Eisenhowers Future Theater of War

Dominique Awis
January 5, 2017

Abstract
Your abstract.

Contents
1 Sputnik
1.1 The World Saw Sputnik . . .
1.2 The Press . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3 Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4 Congressional Subcommittee
1.5 As Johnson Feared . . . . . .

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2 Technocracy
2.1 Soviet Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3 Congressional Hearings
3.1 Government Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2 Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3 Witness Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Sputnik
"Just at the time the Russians had said, a tiny light appeared at southwestern
horizon, and glided over our heads. Some of us cried. I stood in awe." -Frank
ORourke, Oklahoma City, OK [1]

1.1

The World Saw Sputnik

Major John Glenn stood on a podium and watched the camera roll around the room. He was
wearing his Marine Corp uniform. There was an audience, lights, a director. He stood on the
podium with a ten-year old boy seeking a 20,000 dollar prize on "Name That Tune", a popular
1950s game show.
Glenn was thinking about how just three hours ago the Russians had launched a satellite that
was now orbiting the Earth over Africa and the world knew. A satellite was launched and he was
on a game show this evening. He did not know how to react.
The director signaled for the cameras to begin rolling and an announcer could be heard loudly
on broadcast in the large room.
"And now back tonight and trying for twenty thousand dollars is Hodges the 10-year-old schoolboy and his partner Major John Glenn, Jr., the Marine Corps jet pilot. What do you think of the
Russian satellite which is circling the Earth at eighteen thousand miles per hour?"
John smiled his wide smile. "Well, to say the least, George, theyre out of this world, but..."
The room roared with laughter. John and the host, George, laughed also. John continued,
"This is really quite an advancement for not only the Russians but for international science, I
think we all agree on that." He spoke confidently and assuredly. "The first time anybody has ever
been able to get anything out that far in space and keep it there for any length of time and this
is probably the first step toward space travel or moon travel, something well probably run into in
Eddies lifetime here at least," he gestured towards the 10-year-old boy.
"Eddie would you like to take a trip to the Moon," the host asked.
"No sir, I like it fine right here," the boy responded. The audience laughed and cheered.

1.2

The Press

The Press was buzzing. News had come from Moscow Russia had launched a satellite to orbit
successfully. Television stations stopped a program with then Major John Glenn and asked him
about the Russian satellite, Sputnik.
"To say the least, George, theyre out of this world, but." Him and the crowd laughed.
Many remember where they were when Sputnik first appeared in the night sky. Sputnik was a
world changing event, a crisis.
From the New York Times, 1957: [2]

Moscow, Saturday, Oct. 5The Soviet Union announced this morning that it
successfully launched a man-made earth satellite into space yesterday.
The Russians calculated the satellites orbit at a maximum of 560 miles above
the earth and its speed at 18,000 miles an hour.
The official Soviet news agency Tass said the artificial moon, with a diameter
of twenty- two inches and a weight of 184 pounds, was circling the earth once every
hour and thirty- five minutes. This means more than fifteen times a day.
Two radio transmitters, Tass said, are sending signals continuously on frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 megacycles. These signals were said to be strong enough
to be picked up by amateur radio operators. The trajectory of the satellite is being
tracked by numerous scientific stations.
Due Over Moscow Today
Tass said the satellite was moving at al angle of 65 degrees to the equatorial
plane and would pass over the Moscow area twice today.
"Its flight," the announcement added, "will be observed in the rays of the rising
and setting sun with the aid of the simplest optical instruments, such as binoculars
and spy- glasses."
The Soviet Union said the worlds first satellite was "successfully launched"
yesterday. Thus it asserted that it had put a scientific instrument into space
before the United States. Washington has disclosed plans to launch a satellite
next spring, Oct. 4."
The Moscow announcement said the Soviet Union planned to send up more and
bigger and heavier artificial satellites during the current International Geophysical
Year, an eighteen-month period of study of the earth, its crust and the space
surrounding it.
Five Miles a Second
The rocket that carried the satellite into space left the earth at a rate of five
miles a second, the Tass announcement said. Nothing was revealed, however,
concerning the material of which the man-made moon was constructed or the site
in the Soviet Union where the sphere was launched.
The Soviet Union said its sphere circling the earth had opened the way to
inter-planetary travel.
It did not pass up the opportunity to use the launching for propaganda purposes. It said in its announcement that people now could see how "the new socialist
society" had turned the boldest dreams of mankind into reality.
Moscow said the satellite was the result of years of study and research on the
part of Soviet scientists.
Several Years of Study
Tass said:
"For several years the research and experimental designing work has been under
way in the Soviet Union to create artificial satellites of the earth. It has already
been reported in the press that the launching of the earth satellites in the U. S. S.
R. had been planned in accordance with the program of International Geophysical
Year research.
"As a result of intensive work by the research institutes and design bureaus, the
first artificial earth satellite in the world has now been created. This first satellite
was successfully launched in the U. S. S. R. October four."
The Soviet announcement said that as a result of the tremendous speed at
which the satellite was moving it would burn up as soon as it reached the denser
layers of the atmosphere. It gave no indication how soon that would be.
Military experts have said that the satellites would have no practicable military
application in the foreseeable future. They said, however, that study of such
satellites could provide valuable information that might be applied to flight studies
for intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The satellites could not be used to drop atomic of hydrogen bombs or anything
else on the earth, scientists have said. Nor could they be used in connection with
the proposed plan for aerial inspection of military forces around the world.
An Aid to Scientists

