000			03882nam a2200361Ki 4500
001			ocn865508589
003			OCoLC
005			20240726105447.0
008			131217s1993 nyu ob 001 0 eng d
040			_aNT _beng _erda _epn _cNT
020			_a9780199938162 _q((electronic)l(electronic)ctronic)l((electronic)l(electronic)ctronic)ctronic bk.
043			_an-us---
050	0	4	_aE835 _b.S688 1993
049			_aNTA
100	1		_aDivine, Robert A. _e1
245	1	0	_aThe Sputnik challenge /Robert A. Divine.
260			_aNew York : _bOxford University Press, _c(c)1993.
300			_a1 online resource (xviii, 245 pages)
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_acomputer _bc _2rdamedia
338			_aonline resource _bcr _2rdacarrier
347			_adata file _2rda
504			_a2
520	0		_aOn October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched a 184-pound metal ball called Sputnik into orbit around the Earth, and America plummeted into a panic. Nuclear weapon Designer Edward Teller claimed that the United States had lost "a battle more important and greater than Pearl Harbor," and magazine articles appeared with such headlines as "Are We Americans Going Soft?" In the White House, President Eisenhower seemed to do nothing, leading Kennedy in 1960 to proclaim a "missile gap" in the Soviets' favor. Rarely has public perception been so dramatically at odds with reality. In The Sputnik Challenge, Robert Divine provides a fascinating look at Eisenhower's handling of the early space race - a story of public uproar, secret U-2 flights, bungled missile tests, the first spy satellite, political maneuvering, and scientific triumph. He recreates the national hysteria over the first two Sputnik launches, illustrating the anxious handwringing that the Democrats (led by Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson) aggressively played for political gain. Divine takes us to private White House meetings, showing how Eisenhower worked closely with science adviser James Killian, allowing him to take the lead in creating a civilian agency - NASA - which provided intelligent and forceful leadership for American space programs. But the President also knew from priceless intelligence U-2 flights over the U.S.S.R. that he had little to fear from the touted missile gap, and he fought to limit the growth and multiplication of military missile programs. Eisenhower's assurance, however, rested on classified information, and he did little to instill his confidence in the public. Nor could he boast of his early support for the secret spy satellite program (which quickly replaced the U-2 plane after Gary Powers was shot down in 1960). So the public continued to worry, feeding the national movement for educational reform as well as congressional maneuvering over funding for numerous strategic projects. Eisenhower, Divine writes, possessed keen strategic vision and a sure sense of budgetary priorities, but ultimately he flunked a crucial test of leadership when he failed to reassure the frightened public that their fears were groundless. As a result, he also failed in his goal to limit military spending as well - which led to a real missile gap in reverse. Incisively written and deeply researched, The Sputnik Challenge provides a briskly-paced history of the origins of NASA, the space race, and the age of the ICBM.
530			_a2 _ub
600	1	0	_aEisenhower, Dwight D. _q(Dwight David), _d1890-1969.
650		0	_aArtificial satellites _xSocial aspects _zUnited States.
655		1	_aElectronic Books.
856	4	0	_uhttps://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=672470&site=eds-live&custid=s3260518 _zClick to access digital title | log in using your CIU ID number and my.ciu.edu password
942			_cOB _D _eEB _hE _m1993 _QOL _R _x _8NFIC _2LOC
994			_a02 _bNT
999			_c101062 _d101062
902			_a1 _bCynthia Snell _c1 _dCynthia Snell