Milford chronicle., 1957-11-01
SPIITNIK

Events moved fast after the Soviet
launching of Sputnik, the "baby moon
coming as it did, hard on the heels of a So
Wet claim that they had perfected some form
of interplanetary ballistics missile.
The initial reaction to the earth satellite
naturally enough, was generally one of sur
prise and shock. The ballistics missile claim
could and has been discounted to some extent
But Sputnik was something else again. 1t
was no communist propaganda trick Scien-
fists and others the world over saw and
tracked the satellite-whizzing around the
earth at $4,000 miles an hour at a height of
more than 500 miles-and recorded its radio
transmissiOns.
The concern, of course, was not over the
satellite Itself Sputnik was not a weapon,
and there was no reason to fear it. The great
danger-in Western eyes-is that Soviet sci
ence may have a big lead on the rest of the
world, most particularly in the field of rock
etry. The satellite, according to the scien-
lists, must have been launched by a staged
rocket-a device which is almost unbeliev-
ably complex and difficult to construct. Such
rockets, once they are sufficiently developed,
will be able to launch guided missiles of
great accuracy and almost limitless range.
And it is no secret that this country and the
Soviet Union are in a grim race to produce
practical intercontinental missiles with H
bomb warheads.
President Eisenhower, few days after
SputnikS launching, went to considerable
length to discount the military Importance of
! the satellite, and to reassure this country as
to where we stand. Soon, he said, we will
send up a series of small test satellites, and
in March launch one scientifically superior
to the Russians's. And he stressed that we
are giving top priority to missile develop
ment.
However, there is no doubt that the satel-
Iita hoe CriUnp MGcbinntOn orrnat Hnal tO
think about The new Secretary of Defense
Neil H. McElroy, said at his first press con-
ference that it may be necessary to speed the
missile program. The satellite, he added,
proves that Soviet science has made great
progress with missiles.
That brings up really big three-pronged
question-are we tagging behind in the mis-
sile race; if so, why, and what can be done
about it? Numerous experts think we may
be tagging, and one reason is frequently CIV
en-. The Portland Oregonian put it in these
word g. . . the u. S. missile program is lag
ging chiefly because of jealousies and bick-
ering among the three armed services COM
peting in this field, and because the u. S.
Defense Department has failed to force them
to work together amicably." There is small
doubt that the Army, the Navy, and the Air
Force, have all tried to take the center of
the spotlight-and to obtain the lions share
of the vast funds involved in missile re-
search, testing and development The result,
say many observers, has been a waste of
money, materials, manpOwer and what may
be the most precious commodity OF ail-tlme
A simple solution would seem to be that
we get all our brains in the same laboratory
and quit worrying about the color of the uni
forms. If the Soviet satellite helps to bring
that about, our cold war enemies will obvi-
ously have done us big favor.
~$S@&>&