Quote:
On 2002-01-29 11:19, JayUtah wrote:
Eisenhower's "civilian" versus "military" distinction is mostly revisionism. Even astronautix.com can't decide whether the Viking was a civilian or a military rocket. There was indeed a rocket rivalry between the branches of the armed services (Army: Jupiter, USAF: Atlas), but Eisenhower wanted the satellite launched on a booster of American design, lest the victory be tempered by an accusation that it was really a German rocket. It was well known that the Jupiter was almost exclusively a German design while the Viking was American. I don't think the Atlas was ever seriously considered.
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I checked over the (even more authoritative)
This New Ocean by Burroughs this morning, which states that there was some real resentment of the Germans in Washington because of the Nazi tie-in, and that this was a major reason why Eisenhower held back the Army effort.