Figure 1: New York Times Sputnik article via The New York Times.
Their real significance would be in providing scientists with important new
information concerning the nature of the sun, cosmic radiation, solar radio interference and static- producing phenomena radiating from the north and south
magnetic poles. All this information would be of inestimable value for those who
are working on the problem of sending missiles and eventually men into the vast
reaches of the solar system.
Publicly, Soviet scientists have approached the launching of the satellite with
modesty and caution. On the advent of the International Geophysical Year last
June they specifically disclaimed a desire to "race" the United States into the
atmosphere with the little sphere.
The scientists spoke understandingly of "difficulties" they had heard described
by their American counterparts. They refused several invitations to give any details
about their own problems in designing the satellite and gave even less information
than had been generally published about their work in the Soviet press.
Hinted of Launching
Concerning the launching of their first satellite, they said only that it would
come "before the end of the geophysical year"by the end of 1958.
Several weeks earlier, however, in a guarded interview given only to the Soviet
press, Alexander N. Nesmeyanov, head of the Soviet Academy of Science, dropped
a hint that the first launching would occur "within the next few months."
But generally Soviet scientists consistently refused to boast about their project
or to give the public or other scientists much information about their progress. Key
essentials concerning the design of their satellites, their planned altitude, speed and
instruments to be carried in the small sphere, were carefully guarded secrets.
Many remember where they were when Sputnik first appeared in the night sky. "Just at the
time the Russians had said, a tiny light appeared at southwestern horizon, and glided over our
heads. Some of us cried."

Figure 2: New York Times Sputnik article via The New York Times.

Figure 3: Asif A. Siddiqi/NASAA Soviet technician putting the finishing touches on Sputnik 1 via
The New York Times.

1.3

Secrets

Johnson remembers looking up at the night sky and seeing Sputnik and feeling distressed that the
US was not first in science and technology, in space. [1] He began collecting information shortly
from the Pentagon after Sputniks launch and assembled a list of witnesses to hear from to prepare
a Congressional hearing on national defense and US science and technological security. His hope
was to create a record to sort out all the media hype about satellites and guided missiles.

1.4

Congressional Subcommittee

Senator Johnson sat presiding over the Congressional Preparedness Subcommittee at 10 am on

