t he

ArmyAi r

Forces'

research

and

devel opment agenda.


31/421

TheDawn

of

the Space

Age

I n

September

of

1945,

Frankl i nCol l bohm

of

the

Dougl as

Ai rcraf t Company

proposed

that the

AAF est abl i sh a

research proj ect to

provide i t wthl ong-range

str at egi c

p anni ng

based

on

ongoi ng s c i en t i f i c and technologi ca

advances

.

Col l bohms

i deas

had

taken

shape

duri ng

hi s

warti me

associ ati on

wth

D

.

Edward

L

. Bowes, whohad served

as

General Arnol d' s speci al t echni cal

consul tant

.

Late

t hat

month,

Arnol dandBowes fl ew

to

Cal i f orni a,

where at Haml ton Fi el d, north

of San

Franci sco, theymet wthCol l bohmandDonal dDouglas,

whostrongl y

supported

the

proposal

.

At

the i r

meeti ng, Arnol d deci ded

t o

di vert $i o ml l i on

f rom

the

f i s c a l year

1946

procurement

budget

f or Dougl as

Ai rcraf t

t o organi ze a

group

of

c i vi l i an sc i ent i st s

and engi neers

at

SantaMoni ca, Cal i f orni a, wh ch

woul d

f uncti on

i ndependentl y

of the company' s

exi st i ng

research and

engi neeri ng

di vi si on I t woul d

serve

as a

t echni cal

consul tant

group chargedwth

operati ons

anal ysi s

and l ong-

range

p anni ng

to examne future

warfareand

the best

way

the

Ai r

Force

coul d

perform

i t s

mssi ons

. Shortl y

thereafter,

the

Ai r

Materi el

Command

(AMC)

and

Dougl as

Ai rcraf t

agreed

t o

a t hree- year,

1o

ml l i on contract f or Proj ect

Rand

to

begi n

operati ng i n May

1946

.

To

provide

an

Ai r Staff f ocus

f or

Proj ect

Randand

other research

act iv i t ies , General

Arnol d

al so

created

the

o f f i c e

of

Deputy

Ch ef

of Ai r Staff f or

Researchand

Devel op-

ment .The

new

osi t i on,

wh ch

became

e f fe c t ive 5

December

1945,

drewc r i t i c i s mf rom

the

powerful

Ai r

Materi el

Command wh chheretofore

t i ght l y

control l ed the

AAF

procurement process

f rom

ini t ial requi rements t o comp eted systemAMCfavored

r i g i d

d i r e c t i ves est ab l i shi ng spec i f i c

AAF-determnedgoal s

f or

contractors

wthout

i nvol vi ng c i vi l i ans

i n

the

p anni ng

process C r i t i c s compl ai ned

t hat

research f e l l

vi cti m

to

producti on

p r io r i t i e s at

AMC

The

new

arrangement

r ef l ec t ed

Arnol d' s

f l e x i b l e approacht o

research

anddevel opment

whereby

Randwoul dconduct broad

i nvest i gat i ons t o

see

what coul d

be

accomp i shedand recommend

courses

of

acti on

and the newAi r Staf f o f f i c e woul dprovide

cent ral

di r e c t i on . AMCnever reconci l ed

i t sel f t o

the newAi r Staf f

posi t i on,

wh l e the Ai r Staff remai ned unwl l i ng

t o

assi gn

i t

spe c i f i c responsi bi l i t y f or

the

sat el l i t e

andguided

mssi l es programs

. Thesewoul d

remai n

subj ects

of i ntra-Ai r Force

organi zati ona

squabbl es

throughout

the pre-

Sputni k peri od .

Nevert heless,

ini t ial

prospects

f or achevingArnol d' s goal s

appeared

bri ght when

he sel ect ed

as hi s f i r s t

Deputy

Ch ef of

Staff f or

Research

and

Devel op-

ment

the

hard-dri ving

combat

vet eran, Maj or

General

Curti s E LeMay

I n

November

1945,

General

Arnol d

becamethe

f i r s t

promnent

m l i t ar y

f i gure

to

address f u ture warfare

i n

terms

of

mssi l e and

sat el l i t e

pot ent i al .

I n

a report

to

Secretary of

Wr

Robert Patterson

on 12

November, the

ai r

chi e f descri bed

the

future

i mportance

of mssi l es

and sate l l i t es

as

a

means of

preventi ng

another Pearl

Harbor-l i ke surpri se attack

on

the Uni ted

St at es,

and

he outl i ned hi s vi s ion f or

the

nat i on' s ai r armStrongl y opposi ng

shortsi ghted focus

onpresent day forces,

he

cauti oned t hat


32/421

Beyond

Hori zons

n a t i o n a l

s a f e t y

woul d be endangered by an Ai r Force

whose doct ri nes and

t echni ques a r e t i e d

s o l e l y

t o t he equi pment

and processes

of t he moment .

Present equi pment i s

but

a s t e p

i n progress,

and

any

Ai r Force

whi ch does

not

keep

i t s

doct ri nes

ahead

of i t s equi pment , andi t s

v i s i o n

f a r

i n t o

t he

f u t u r e ,

can

onl y

del ude the

nat i on

i n t o

a

f a l s e

sense of

s e c u r i t y

. Z

For

Arnol d,

t he

forces

of t he future must never

be sacri f i ced f or

t he

forces of

t he

present .

Wh l et he

current state of t echnol ogy convi ncedh m

o

support manned

a i r c r a f t , he envi si oned a pi l ot l ess a