The Eagle Has Landed: The Story of Apollo 11 Read Online Free PDF Page B

North America.
    Sputnik Zemlyi, “traveling companion of the world,” was launched with little fanfare, but the world’s first satellite would dramatically change the dynamics between the two superpowers. Orbiting at 25 times the speed of sound, the tiny satellite appeared as a blinking light in the nighttime skies—a visible image of the Soviet Union’s head start in space exploration.
    Sputnik (its second name was soon dropped) was equipped with a radio transmitter, and its distinctive beep-beep sound was audible to short wave radio listeners throughout America. Following an elliptical 141.7 x 588 mile orbit, the Soviet satellite circled Earth once every 96 minutes and 12 seconds. Sputnik would remain in orbit, taunting the free world, until January of 1958, when it finally burned up re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.
    President Dwight D. Eisenhower attempted to diminish the significance of the Sputnik launch, describing the satellite as “one small ball in the air, something which does not raise my apprehensions, not one iota.” Eisenhower’s assessment, however, was in the minority, as reflected in the words of the powerful Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon B. Johnson: “The real meaning of the satellite is that we can no longer consider the Soviet Union to be a nation years behind us in scientific research and industrial capability.” The flamboyant Texan, known to Washington insiders as the Master of the Senate, issued a shrill warning to his countrymen that the Soviets would soon “be dropping bombs on us from space, like kids dropping rocks from freeway overpasses.” Many other influential leaders echoed Johnson’s warning. The Washington Post likened the Sputnik launch to the Japanese bombardment of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; a point in time when the United States had been caught totally unprepared.
    Alarmists, clearly in the majority, declared the Russians had mounted an insurmountable lead in the Space Race. Many political and military leaders, all but hysterical, worried the Soviet Union would soon be launching nuclear weapons from space. England’s Manchester Guardian offered a grave, yet misguided warning: “Russians can now build ballistic missiles capable of hitting any chosen target, anywhere in the world.” A proud and bellicose Nikita Khrushchev stoked anxious fires burning outside the Iron Curtain, boasting that the Soviet Union could launch nuclear missiles anytime and anywhere it wanted.
    The profound practical and psychological implications of Sputnik jump-started America’s entry into the Space Race. Many politicians, fearful of being regarded as soft on Communism during the red-baiting, Cold War era, exploited the fears of their fellow citizens. On November 25, 1957, Lyndon Johnson initiated congressional hearings to determine how best to stimulate the country’s fledgling space program. In short order, Johnson, who had his eye set on the presidency in 1960, was appointed Chairman of the Special Committee on Space and Astronauts. Other presidential aspirants, including the Democratic junior Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, amplified Johnson’s clarion call.
    Led by scientist and engineer, Sergei Korolev, the Soviet Union was well on its way toward establishing a formidable space program. In 1955, construction had begun on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Soviet-controlled Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan. Protected by heavy military guard, Baikonur was a top secret “closed city,” where in totalitarian fashion, research, development, and implementation of the Soviet space program were hidden from the world. Only the cameras of American U-2 spy planes were privy to the activities at Baikonur. With its powerful R-7 rocket having already proven that it could launch a satellite into orbit, the Soviet Union was preparing to leave its Cold War rival in the starting blocks.
    President Eisenhower, ever calm during real or perceived crises, was clearly aware that Soviet