PRESENTATION NAME

NASA and the Politics of SpaceflightFebruary 14, 2009Afternoon Session1October 4, 1957

Sputnik2The Space Age was born 50 years ago. We can date it from a precise day--October 4, 1957. A small metal sphere (about the size of a basketball), weighing 184 pounds, was shot up through the atmosphere and into space on top of a military rocket. The sphere got up just high enough to become an artificial satellite, the first creation of humankind ever to leave the Earths home environment and move out into space. The name of this first satellite was Sputnik. If Sputnik doesnt sound like an English word its because it isnt. Its Russianand in Russian, the word means fellow traveler, which is a more poetic way of calling something a satellite.The word for the first satellite was Russian because it was Russiaor more properly, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the former Soviet Union--that was responsible for this great achievement.What I want to do this lecture is ask how and why was it that the Soviet Union was first into space?

o Why wasnt it the United States?o Why did the Russians beat the Americans?o How did they, in October 1957, put up Sputnik, before the U.S. could manage to put up something of its own?o And how and why did the former Soviet Union keep beating the United States with this or that first into space for so long, during the opening years of the space age?

Soviet Space Firsts1957, First artificial satelliteSputnikfriendly traveler 3LIST OF SOVIET FIRSTS

First artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, 4 Oct 1957

Soviet Space Firsts1957, First living creature in spaceDog LaikaSputnik 2

4First living creature into space--dog Laika.

Sputnik 2

3 Nov 1957

Soviet Space Firsts1959, First spacecraft to vicinity of moonLuna

5First spacecraft to fly to the vicinity of the Moon and beyond.

Luna 3

4 Oct 1959 (2nd anniversary of Sputnik 1)

Soviet Space FirstsFirst person in space, 12 Apr. 1961Cosmonaut Yuri GagarinVostok 1

6First person in space,

Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1, 12 Apr. 1961

Soviet Space FirstsJune 1963, First woman in spaceValentina TereshkovaVostok 6

7First woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, 14 June 1963

Soviet Space Firsts1965, First space walk (EVA)Alexei Leonov, Voskhod 2

8First spacewalk (EVA).

Alexei Leonov, 18 Mar 1965

Also sets endurance record.

Soviet Space Firsts1971, First space stationSalyut 1

9First manned space station.

Salyut 1.

19 Apr. 1971.

Soviet Space FirstsSputnik 1, Oct. 4, 1957Sputnik 2, Nov. 3, 1957Luna 3, Oct. 4, 1959Yuri Gagarin, April 12, 1961Valentina Tereshkova, June 14, 1963Leonov EVA, March 18, 1965Salyut I, April 1971Politics & Technology:Prestige and Propaganda

11Not an easy question to answer, why was the Soviet Union first into space? More complicated than you might think. It requires that we know something about both the American and the Soviet programs. It requires that we look not only into things like satellites and rockets and booster capability but also into political ideology, and into international geopolitics (or what we might call, strategic world politics), and into the character of the Cold War and the buildup of nuclear weapons that we began to discuss last week.Thats one of the themes you should keep in mind as I move through this presentation: the theme of how politics and technology relate to one anothermore specifically, how technology is used to promote political and ideological goals and ambitions, and how a technology, even if it isnt specifically a weapons system, can serve as a type of weaponin this case, a critical weapon in the Cold War, in the propaganda war, in the prestige war, between the Soviet Union and the United States from the 1950s to the late 1980s, when the Soviet Union crumbled out of existence, something most people back in the late 1950s, when the space age began, had a very hard time imagining ever could happen.Soviet Background in Rocketry and Space

Konstantin TsiolkovskiiFather of Cosmonautics,1857-1935

Group for the Study of ReactionMotionGIRD, 1931

Soviet rocket designs, 1946-195312Let me put Sputnik and the Soviet achievement of the first space flight into historical context by mentioning some important points relevant to Soviet history prior to 1957. First, as much as any other country (and in many ways more so), scientists and engineers from the Soviet Union pioneered the basic concepts of spaceflight. This included the concepts of: Liquid-fueled rockets, Staging rockets to reach escape velocities from the earth, orbital space stations, space telescopes manned lunar landings, interplanetary missions, galactic star ships,Rocket societies were organized as early as 1924 in the Soviet Union, and in 1931 a Group for the Study of Reaction Motion (known by its acronym GIRD) became organized, with research centers in Moscow and Leningrad, for the purpose of building and testing different kinds of rockets.

