Echoes of Sputnik in Modern Rocket Race for Space?

[Gerald]

Fifty four years after the first Sputnik, is a new race for space brewing?

The fierce Cold War boiled over with the Russian launch of Sputnik in 1957. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara answered with the legendary Nike-Zeus program, a six-year project to develop the Army's first antiballistic missile. General Ivey O'Drewry Jr., the man who led the follow-on Nike-X program from 1962-1969, tells FoxNews.com that McNamara's demands were blunt and clear: Get the job done and beat those Russians.

"I was reviewing the development of the Sprint missile, which had gone through about 12 months of failure," the 90-year old retired general said from his home in Huntsville, Alabama. "I was reviewing the details with him, what we learned and how we'll improve. His answer to me was 'Shut up and sit down, I know you're gonna make it work!'"

"What he wanted hear was, what was the Russian reaction?" O'Drewry said.

The U.S. answer was clear: If Russia wanted a space race, America was all in.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...on/?test=faces

Note: Published February 12, 2011