US Presidents and the Militarization of Space, 1946-1967

Appendix A: Chronology of Significant Events, 1946–1967

Appendix฀A:฀ Chronology฀of฀Signifi ฀cant฀Events,฀1945–1967 10฀ /฀฀ 03฀ /฀฀ 45฀฀ US฀Navy฀fi ฀rst฀assesses฀feasibility฀of฀a฀satellite฀with฀North฀ American฀Aviation฀and฀the฀Guggenheim฀Aeronautical฀ Laboratory 05฀ /฀ ฀ 02฀ /฀ ฀ 46฀฀ RAND฀Division฀of฀Douglas฀Aircraft฀Company฀completes฀ feasibility฀study฀of฀a฀satellite฀for฀the฀Air฀Force 05฀ /฀ ฀ 13฀ /฀ ฀ 46฀฀ General฀Eaker฀sends฀memorandum฀titled฀“A฀Projectile฀to฀ the฀Moon”฀to฀Assistant฀Secretary฀of฀Defense฀Symington 07฀ /฀฀ 26฀ /฀฀ 47฀฀ National฀Security฀Act฀passes 01฀ /฀ ฀ 12฀ /฀ ฀ 48฀฀ Lt.฀Gen.฀H.฀A.฀Craig,฀USAF,฀declares฀a฀satellite฀will฀soon฀ become฀fi ฀scally฀feasible 01฀ /฀ ฀ 15฀ /฀ ฀ 48฀฀ Gen.฀H.฀S.฀Vandenberg฀issues฀policy฀statement฀on฀USAF฀ interest฀in฀space 01฀ /฀ ฀ 28฀ /฀ ฀ 49฀฀ RAND฀holds฀internal฀conference฀to฀discuss฀the฀use฀of฀ psychological฀weapons;฀discussion฀includes฀potential฀use฀ of฀satellites 10฀ /฀ ฀ 04฀ /฀ ฀ 50฀฀ RAND฀publishes฀Paul฀Kecskemeti’s฀“The฀Satellite฀and฀ Rocket฀Vehicle:฀Political฀and฀Psychological฀Problems” 03฀ /฀ ฀ 17฀ /฀ ฀ 51฀ Gen.฀C.฀P.฀Cabell,฀USAF,฀outlines฀technical฀requirements฀ for฀a฀USAF฀฀ intelligence-฀ gathering฀satellite 04฀ /฀฀ 01฀ /฀฀ 51฀ S.฀M.฀Greenfi ฀eld฀and฀W.฀W.฀Kellogg฀of฀RAND฀publish฀ “Inquiry฀into฀the฀Feasibility฀of฀Weather฀Reconnaissance฀ from฀a฀Satellite฀Vehicle” 10฀ /฀ ฀ 30฀ /฀ ฀ 53฀ NSC฀162฀ /฀ ฀ 2฀becomes฀basic฀national฀security฀policy฀for฀the฀ United฀States 03฀ /฀ ฀ 27฀ /฀ ฀ 54฀ Technology฀Capabilities฀Panel฀(TCP)฀formed฀to฀investigate ฀use฀of฀technology฀to฀avert฀surprise฀attack฀from฀USSR 02฀ /฀฀ 14฀ /฀฀ 55฀ TCP฀publishes฀its฀report 05฀ /฀ ฀ 20฀ /฀ ฀ 55฀ NSC฀5520฀outlines฀the฀objectives฀of฀the฀US฀scientifi ฀c฀ satellite฀program 134 appendix a 05฀ /฀ ฀ 27฀ /฀ ฀ 55฀ Eisenhower฀endorses฀the฀satellite฀program฀outlined฀in฀ NSC฀5520 10฀ /฀ ฀ 03฀ /฀ ฀ 56฀ NSC฀issues฀a฀progress฀report฀to฀Eisenhower฀on฀NSC฀5520 11฀ /฀ ฀ 09฀ /฀ ฀ 56฀ CIA฀advisory฀committee฀informs฀Eisenhower฀that฀USSR฀ could฀launch฀a฀satellite฀before฀the฀United฀States 01฀ /฀ ฀ 24฀ /฀ ฀ 57฀ During฀310th฀meeting฀of฀the฀NSC,฀Eisenhower฀receives฀ further฀intelligence฀on฀advanced฀state฀of฀USSR฀satellite฀ program 10฀ /฀฀ 04฀ /฀฀ 57฀ Soviet฀Union฀launches฀Sputnik 11฀ /฀฀ 03฀ /฀฀ 57฀ Soviet฀Union฀launches฀Sputnik฀II฀with฀a฀dog฀on฀board 11฀ /฀ ฀ 08฀ /฀ ฀ 57฀ US฀Army฀directed฀to฀use฀Jupiter฀C฀to฀launch฀Navy’s฀Vanguard ฀satellite 11฀ /฀ ฀ 25฀ /฀ ฀ 57฀ Preparedness฀Investigating฀Subcommittee฀of฀Senate฀Committee ฀on฀Armed฀Services฀begins฀investigating฀US฀satellite฀ and฀missile฀program 11฀ /฀฀ 29฀ /฀฀ 57฀ Gen.