Dr. Robert Goddard, 1882-194513In the United States, there was much less interest, including military interest, save for the pioneering work of Dr. Robert Goddard.

Josef Stalin

14Second point about pre-1957 Soviet history that needs to be kept in mind: In the 1930s, under the direction of an iron-fisted and ruthless totalitarian leader by the name of Josef Stalin, Soviet society experienced a horrible wave of devastating purges, in which thousands of people were imprisoned or assassinated by Stalins secret police force. By the end of the 1930s, because of these purges, Russians marched to Stalins tune, or they did not march. This included most of the scientific, cultural, and educational figures in the country, many of found their way to work camps in Siberia. In this persecuted group, one found much of the astronautical pioneers of the country. The purges decimated a whole generation not only of the Soviet Unions best writers, politicians, military officers, academics, but also its best scientists and engineers. No one was safe, no matter how tenuous their alleged opposition to Stalins programs. People were picked up off the street for completely arbitrary reasons and never seen again. Not surprisingly, a feeling of paranoia crept into almost every level of society, as millions faced the threat of possible execution or internment in labor camps.

Stalins Gulags15 A number of the most important rocket enthusiasts were in fact imprisoned and spent years in hard labor.

Its hard to believe but literally the elitethe cream of the cropof Russian aircraft technology and Russian rocket technologywere arrested and spent years in Siberian prisons during the late 1930s and 1940s. And believe it or not, it was these same persecuted individuals who would come back to lead their country to world prominence in space flight, in the 1950s and 1960s. Its an incredible story of human perseverance and creativity in the face of incredible hardship under totalitarian rule.

World War II

16The same thing needs to be said about Soviet society as a whole. Thats the third background factor to keep in mind: the Russian experience in World War II. At the end of WWII, the Soviet Union was in almost total ruins. No other nation in the world was as devastated and crippled by the war. Approximately 27 million Soviet people lay dead by the end of 1945nearly 10 million of them were civilians. Compare that to only about 300,000 American deaths in battle and no significant loss of civilian lives at all. As many as 1700 of the Soviet Unions cities had been destroyed in the war. An industrial infrastructure stretched well beyond its limits. Half of its housing no longer standing. Farm production close to famine.

17But somehow, by 1957, it was this remarkable country

o in which the cruelty of its own leaders had sometimes reached inhuman proportions,

o where wave after wave of Soviet citizens had disappeared into the depth of the Gulag system, including its rocket experts,

o a country that the Nazis invaded and almost defeated

that somehow managed to first achieve spaceflight.

WHY WAS THE USSR FIRST??18In the light of the ultimate demise of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, thinking of the Soviet Union as the country responsible for launching humanitys first steps into the cosmos might today seem a little strange, the memory oddly empty.When people think about Sputnik today, especially young people who didnt live through much of any of the Cold War, they might divorce it from its origin as a uniquely Soviet artifact. But thats what it was: an 184-pound sphere that was designed and built by men who lived through a war in which their country lost more than 25 million people, experienced the terror of Stalinist times, and defined themselves as Communists.So, why was this remarkable yet ultimately short-lived experiment, the Soviet Union, the first country into space and not the United States? Its an extremely complicated story, but I think it can be boiled down to four major reasons.

The Soviets had the big rocket

Soviet R-7 (SS-6) ICBMKorolev19First reason: The Soviet Union had the big rocket booster it took to get into space; we didnt.What was that rocket booster?SS-6 intercontinental ballistic missilemasterminded by Russias leading rocket designer, Sergei Korolev, who called it the R-7SS-6= code name we gave it.What was an ICBM used for? carried a nuclear warheadSS-6 originally designed to carry an A-bomb, later changed to carry the heavier and more powerful H-bomb.