a chilly Washington, DC morning along with Senators Johnson, Kefauver, Stennis, Symington,
Saltonstall, and Flanders as well as members of the Congresss special council. The group sat with
members of the Armed Services Committee.
"Please come to order," Senator Johnson said.
Senator Johnson would be presiding over a hearing called, "Inquiry into Satellite and Missile
Programs" on the November afternoon almost two months after the Soviets launched Sputnik in
1957.
Senator Johnson continued, "We are here today to inquire into the facts on the state of the
Nations security. Our country is disturbed over the tremendous military and scientific achievement
of Russia. Our people have believed that in the field of scientific weapons and in technology and
science, that we were well ahead of Russia. "
The room was quiet. "With the launching of Sputniks I and II, and with the information at
hand of Russias strength, our supremacy and even our equality has been challenged. We must
meet this challenge quickly and effectively in all its aspects," Johnson reported.
Johnson continued, "There are a few things I wish to make clear about the committees attitude.
It would appear that we have slipped dangerously behind the Soviet Union in some very important
fields. But the committee is not rendering any final judgments in advance of the evidence, on why
we slipped or what should be done about it. Our goal is to find out what is to be done. We will
not reach that goal by wandering up any blind alleys of partisanship. I suppose that all of us,
being human, have some ideas on steps that should be taken. But the committee judgment will
represent a meeting of the minds after all the facts are available, and this committees judgment
will represent an effort to make a contribution to the defense of our Nation. The facts that I
learned so far give me no cause for comfort..."
Johnson called for unity between Democrats and Republicans. He brought up Pearl Harbor.
"There were just Americans anxious to roll up their sleeves to close ranks and to wade into the
enemy," he said.
Johnson called the first witness, Dr. Edward Teller, known as the Father of the H-Bomb, now
a professor at University of California Radiation Laboratory. Mr. Weisl was first to question
the witness. "Will you please tell us, Dr. Teller, briefly, what your relationship to atomic and
thermonuclear weapons has been since your arrival to this country?" Dr. Teller gave a brief
summary of his travels to different laboratories and his eventual tenure at University of California.
"Have you participated very actively in the development of the hydrogen bomb?" Mr Weisl
asked. "I have, yes, sir," Dr. Teller responded. Senator Johnson interrupted, "Senator Symington
is having trouble seeing the witness because of the photographers, and we have had a request to ask
them to take their pictures and then move along." Johnson shooed the audience of photographers
to the side.
Mr Weisl asked Dr. Teller about the relationship between fissionable and thermonuclear longrange missiles. Dr. Teller told of ballistic missiles, long-range missiles could shoot 1,500 to 5,000
feet, however the missiles werent much for accuracy therefore the larger the explosive the greater
the accuracy.
Mr. Weisl was concerned about accuracy, and asked Dr. Teller about "clean bombs" that is,
bombs that are powerful enough to cause a powerful explosion that hits on target, rather than a
long-range missile that requires a huge explosion to barely hit a target. Dr. Teller told Mr. Weisl
such weapons require significant testing.
The questioning continued. Dr. Teller testified that Sputnik required a rocketry, a rocket motor,
a guidance system, propulsion; and he discussed how these systems relate to ballistic missiles. If
rocket technology could be adapted...

