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From: lmc@denelcor.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Medals for cosmonauts - (nf)
Message-ID: <248@denelcor.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Dec-83 19:19:38 EST
Article-I.D.: denelcor.248
Posted: Thu Dec 15 19:19:38 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Dec-83 03:01:31 EST
References: <4470@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Organization: Denelcor, Aurora, CO
Lines: 33

The Army/Navy/AF infighting over space started when the V2 rockets captured
in Germany wer moved to White Sands for testing. The Army did that, bacause
they were the one's who found them (and the scientists, too.) The Navy
retaliated by getting the Viking (rocket, not lander) program which also
flew at White Sands (12 launchings, I believe, from 1948 through 52).
Both services messed around with air-breathers for a while (Snark and some
others I can't remember.) The Army scientists were sequestered (more or
less - see "Space" by Mitchener for a fictionalized account) in Alabama
and there developed the Redstone, aka Jupiter C, and eventually the Atlas.
The Army claimed that they could have launched a satellite any time during
1957, but congress awarded that to the Navy and their Vanguard program.
After Sputnik, extreme pressure forced the Navy to attempt a satellite
launching in one of the test-object Vanguards. As might have been expected,
the Vanguard fired and reached an altitude of 3 feet before returning to
earth. Embarrassed, the go ahead was given for the Army to go for orbit with
their Jupiter. The Vanguard later made several successful flights with the
then-proven rocket.

	When the Air Force was created, they managed to get the ICBM franchise
away from the Army, and the Atlas program with it, and then began developing
Titan (apparently to prove that they, too, could develop a real rocket all
by themselves). At this point, the Army, Navy, and some of the Air Force
programs were sucked up by NASA's creation, leaving the Army and Navy with
simple tactical missile programs, and the Air Force with all the military
space applications.

	This is all stricly from memory, so I may have slipped somewhere,
but that's the general outline.
-- 

			Lyle McElhaney
			...(hao,nbires,brl-bmd,csu-cs)!denelcor!lmc
			(303) 337-7900 x261