20Important that the Soviets have ICBM capability:

a. Soviet bombers in the early 1950s lacked the range to attack the U.S. Thus, in an unpleasantly weak military and strategic position.b. Moreover, Soviets had never conducted strategic bombing with its airplanes. Soviet Air Force limited to ground support. Leaves the strategic bombing role to the rocketand the Soviet Army operates them, not the air force.c. Really needed to develop a missile with an intercontinental range. Had been working on the technology since the end of WW II.

USAF Strategic Air CommandB-52 Bomber21Why didnt the U.S. have a big booster?a. U.S. didnt need ICBMs nearly as badly. We had done a lot of strategic bombing in WW II.b. Our Strategic Air Command had developed a fleet of very effective long-range bombers that could do the job (notably the B-52). Also consider the culture of the US Air Force= pilot-centered! Guided missiles didnt need pilots but airplanes do so thats what the USAF focused on. c. Also, thanks to Americas military alliances, the U.S. had bases in places like Turkey from which we could reach Soviet targets with intermediate range missiles.

Polaris Nuclear Submarine22Also, by the late 1950s, the U.S. would also have submarines carrying Polaris missiles. TRIPLE THREAT!!

Dr. Edward Teller: Father of the Hydrogen BombStanislas Ulam

23Another reason why the U.S. didnt have as big a booster had to do, ironically, with something that should have been working in our favor: in 1952, physicists Edward Teller and Stanislas Ulam found a way to make hydrogen bombs relatively small and lightweight.

Lithium-deuteride deviceLightweight thermonuclear warhead24Discovery involved the use of a salt-like substance known as lithium-deuteride as the thermonuclear fuel. Lithium: still the lightest known metal. Were talking a fusion bomb rather than the fission bombs used to end WW II.

US vs. Soviet launch vehiclesWW2 German V-2US RedstoneR-7Soviet ICBMs25Because we had a relatively light warhead, we didnt need as big a missile; because the Russians had frozen their missile design at a time when their warhead was heavy, they needed a big booster.Soviets needed an absolute minimum of 5000 tons of rocket thrust to get their hydrogen warhead off the ground and to its targetand needed significantly more than that to get any reasonably-sized payload into orbit. So, much of the disparity in weight-lifting capability at the time of Sputnik had to do with that difference.

Soviet leadership emphasis

Nikita Khrushchev26B. Second reason: Soviet leadership put more emphasis on being first. Propaganda reasons: USSR needed to show that communism was the superior system and would ultimately win out over all rival systems. Convince the non-aligned world to line up with Soviet communism. Soviet leadership wanted itnotably Premier Nikita Khruschchev (successor to Josef Stalin, who died in 1953 after being in power since the 1920s). Khruschchev funnels disproportionate resources into a space program so as it use it as the Soviet Unions main instrument of international propaganda. Goal: give an impression of overall technical strength.

27Khruschchevs plan was to lessen respect for the U.S. and reduce its influence around the world. Internally, it also allowed K. to overcome opposition to his domestic policies within his own Communist Party and within the Soviet military. By stressing missiles, K. could reduce the size of the huge Soviet army, which would free manpower and money for economic development in the country.

28Soviet space launches thus made strictly according to a political schedule, i.e., upstage the U.S. in science and technologyand, by implication, military power. Show the greatness of communism.

o Sputnik 1: 40th anniversary of October Revolution

o Luna 3: 2nd anniversary of Sputnik

U.S. Rockets and Eisenhowers Choice of Vanguard1957International Geophysical Year (IGY)

29Third reason why the Soviets made it into space first: for political reasons, Eisenhower chose a less capable American satellite project over a more capable one.

Only two American rockets far enough along in their development to be considered for putting up an American satellite.

I should say at this point that putting up a satellite was to be the capstone achievement of American involvement in an international scientific event known as International Geophysical Year (IGY). 1957 was to be a year of intense solar activity and scientists around the world had decided to dedicate this period of time to the study of earth and space science. American scientists in conjunction with the policies of the Eisenhower presidential administration had decided that a wonderful way to celebrate the IGY would be to launch a satellite into space, hopefully the worlds first.