Mr. Weisl got to the heat of the argument: "Then you believe that the Russians have an
intercontinental ballistic missile at this time? " Dr. Teller responded that he did not know if the
Russians had adapted rocketry technology to their ballistic missiles. The room was quiet; Mr.
Weisl pressed Dr. Teller. "Dr. Teller, what must the Russians have in their long-range guided
missile, in addition to their ability to put a satellite in outer space, in order to hit a target?"
Dr. Teller told Mr. Weisl about the problem of reentry when a rocket comes up the velocity that
is inevitable on the come down would be a high speed and be a problem. Dr. Teller told the
committee it was a problem the Russians could probably solve.
Mr. Weisl spoke, "Dr. Teller, why do you believe we are behind the Russians in the development
of the long-range missile?" Dr. Teller told the committee the US is behind in ballistics and the
Russian rocket technology is proof the US is behind. Dr. Weisl and Dr. Teller spoke for several
minutes and discussed how Russian scientists lead a good life and how Russian society uses science
very practically in everyday life.
Dr. Teller changed the subject. "Shall I tell you why I want to go to the moon?" he joked.
Mr. Weisl laughed, "Yes, sir."
Dr. Teller told of the scientific advancement going to the Moon or Mars would hold. Mr. Weisl
was more concerned again about Russia and asked Dr. Teller if he thought the Russians would see
the Moon as a military endeavor and if the US would find it practical militarily to go to the Moon.
"My imagination is not good enough for that," Dr. Teller responded. The committee discussed
assorted topics with Dr. Teller before calling its next witness to give testimony.
The Subcommittee met again the next day and discussed Russia science programs, its economy,
use ballistic missiles, and then Project Vanguard.
Project Vanguard was a project lead by Director, Dr. John Hagen who also served as a
member of the National Science Foundation. Dr. Hagen would be the Subcommittees next
witness. Dr. Hagen discussed Project Vanguard and how it was first a science experiment lead
by the Department of Defense to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year (IGY).
The Department of Defense had already done work in atmospheres and the Aerobees and Viking
rockets needed to launch the satellites needed to be built at the Naval Research Laboratory. The
IGY would last from July 1957 to December 1958. Dr. Hagan described the Viking rocket and the
orbit and the space-to-Earth communications of the satellite to the Subcommittee. The satellite
uses radio waves to communicate with a ground station. Dr. Hagen reiterated the project was
supposed to be off the ground by the end of the IGY.
Mr. Vance asked if the project could be hurried, and Dr. Hagen said there were funding
limitations, that ballistic missiles were of a higher priority and the Vanguard satellite program was
a secondary priority classification.
Mr.Vance asked, "[Without limitations] do you think that you could have gotten it up ahead
of Sputnik I?" Dr. Hagen responded at first hesitantly than responded, "I think that we probably
would have come very close to the same time, if not ahead of it." It was after this questioning
Congress had the information it needed to boost the Vanguard project from a low priority science
project to a higher security national defense project. Johnson called the committee to order and
decided an executive session was needed to meet in the Armed Services Committee Room to hear
the Director of Central Intelligence, Mr. Allen Dulles. Johnson settled the press, "At the conclusion
of his testimony I will meet with the press and tell them anything that I may be able to as a result
of that testimony...Dr. Hagen, we thank you for indulging us. Counsel, will you proceed with the
examination of the witness?"
Dr. Hagen continued to discuss the scientific benefits of the Vanguard Project. Later, Mr.
Vance asked Dr. Hagen about the military benefits of Project Vanguard. "...satellites, close-in
satellites, can certainly beexcellent aids to navigation. Within the Navy we, have this navigation
problem. The problem is not confined of course to the Navy but we are very aware of it. Close-in
satellites can help in navigation. They could also help in such things as television relays.
"What are they," Dr. Vance asked. Dr. Hagen continued, "You can place a satellite in an
orbit some 22,000 miles or so above the earth, at which time it has a period of just 1 day. So you
could place it over the United States, for example, and if you instrumented it as a television relay
station, you could feed television programs into the satellite and have them rebroadcast to cover
the whole of the United States with one transmitter. This is an obvious thing which will be done
some day and it certainly has its military advantages."
Dr. Vance then asked Dr. Hagen about Russian satellites. Dr. Hagen described Sputnik, and
described the "decay" process in which satellites are dragged down by the atmosphere and lose

