The Origins of U.S. Space Policy: Eisenhower, Open Skies, and Freedom of Space.
Abstract
During World War II, America's civilian and military leadership embraced scientific research for a multitude of advanced weapons. Indeed, at war's end in 1945, General H. H. Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces, could confidently assure Secretary of War Robert Patterson that the United States would shortly build long-range ballistic missiles to deliver,atomic explosives and "space ships capable of operating outside the atmosphere. Thirteen years later, both of the programs that Arnold forecast were underway. This period, the immediate prelude to the space age, spawned America's civil and military space programs--programs that were in the beginning opposite sides of the same coin. Elements of these programs, authorized and framed by one American president, would become instrumental in forewarning of surprise attack, monitoring compliance with international treaties, and maintaining a delicate peace between the Soviet Union and the United States. For contemporary reasons of national security, the executive action that shaped this enterprise and the space policy that President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his advisors created for it were obscured even to many of those directly involved.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA344697
Entities
People
- R. C. Hall
Organizations
- RAND Corporation