Of course, what the Soviet government had decided was to try to get a satellite up before the IGY even started, thus beating the Americans to the punch.

One of the major problems for the American satellite project was, which satellite to choose. There were two major prospects. American Rockets

Jupiter RocketWernher von Braun30One was the Jupiter rocketdesigned by Wernher Von Braun at the armys Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL.

Part of the Redstone family of rockets; descendant of the V-2 developed by Nazi Germany in WW II (Aside: Russian SS-6 also a descendant of German V-2 technologyRussians learn from Germans just as we did!)

Proposed to use it to launch a satellite originally called Orbiter.

Viking Rocket

Vanguard Satellite31The other rocket was named Viking. It was developed by the Martin Company (Baltimore) and the Naval Research Laboratory. Launch a satellite known as Vanguard. Technically inferior to Army project.Why then was Vanguard (and Viking) chosen?

Von Brauns project perceived as a military project. Vanguard, in comparison, was to be launched by a rocket designed for scientific research into the upper atmosphere; not designed as a weapon.Eisenhower Administration wanted Americas move into space to be peaceful; didnt want to turn space into the next battleground and heat up the Cold War.

32One other reason that no one ever expressed out loud: a general prejudice against the German-run army missile program, because of its ties back to Nazi Germany.

The first U.S. satellite should not be launched by a group of imported citizens who had worked for Adolf Hitler!

The first U.S. satellite should not be a descendant of Hitlers terror weapon that fired into the streets of London!

Legality of SatelliteOverflights

33B. Fourth reason: Legality of satellite overflightsU.S. satellites would pass over foreign countries, including the USSR (which, after all, was a huge, almost continental land mass).

In international law at that time, a nations air space extended indefinitely into the sky above a nation.Satellites over another country could be considered hostile, an act of war.Thus, it seemed politically prudent to divest a satellite of all direct military significance before sending it up.Not a military rocket.Not a descendant of the German V-2 terror weapon. Spy Satellites

U.S. spy photo of Soviet airfield, early 1960s34What was the real concern, behind the scenes, for the Eisenhower Administration? SPYING!!

USSR was a closed societybehind the Iron Curtain.U.S. intelligence had to know exactly what the Russian military was doing, particularly in terms of nuclear-arms buildups.Satellites seemed the best way to gather the information.This was also a way for the U.S. to control its military spending.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952-196035Eisenhower didnt want to change the character of the country, i.e., didnt want to become more and more like the Soviet Union in order to win out over them. What was the point of that: becoming your enemy? Ikes Farewell Address (Jan. 1961) warned the country of the dangers of the military-industrial complex.Ike didnt want to spend the country into bankruptcy; was an honest-to-goodness balanced-budget man. Only way to keep a lid on military spending and still be strong enough militarily to ward off communism was to know exactly what the Soviets were up to. Otherwise, we would have to go ahead with every military weapons system that came down the pike, just to ensure our national survival.

Eisenhowers Farewell Address

Coined term military-industrial complexThreatened democracy36The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industryWe must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processesSo we had to spy, and we had to do it effectively and, hopefully, without international controversy or incident. How were we going to do that?If we put up the first satellite, especially if it had any threatening military appearances, and it flew over the USSR or any part of the Soviet bloc, they could claim we were violating their airspace and that it was an act of capitalist aggression!On the other hand, if the Russians themselves put up the first satellite and set the precedent, and we and our allies dont complain about it, then a new international legal precedent would get established, which permitted satellite overflights.We could then put up our satellites, and do all the spying we want to!Thats NOT to say that we were absolutely waiting around, dragging our feet, planning for the Russians to be first. It just meant we didnt see any pressing need to be first, and actually had some pretty good reasons to think we would be better off in the long run if we didnt get our satellite up first.Explains why we chose Vanguard, even if it wasnt technically better than the Jupiter-Orbiter proposal.

National Reconnaissance Office Discoverer satellitesKeyholesTop-secret Corona Program(Central Intelligence Agency)

37And in one sense it worked beautifully for the United States.