฀Thomas฀White,฀USAF฀chief฀of฀staff,฀outlines฀aerospace ฀concept 12฀ /฀ ฀ 06฀ /฀ ฀ 57฀ First฀unsuccessful฀attempt฀by฀the฀United฀States฀to฀launch฀ Vanguard 01฀ /฀ ฀ 01฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀ Alexander฀de฀Seversky฀article฀written฀for฀USAF฀proclaims฀ “air฀power฀is฀space฀power” 01฀ /฀ ฀ 16฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀ John฀Foster฀Dulles,฀speaking฀at฀United฀Nations,฀declares฀ United฀States฀is฀interested฀in฀use฀of฀space฀for฀peaceful฀ purposes,฀not฀war 01฀ /฀ ฀ 28฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀ Gen.฀Homer฀Boushey฀declares฀space฀is฀a฀natural฀extension฀ of฀USAF฀air฀operations 02฀ /฀฀ 01฀ /฀฀ 58฀ United฀States฀launches฀Explorer฀I 02฀ /฀฀ 05฀ /฀฀ 58฀ Second฀unsuccessful฀attempt฀to฀launch฀Vanguard 02฀ /฀ ฀ 07฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀ Advanced฀Research฀Projects฀Agency฀(ARPA)฀created฀in฀DoD 03฀ /฀฀ 17฀ /฀฀ 58฀ United฀States฀successfully฀launches฀Vanguard฀I 04฀ /฀฀ 02฀ /฀฀ 58฀ Eisenhower฀proposes฀establishment฀of฀NASA 05฀ /฀฀ 15฀ /฀฀ 58฀ Soviet฀Union฀launches฀Sputnik฀III,฀the฀fi ฀rst฀orbiting฀geophysical ฀laboratory 07฀ /฀ ฀ 29฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀ Eisenhower฀approves฀National฀Aeronautics฀and฀Space฀Act฀ of฀1958,฀establishing฀NASA 08฀ /฀ ฀ 18฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀ NSC฀5814฀ /฀ ฀ 1฀establishes฀US฀policy฀on฀outer฀space 10฀ /฀฀ 01฀ /฀฀ 58฀ NASA฀activated 11฀ /฀฀ 12฀ /฀฀ 58฀ Sen.฀Lyndon฀Johnson฀in฀Dallas฀Morning฀News:฀“peace฀is฀ the฀fi ฀rst฀and฀greatest฀opportunity฀space฀affords฀us”;฀in฀San฀ chronology of significant events 135 Antonio฀News:฀“[the]฀whole฀technology฀of฀warfare฀will฀be฀ dominated฀by฀space” 11฀ /฀ ฀ 17฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀ Senator฀Johnson,฀at฀request฀of฀President฀Eisenhower,฀ speaks฀before฀UN฀General฀Assembly฀to฀urge฀creation฀of฀ ad฀hoc฀space฀committee 12฀ /฀฀ 17฀ /฀฀ 58฀ Project฀Mercury฀publicly฀announced 12฀ /฀ ฀ 18฀ /฀ ฀ 58฀฀ United฀States฀launches฀SCORE,฀world’s฀fi ฀rst฀active฀communication ฀satellite 02฀ /฀ ฀ 28฀ /฀ ฀ 59฀ First฀attempt฀to฀launch฀Discoverer฀satellite 04฀ /฀ ฀ 13฀ /฀ ฀ 59฀ First฀successful฀launch฀of฀Discoverer฀satellite 08฀ /฀฀ 07฀ /฀฀ 59฀ Explorer฀VI฀provides฀fi ฀rst฀television฀picture฀from฀space 09฀ /฀฀ 12฀ /฀฀ 59฀ Soviet฀Union฀achieves฀fi ฀rst฀lunar฀impact:฀Luna฀II 10฀ /฀฀ 04฀ /฀฀ 59฀฀ Soviet฀Union฀launches฀Luna฀III฀which฀provides฀fi ฀rst฀photos ฀of฀moon’s฀far฀side 02฀ /฀฀ 26฀ /฀฀ 60฀ United฀States฀launches฀Midas฀I 04฀ /฀฀ 01฀ /฀฀ 60฀ United฀States฀launches฀TIROS฀I,฀world’s฀fi ฀rst฀weather฀ satellite 04฀ /฀฀ 13฀ /฀฀ 60฀ United฀States฀launches฀Transit฀IB,฀world’s฀fi ฀rst฀navigation฀ satellite 05฀ /฀ ฀ 01฀ /฀ ฀ 60฀ U-฀ 2฀and฀pilot฀Francis฀Gary฀Powers฀shot฀down฀by฀Soviet฀ Union 05฀ /฀฀ 24฀ /฀฀ 60฀ United฀States฀launches฀Midas฀II 08฀ /฀฀ 10฀ /฀฀ 60฀ First฀successful฀payload฀recovery฀from...