astronomer could not refrain from telling von Braun how impressed he had been by
the way the German scientist managed the work. The German then took him into
his office, where O’Keefe saw an incredible laboratory full of drawings and rocket
models. A large paper unrolled on the desk got immediately his attention. On that
paper was depicted the trajectory of the last US Army Jupiter C rocket launched by
von Braun several months before. Suddenly, the astronomer realized why he was
there: the Germans had almost launched the first artificial moon.
Von Braun said that if he had added a fourth stage to that rocket, it would have
entered into orbit at an altitude of about 700 miles. O’Keefe realized that von
Braun could only had been stopped from doing so by the White House itself. In
fact, months before, President Eisenhower had said that the Navy would have the
honour of launching the first US space rocket, Vanguard. At the time, the missile
development was proceeding slowly with problem after problem.
The unspoken truth was that no one wanted the first US satellite to be launched
thanks to a rocket built by former Nazis. Von Braun was aware of this, but was also
more interested in what he considered the final goal – the exploration of space. On
that day, he revealed to O’Keefe his doubts about Vanguard and his personal conviction that the Russians would launch a satellite before the Americans. O’Keefe
was shocked by this revelation and asked what he could do about this. Von Braun
told him:
I want you to visit John Hagen, Vanguard’s project manager at Naval
Research Laboratory, and I want you to tell him that if he wants, he can paint
“Vanguard” on all sides of my rocket. He can do whatever he wants, but he
must use my rocket, not his, because my rocket will work, his won’t. And, if
Hagen tells you, and I believe he will, that all that really matters is science,
and that it doesn’t matter who arrives first in orbit, you will tell him that if
this is what he really thinks then for Christ’s sake get out of the way of the
people who think there’s a huge, goddamn difference.
1
The story described above is just a fragment of the incredible true events that
happened during this time, as chronicled in the book Angle of Attack, written by
Harrison Storms an aerospace engineer who led the Apollo capsule project team
at North American Rockwell.
2
Von Braun’s words to the young American astronomer were raw and straight to
the point. O’Keefe looked at the stars with the free spirit of a passionate man in
love with the science. But the German scientist reminded him about the harsh
geopolitical reality of life on Earth: the young astronomer could only continue to
1
Gray, Mike. 1994. Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon. Prologue,
Penguin Group USA.
2
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/16/us/harrison-a-storms-is-dead-at-76-leader-in-aerospace-development.html.
The Space Race: Moondust 13
the way the German scientist managed the work. The German then took him into
his office, where O’Keefe saw an incredible laboratory full of drawings and rocket
models. A large paper unrolled on the desk got immediately his attention. On that
paper was depicted the trajectory of the last US Army Jupiter C rocket launched by
von Braun several months before. Suddenly, the astronomer realized why he was
there: the Germans had almost launched the first artificial moon.
Von Braun said that if he had added a fourth stage to that rocket, it would have
entered into orbit at an altitude of about 700 miles. O’Keefe realized that von
Braun could only had been stopped from doing so by the White House itself. In
fact, months before, President Eisenhower had said that the Navy would have the
honour of launching the first US space rocket, Vanguard. At the time, the missile
development was proceeding slowly with problem after problem.
The unspoken truth was that no one wanted the first US satellite to be launched
thanks to a rocket built by former Nazis. Von Braun was aware of this, but was also
more interested in what he considered the final goal – the exploration of space. On
that day, he revealed to O’Keefe his doubts about Vanguard and his personal conviction that the Russians would launch a satellite before the Americans. O’Keefe
was shocked by this revelation and asked what he could do about this. Von Braun
told him:
I want you to visit John Hagen, Vanguard’s project manager at Naval
Research Laboratory, and I want you to tell him that if he wants, he can paint
“Vanguard” on all sides of my rocket. He can do whatever he wants, but he
must use my rocket, not his, because my rocket will work, his won’t. And, if
Hagen tells you, and I believe he will, that all that really matters is science,
and that it doesn’t matter who arrives first in orbit, you will tell him that if
this is what he really thinks then for Christ’s sake get out of the way of the
people who think there’s a huge, goddamn difference.
1
The story described above is just a fragment of the incredible true events that
happened during this time, as chronicled in the book Angle of Attack, written by
Harrison Storms an aerospace engineer who led the Apollo capsule project team
at North American Rockwell.
2
Von Braun’s words to the young American astronomer were raw and straight to
the point. O’Keefe looked at the stars with the free spirit of a passionate man in
love with the science. But the German scientist reminded him about the harsh
geopolitical reality of life on Earth: the young astronomer could only continue to
1
Gray, Mike. 1994. Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon. Prologue,
Penguin Group USA.
2
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/16/us/harrison-a-storms-is-dead-at-76-leader-in-aerospace-development.html.
The Space Race: Moondust 13