Post by dgriffin on Jul 28, 2008 9:15:16 GMT -5
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the hidden rivalries that ignited the Space Age
I'm not sure how this title came across my horizon. Usually, I read of an interesting book in a review or see it mentioned on the Internet. Probably, I saw this on display in a "Real Bookstore," (see other thread.)
I knew that "man's quest for the stars" and our military offense/defense were related, of course, but I never realized how closely. Nor did I know that Sputnik was a technical afterthought to the Russians, and may have remained so if Khrushchev had not been such an astute politician. He immediately picked up on the US media's reaction and played it for all its worth to yank the US military around, embarrassing them when they had been prepared to ignore the satellite.
None of the Russian (or American) hierarchy were really interested in space, except as the place an ICBM would brush through on its way to destroy the enemy. As the Cold War brewed, both America and the USSR realized that World War 3, if unavoidable and survivable, would wreck their economies. Even the build-up to the fight would bankrupt the nations if fought with Curtis LeMay's B52s and millions of men and material. Russia, more so than America, needed a cheaper solution and the ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), fitted with an atomic warhead, was the single crucial weapon. Where Russia would lose on an economic and industrial front, smart engineering could make them first with an ICBM to threaten any continent on earth.
By 1957, they almost had it. Russia's major rocket was tremendously more powerful than anything the US had. But the re-entry heat shield problem remained unsolved. An atomic warhead would burn up on its way back into the atmosphere before reaching the target. An enterprising Russian engineer, who was indeed interested in space and satellites, stepped forward with a plan to impress the world, he said. If you put a large satellite up there, you wouldn’t have to worry about re-entry. And the size of Sputnik would show knowledgeable scientists and military brass in the west that Mother Russia had the most powerful rocket in the world, “easily” converted to an ICBM. Oh, by the way, he added, the psychology of having your enemy’s satellite passing overhead might be helpful.
That proved to be an understatement. The US media picked up on the story and played it up day after day. People were said to have pulled their shades down at night for fear of being spied upon in their bedrooms by the Russians. Eisenhower tried to quell the unrest and explained that Sputnik meant nothing. The US was still the strongest nation on earth and Sputnik was merely a technological toy. Krushchev saw his advantage and began to make threatening and theatrical statements to the world press, fueling the fire back in the US and forcing the government to divert resources from its ICBM program into our own Man In Space program, a spectacular failure in its first few acts.
I'm not sure how this title came across my horizon. Usually, I read of an interesting book in a review or see it mentioned on the Internet. Probably, I saw this on display in a "Real Bookstore," (see other thread.)
I knew that "man's quest for the stars" and our military offense/defense were related, of course, but I never realized how closely. Nor did I know that Sputnik was a technical afterthought to the Russians, and may have remained so if Khrushchev had not been such an astute politician. He immediately picked up on the US media's reaction and played it for all its worth to yank the US military around, embarrassing them when they had been prepared to ignore the satellite.
None of the Russian (or American) hierarchy were really interested in space, except as the place an ICBM would brush through on its way to destroy the enemy. As the Cold War brewed, both America and the USSR realized that World War 3, if unavoidable and survivable, would wreck their economies. Even the build-up to the fight would bankrupt the nations if fought with Curtis LeMay's B52s and millions of men and material. Russia, more so than America, needed a cheaper solution and the ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), fitted with an atomic warhead, was the single crucial weapon. Where Russia would lose on an economic and industrial front, smart engineering could make them first with an ICBM to threaten any continent on earth.
By 1957, they almost had it. Russia's major rocket was tremendously more powerful than anything the US had. But the re-entry heat shield problem remained unsolved. An atomic warhead would burn up on its way back into the atmosphere before reaching the target. An enterprising Russian engineer, who was indeed interested in space and satellites, stepped forward with a plan to impress the world, he said. If you put a large satellite up there, you wouldn’t have to worry about re-entry. And the size of Sputnik would show knowledgeable scientists and military brass in the west that Mother Russia had the most powerful rocket in the world, “easily” converted to an ICBM. Oh, by the way, he added, the psychology of having your enemy’s satellite passing overhead might be helpful.
That proved to be an understatement. The US media picked up on the story and played it up day after day. People were said to have pulled their shades down at night for fear of being spied upon in their bedrooms by the Russians. Eisenhower tried to quell the unrest and explained that Sputnik meant nothing. The US was still the strongest nation on earth and Sputnik was merely a technological toy. Krushchev saw his advantage and began to make threatening and theatrical statements to the world press, fueling the fire back in the US and forcing the government to divert resources from its ICBM program into our own Man In Space program, a spectacular failure in its first few acts.
