A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey
1957 - The Space Race Begins
Michael D'Antonio
- A
- Ball,
- a
- Dog,
- and
- a
- Monkey
- tells
- the
- remarkable
- story
- of
- America's
- first
- efforts
- to
- succeed
- in
- space,
- a
- time
- of
- exploding
- rockets,
- national
- space
- mania,
- Florida
- boomtowns,
- and
- interservice
- rivalries
- so
- fierce
- that
- President
- Dwight
- Eisenhower
- had
- to
- referee
- them.When
- the
- Soviet
- Union
- launched
- the
- first
- orbital
- satellite,
- Sputnik
- I,
- Americans
- panicked.
- The
- Soviets
- had
- nuclear
- weapons,
- the
- Cold
- War
- was
- underway,
- and
- now
- the
- USSR
- had
- taken
- the
- lead
- in
- the
- space
- race.
- Members
- of
- Congress
- and
- the
- press
- called
- for
- an
- all-out
- effort
- to
- launch
- a
- satellite
- into
- orbit.
- With
- dire
- warnings
- about
- national
- security
- in
- the
- news
- almost
- every
- day,
- the
- armed
- services
- saw
- space
- as
- the
- new
- military
- frontier.
- But
- President
- Eisenhower
- insisted
- that
- the
- space
- effort,
- which
- relied
- on
- military
- technology,
- be
- supervised
- by
- civilians
- so
- that
- the
- space
- race
- would
- be
- peaceful.
- The
- Navy's
- Vanguard
- program
- flopped,
- and
- the
- Army,
- led
- by
- ex-Nazi
- rocket
- scientist
- Wernher
- von
- Braun
- and
- a
- martinet
- general
- named
- J.
- Bruce
- Medaris
- (whom
- Eisenhower
- disliked),
- took
- over.
- Meanwhile,
- the
- Soviets
- put
- a
- dog
- inside
- the
- next
- Sputnik,
- and
- Americans
- grew
- more
- worried
- as
- the
- first
- animal
- in
- space
- whirled
- around
- the
- Earth.Throughout
- 1958
- America
- went
- space
- crazy.
- UFO
- sightings
- spiked.
- Boys
- from
- Brooklyn
- to
- Burbank
- shot
- model
- rockets
- into
- the
- air.
- Space-themed
- beauty
- pageants
- became
- a
- national
- phenomenon.
- The
- news
- media
- flocked
- to
- the
- launchpads
- on
- the
- swampy
- Florida
- coast,
- and
- reporters
- reinvented
- themselves
- as
- space
- correspondents.
- And
- finally
- the
- Army's
- rocket
- program
- succeeded.
- Determined
- not
- to
- be
- outdone
- by
- the
- Russians,
- America's
- space
- scientists
- launched
- the
- first
- primate
- into
- space,
- a
- small
- monkey
- they
- nicknamed
- Old
- Reliable
- for
- his
- calm
- demeanor.
- And
- then
- at
- Christmastime,
- Eisenhower
- authorized
- the
- launch
- of
- a
- secret
- satellite
- with
- a
- surprise
- aboard.A
- Ball,
- a
- Dog,
- and
- a
- Monkey
- memorably
- recalls
- the
- infancy
- of
- the
- space
- race,
- a
- time
- when
- new
- technologies
- brought
- ominous
- danger
- but
- also
- gave
- us
- the
- ability
- to
- realize
- our
- dreams
- and
- reach
- for
- the stars.