orbit and burn up in the atmostphere "just as the meteor does," Hagen described.
Dr. Hagen discussed the Russian satellite Sputnik with the council and described the kind of
propulsion needed to launch the satellite. Senator Johnson was concerned if the American Viking
rocket could support such as satellite and Dr. Hagen was not sure, "we were comparing potatoes
and peas here when we compare with they are doing with our Vanguard experiment, because our
rocketry for this is not a military rocket, and we should not draw conclusions about our military
capabilities in this comparison." Dr. Hagen continued to describe the physics of the Vanguard
project and images were included in the Congressional record.
Senator Johnson thanked Dr. Hagen for his testimony and the Subcommittee hearing ended
about 4 pm that November day. The next few days the Subcommittee would hear testimony
on ballistics and guided missiles with witnesses from the Department of Defense, the Army and
the Armys Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) including testimony from Dr. Wernher von Braun,
Director of Development Operations Division at the ABMA in Huntville, Alabama.
Dr. Werhner von Braun was a man in his mid forties; he had short brown hair, wrinkles on
his face from decades studying rocket physics. He sometimes wore glasses. Von Braun was long
influenced by the science fiction works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and got his start in rocketry
working for the German Army working in the ballistic missile division. [1] He was formerly apart of
Hitlers "rocket team" and built V-2 bombers that used slave labor from a concentration camp in
Mittelwerk. [1] He stood before Congress that Wednesday afternoon and prepared to be questioned
about his work for the ABMA and the USs status on rocket development.
Mr. Weisl began, "Dr. von Braun, you are associated in the German use of the V-2. Will you
tell the committee briefly just what your association with the V-2 was?"
Von Braun responded, "The V-2 was the outgrowth of liquid fuel rocket developments that
had been going on in Germany since 1930. In 1930, still as a student, I became associated with
the German Society for Space Travel. We built some rather primitive liquid-fuel rockets under the
auspices of this society."
"How old were you at that time, Doctor?" Mr. Weisl asked. "Eighteen," Von Braun replied.
Von Braun began, "In 1932, about 2 years later, the German Army became interested in our
work, but was ready to support us only with the stipulation that we would move behind the fence
of an army facility. This is how I became affiliated with the German Army. Under the auspices
of the army we first built two smaller liquid fuel rockets, and by 1936 this project had progressed
so well that the German Army, jointly with the German Air Force, decided to establish a rocket
center on the Baltic Sea, which became the Rocket Center of Peenemuende, and it was there that
the V-2 rocket was developed. The actual development work on the V-2 began in early 1940. The
first flight tests were made in the spring of 1942, but were unsuccessful. In October 1942, the first
successful flight of the V-2 was made. In September 1944, the V-2 went into military operation."
Mr. Weisl asked, "Dr. von Braun will you tell the committee briefly how you managed to
escape from the Russians as they were approaching Peenemuende?" Von Braun testified about
how the Russian Army was approaching from the East and him and his comrades could hear the
artillery fire at night. "It was very obvious to me and my associates that the war was lost..." he
said. The group was on the rear of the fighting front, confused about which direction to go. They
decided to go west.
"We finally wound up partly in central Germany and partly in Bavaria. There we were ultimately run over by the American Army," von Braun testified.
"Were you able to escape to the American Army with equipment?" Mr. Weisl asked.
"Yes sir," von Braun replied. Von Braun continued, "only about 2,000 tons, but I would say
the most important equipment, finally wound up in American hands, including the documents
covering our scientific and engineering work."
Mr. Weisl asked, "In other words, you delivered the equipment and documents and all the
supporting data you could bring with you to the American Army?"
"That is right," von Braun replied.
Mr. Weisl asked to what extent had the Russian Army gained German rocketry technology, but
von Braun told the committee about how the Russians made poor use of their gained technology
and that the Russia ballistic missile program was heavily mismanaged.
"The Russian program wasnt very convincing, and not really dangerous," von Braun concluded.
Dr. Weisl responded, "You do not underestimate the ability of the Russians to make and
develop and plan and research into the missile field do you?"
"No sir, I dont," von Braun replied.

"Do you believe the Russians are ahead of us in this field?" Dr. Weisl asked.
"In the ballistic missile and satellite business, definitely; yes, sir," von Braun answered.
Mr. Weisl and Dr. von Braun discussed impediments to the missile program for some length.
They discussed the unfunded Jupiter missile program and how a larger problem was in engineering.
Von Braun discussed his shortage of engineers and surplus of scientists who were not helping the
project. Von Braun thought the answer lied with how the missile program was prioritized.
"This is a very fundamental and, I think, a very serious question..." von Braun began, "The
question is asked, very simply: Do we need it for the Atlas? Answer: No. Do we need it for
the Titan?" No. For the Jupiter? No. For the Thor? No. Consequently, there is no need
for a big engine."
Mr. Weisl was interested, "In other words, you agree with General Medaris there is need for
an engine with a large thrust?" Von Braun replied, "Yes, sir."
The testimony continued, "And you join with General Medaris in feeling that the control
of outer space and, I might say, with General Gavin, that the control of outer space is just as
important, if not more so, than the development of the ballistic missile?" Mr Weisl asked.
"Sir, I believe that"
Mr. Weisl pressed, "You join in that belief?"
Dr. von Braun looked cool. "Yes, sir; I do...I am convinced that the Russian concept, as
demonstrated by Sputnik No. 2 carrying this animal, is clearly much broader. They consider
the control of space around the earth very much like, shall we say, the great maritime powers
considered the control of the seas, in the 16th through the 18th century, and they say, If we want
to control this planet, we have to control the space around it.
Mr. Weisl responded, "Then we will discuss outer space with you this afternoon, Dr. von
Braun."
Senator Johnson concluded, "The committee will stand recess until 2:30." The room erupted.