Perhaps our most significant space program of the 1960s and after involved our spy satellites.

Not part of NASA.Directed by the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO), a Pentagon center that managed the surveillance work of the entire U.S. intelligence community.Included a CIA-run program known only by its code name Corona. Operated satellites known to the public as Discoverers, but actually served as camera platforms for spy satellites known in the intelligence community as Keyholes.

Among other things, these spy satellites discover in the fall of 1961 that the Soviet Unions great missile power was mostly just bluff. It possessed just a token force of SS-6 ICBMs. Not really much of a threat to us.

Spy SatellitesDiscovererKeyhole Camera platform38So we had to spy, and we had to do it effectively and, hopefully, without international controversy or incident. How were we going to do that?If we put up the first satellite, especially if it had any threatening military appearances, and it flew over the USSR or any part of the Soviet bloc, they could claim we were violating their airspace and that it was an act of capitalist aggression!On the other hand, if the Russians themselves put up the first satellite and set the precedent, and we and our allies dont complain about it, then a new international legal precedent would get established, which permitted satellite overflights.

We could then put up our satellites, and do all the spying we want to!

Thats NOT to say that we were absolutely waiting around, dragging our feet, planning for the Russians to be first. It just meant we didnt see any pressing need to be first, and actually had some pretty good reasons to think we would be better off in the long run if we didnt get our satellite up first.

Explains why we chose Vanguard, even if it wasnt technically better than the Jupiter-Orbiter proposal.

U-2 Spyplane

39Also worked out well for us because it meant we wouldnt need to be risking sending up so many spy planes.Problem of spying on USSR in this more conventional way illustrated in very dramatic fashion in May 1960 when a Lockheed U-2 aircraft was shot down. Proved to be a major international embarrassment for the U.S., especially when we got caught lying about it. (said it was a NASA weather observation plane that flew off course! But the Russians had the pilot, Francis Gary Powers!)

We would continue to use spy planes, in different places, in different ways. But not nearly as reliant on them as before.

Sputnik

40In another way, though, youd have to say having the Russians get into space first did not work out so well for us, because when it happens, with Sputnik 1, the public reaction in the United States is one of shock and amazement.Americans stunned by the news that the Russians got into space ahead of us. Considered by many another kind of Pearl Harbor. Very traumatic. How could the Russians beat us into space? Where were all our scientists and engineers? What was wrong with them? Were they sleeping at the wheel? And what about the U.S. government, and President Eisenhower himself?

Eisenhowers Measured Response to Sputnik41Eisenhower did his best to clam everyone down. His reaction:Quite measured.Not overly concerned.Tried to reassure the nation.Knew that our national security was not seriously at risk. (Russian ICBMs not yet close to deployment). Knew that Sputnik 1, which weighed only 184 pounds, was not a weapon. Had no real military significance.Knew that there were some real advantages in the Russians being first, in terms of establishing the legality of satellite overflight.

Problem was, he just couldnt explain everything he knew about the situation to the American people. Dont hurry, everythings fine, because what our satellite program is all about is SPYING!!!

Flopnik!!Dec. 1957 Attempt to launch Vanguard satellite42Ike did hurry up the American satellite program:

Vanguard failure, Dec. 1957.

Flopnik, Kaputnik.

Sputnik cocktail 2 parts Russian vodka, one part sour grapes.

Russian ambassador to UN asks if US wants aid to underdeveloped countries!

Explorer 1: first U.S. satellite to orbit31 Jan. 195843Turns to Army/Von Braun rocket technology and to a satellite called Explorer designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Explorer goes into orbit on 31 Jan. 1958.

But not enough to turn the tide, especially when the Soviets continue to upstage us.

44American people in their hysterical reaction to Sputnik thought:

Eisenhower had lost touch with reality;Was covering up the failures of his administration;That his political party, the Republicans, deserved to lose the next election, and that a Democratic president ought to take over when Eisenhowers term ended in 1960.

KennedyNixon45And thats exactly what happened.

Eisenhowers VP. Richard Nixon, ran for the presidency in 1960, and lost to Democrat John F. Kennedy.

JFK scored points on: Sputnik Alleged missile gap Failures of Eisenhowers administration

Only real failure of Eisenhower Administration was that it failed to realize just how traumatic it would be for the American people to have the Russians get into space first.It was a failure that, as much as any other single factor, cost Nixon the 1960 election.

Symbols of the Cold War46What the Eisenhower Administration failed to realize well enough was that the Cold War was all about symbols: Mushroom-shaped cloudsLeadershipDiplomatic signalsDetermination and will.Kruschschev understood this better than Eisenhower; and so, too, did JFK.

Eisenhowers vision for NASAWanted Americas space program to be peaceful, research-orientedNot to be controlled or fought over by the militarySelected NACA as the nucleus

What Eisenhower would do before leaving office though, actually within months of the success of Explorer I, would be to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (or NASA).47

So how do we get from here.

To here? And what does Kennedys announcement mean from a technological standpoint?Anyone want my job?

James E. WebbNASA Administrator, 1961-1968JFK appointmentFormer director, Bureau of the BudgetFor NASA, the challenge is real.Aghast!

Robert Gilruth, head of NASAs Space Task GroupFuture director of the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston (later named Johnson Space Center)Accomplished aeronautical engineer

first, period

So why is Bob Gilruth aghast? We need to go back to looking at Kennedy and his politics of spaceflight.Who is this man who committed the United States to the biggest space endeavor undertaken to date?

On the surface he seems like a man committed to US success in space:

Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at V.F.W. Convention, Detroit, Michigan, August 26, 1960

We are still the strongest power in the world today. But Communist power has been, and is now, growing faster than is our own. And by communist power I mean military power, economic power, scientific and educational power, and political power. They are moving faster than we are: on the ground, under the ocean, in the air and out in space.The world's first satellite was called Sputnik, not Vanguard or Explorer. The first vehicle to the moon was named Lunik. The first living creatures to orbit the earth in space and return were named Strelka and Belka, not Rover and Fido.I believe that there can be only one possible defense policy for the United States. It can be expressed in one word. That word is "first."I do not mean first, but. I do not mean first, when. I do not mean first, if. I mean first - period.

knew and understood least about spaceLife magazine editor Hugh Sidey on JFK

But according to Life Magazine editor, Hugh Sidey, of the President after an interview with him on April 14th, He knew and understood least about space.

Kennedy was no space buff, and he didnt have any strong interest in it. He generally considered it about as realistic a pursuit as the stuff in Buck Rogers.

But just over a month after that interview with Hugh Sidey, Kennedy announced that the US should go to the moon!First Man in SpaceCosmonaut Yuri GagarinVostok 1April 12, 1961One complete orbit

Bay of Pigs Fiasco, April 17-19

Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets?

Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner

JFKs science adviserDirector of MITs Radiation Laboratory, 1952-1961MIT President, 1971-1980No fan of the Apollo programIf LBJa big supporter of the manned space program--had not been VP, it is likely that Wiesner would have won the day and Kennedy would have not chosen the Apollo program as his face-saving action.LBJ with James Webb

Launch of Freedom 7May 5, 1961Astronaut Alan B. Shepard15-minute suborbital flight

Mercury and Gemini ProgramsFive more flights, to include John Glenns first orbital flightGemini Program Rendezvous and DockingLong-duration flightExtra-vehicular activityApolloSaturn V rocketLunar landerFLATs(Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees)Geraldine Jerrie Cobb1963 Congressional Hearings

Only got here because Kennedy died. LBJ kept it alive in the face of rising tensions over Civil Rights and Vietnam.Nixon: the most historic phone call ever made

The irony is that Kennedy beat Nixon on the case of the Space Race. Nixon is president to congratulate Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.

In 2011, the shuttle program ended. The newest plans include the commercialization of spaceflight and a return to the Moon. These plans face plenty of technological hurdles. But the politics that has defined spaceflight is no less relevant to the space program today. What do we choosepolitics? Budget? Or do we continue to explore because its what we as humans do?

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