1.5

As Johnson Feared

It was just as Johnson had feared; the US were behind the Soviets in space. He was more stressed
than the October night he saw Sputnik in the night sky. He recalled the Subcommittee session
with Dr. Von Braun.
In von Brauns arrogance he was convinced the Nazis were far more ahead in accurate, longrange ballistics than the mismanaged Soviet program, but that the US lagged behind the Soviets.
The Soviets saw space as a next battleground, launching a satellite with potential military capabilities. The Soviets could spy over Earth, specifically on sensitive areas above the Earth and the
US could do nothing.
The Soviets were ahead of the US in space, science, and technology and Johnson could not
stand for that. He thought of space as a potential battleground, a place the Soviets might try to
assert their Communist dominance. The US was lagged behind militarily, national defensively.
Johnson was not prepared to stand for that. "Were investigating this issue further," he might
have said to himself. Johnson sat at his desk and thought the matter over more carefully. He
recalled Brauns testimony after this afternoons session.
"What I think could be done is this," Braun began, "Suppose, shall we call it, a National Space
Agency were set up, either under the Secretary of Defense or as an independent agency, and this
agency were given its own budget. We have made a detailed plan as to what it would take to
run such a thing and just to quote a figure here, we are thinking about 1.5 billion a year. This is
in addition, of course, to what is spent on the military missile programs. This money would be
strictly for this long-range space program, for tlhe conquest of space. When forming this agency,
it should also be clearly understood that this is a long-range proposition, that this yearly going
rate would be something to plan and rely on, say, for the next 10 years."
Von Braun continued, "Now, this Space Agency would have to set up its, own in-house master
planning organization where competent people would plan a course of action, a stepwise course of
action, on how to proceed to attain certain milestones. For example, to put a man into an orbit on
a returnable basis within the next 5 years, and to have a manned space station, say, in 10 years.
The Space Agency should also be free to let project management contracts in certain subareas
included in the overall scope.
An independent agency, Johnson thought. A space agency. Von Brauns suggestion echoed in
his head.

"Your job is to get a man, on a returnable basis, into an orbit in 5 years, shall we say, and
you will build a space station in 10. Here is your own money. You can use the same industrial
structure that supports the IRBM and ICBM and other projects, but the head of the Space Agency
will make certain that he coordinates his contracts with the heads of the military missile agencies
of the services.
Johnson thought heavily on the matter. He still had another few days of hearings on the topic.
He was still awaiting all information from the Pentagon on Sputnik and the militarys work in
space and atmospheres.

Technocracy

2.1

Soviet Union

2.2

United States

3
3.1

Congressional Hearings
Government Attention
Table 1: Results of various regression analysis
Dependent variable:
Regression 1

Regression 2

Congressional Attention

10.479
(6.234)

0.260
(0.098)

Controlling for Apollo Era

4.415
(2.193)

Presidential Attention

0.332
(0.072)

Controlling for Apollo Era

Observations
Note:

3.2

Agents

3.3

Witness Testimony

66

p<0.1;

p<0.05;

p<0.01

References
[1] D. Hoffman, The moment sputnik terrified and thrilled americans. https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=bHCeLvy5z-I, 2013.
[2] W. J. Jordan, Soviet fires satellite into space: It is circling the globe at 18,000 m.p.h.; sphere
tracked in 4 crossings over u.s.. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/
big/1004.html#article, 1957. [Online; accessed 4-January-2016].

Figure 4: Vanguard Launching Vehicle as part of Congressional Record from Hagen testimony.

10

Figure 5: Scientific Earth Satellite via U.S. Naval Research Laboratory as part of Congressional
Record from Hagen testimony.
Congressional Attention and Spending:
National Space Policy 19482014
Apollo 204 accident

Spending

Attention

2.5 %

2%
Gemini

1.5 %

140%
Apollo

120%

Skylab
Shuttle Retires
Moon Landing

100%

Hubble Repair
Challenger accident

Space Shuttle R&D

80%

1%

Columbia accident

Sputnik 1/NASA est.

Auth. Act/SLS

Congressional Attention

Spending Change

Mercury

Space Shuttle Flight

60%

Space Exploration Initiative

0.5 %

Expedition 1

40%

Constellation
ISS Launch

20%
0%

0%
1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Year

Figure 6: Congressional hearings as percentage of total hearings plotted with spaceflight budget
as a percentaga of total US budget 1948-2014

11

Figure 7: Word cloud Von Braun opening statement to 1958 Congressional hearing on ballistic
missiles.

12