A Memorial Day Posting, Of Sorts.... - Index 01.jpg (1/1)

On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:47:35 +0000, rabid_fan wrote:


The story is complex and perhaps best discussed in alt.history or
something.


Fortunately, I was able to locate an article on the web
that provides an excellent summary:

http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/01/t...nik-story.html

Internet sources cannot (yet) compete with printed publications
for depth and comprehensiveness. But be assured that scholarly
works do exist that completely dispel the ridiculous notion
that the Sputnik launch was a "proof" of Soviet technical
superiority. Sputnik was a cheap sideshow, and nothing more.

rabid_fan wrote in newsan.2010.06.02.21.22.13
@righthere.net:

On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:47:35 +0000, rabid_fan wrote:


The story is complex and perhaps best discussed in alt.history or
something.


Fortunately, I was able to locate an article on the web
that provides an excellent summary:

http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/01/t...nik-story.html

Internet sources cannot (yet) compete with printed publications
for depth and comprehensiveness. But be assured that scholarly
works do exist that completely dispel the ridiculous notion
that the Sputnik launch was a "proof" of Soviet technical
superiority. Sputnik was a cheap sideshow, and nothing more.



Mr. Fan,

Thanks for the follow-up(s). The interesting part for me is that
my father-in-law is an 80-something cryogenic engineer who worked
in the Soviet rocketry programs, including the Buran. He retired
at 70, just before the fall of the USSR. After the fall, he realized
that there was no retirement check, he and his wife listened to
their only child and immigrated to the US. I am fortunate enough
to have married into this class family (my wife is a research doctor
of microbiology, her daughter is a cardiologist, my wife's ex is a
physicist still in Moscow). I have learned enough Russian to be able to
sit and enjoy his knowledge and tales.

He says that for every U.S. rocket loss, there were at least two for
the Reds. Also says that it was more a sheer miracle that Spudnik
(sic) made it. But the (Western) agitprop of the day lead the sheep to
think that the U.S. was trailing far behind. Even he knows better.

On top of what I have read and heard, he can dispel much of what has
been discussed in this thread... But then no one would believe what
he or I say... it's just the internet... and we like anonymity.

On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:55:55 +0000, Jess Lurkin wrote:


He says that for every U.S. rocket loss, there were at least two for the
Reds. Also says that it was more a sheer miracle that Spudnik (sic)
made it. But the (Western) agitprop of the day lead the sheep to think
that the U.S. was trailing far behind. Even he knows better.


In retrospect, the Western reaction (or overreaction) to Sputnik
may seem senseless and silly, but the world was far different back
then. Communism was perceived as a terrible threat to the freedom
of the world, and in many ways the threat was very real. The
animosity between Soviets and Americans extended down to the
average man/woman on the street.

Attitudes are different now, but the citizen of the 1950's lived
in the midst of a palpable fear of the communist enemy. Schools
regularly held nuclear attack drills (the "duck and cover" campaign)
and home fallout shelters were even encouraged.

Once we take the prevalent social anxiety of the 1950's into
consideration, the hysteria over Sputnik becomes more understandable
if not more excusable.

On 03/06/2010 03:52, rabid_fan wrote:
On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:55:55 +0000, Jess Lurkin wrote:


He says that for every U.S. rocket loss, there were at least two for the
Reds. Also says that it was more a sheer miracle that Spudnik (sic)
made it. But the (Western) agitprop of the day lead the sheep to think
that the U.S. was trailing far behind. Even he knows better.



Nonetheless, the Russians still did something that no-one thought they
were capable of doing - placing a satellite in orbit before anyone else
was capable of doing so.

In retrospect, the Western reaction (or overreaction) to Sputnik

Surely that should be "...the *American* reaction (or overreaction) to
Sputnik..."

may seem senseless and silly, but the world was far different back
then. Communism was perceived as a terrible threat to the freedom
of the world, and in many ways the threat was very real. The
animosity between Soviets and Americans extended down to the
average man/woman on the street.

Attitudes are different now, but the citizen of the 1950's lived
in the midst of a palpable fear of the communist enemy. Schools
regularly held nuclear attack drills (the "duck and cover" campaign)
and home fallout shelters were even encouraged.


....thus taking hysteria to a whole new level.

Once we take the prevalent social anxiety of the 1950's into
consideration, the hysteria over Sputnik becomes more understandable
if not more excusable.

Only from an American viewpoint! Those that lived a lot closer to the
Soviet threat weren't nearly so paranoid. Of course there was danger,
I'm more than fully aware of that, having served in Germany in the
1960s, but Europe tended to get on with its life rather than looking for
Reds under every bed.

--
Moving things in still pictures

On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:18:10 +0100, ®i©ardo wrote:


Nonetheless, the Russians still did something that no-one thought they
were capable of doing - placing a satellite in orbit before anyone else
was capable of doing so.


If you insist on giving credit where credit is due, then
we all have to admit that virtually every aeronautical
and astronautical development that occurred since 1945
was the direct result of *German* engineering.

Both the US and the Soviet Union grabbed as many German
scientists and engineers as was possible. The post-war
space and aviation industries of both nations was shaped
largely by the work of the these German ex-patriots.

The American B-47 bomber, for example, which laid the
foundation for all subsequent aircraft in its class,
both military and commercial, was based entirely on German
experimental work on swept-wing airframes that the Boeing
Corp. had acquired.

If not for the Germans, we'd probably still be flying
the B-36.

On 03/06/2010 21:03, rabid_fan wrote:
On Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:18:10 +0100, ®i©ardo wrote:


Nonetheless, the Russians still did something that no-one thought they
were capable of doing - placing a satellite in orbit before anyone else
was capable of doing so.


If you insist on giving credit where credit is due, then
we all have to admit that virtually every aeronautical
and astronautical development that occurred since 1945
was the direct result of *German* engineering.

Both the US and the Soviet Union grabbed as many German
scientists and engineers as was possible. The post-war
space and aviation industries of both nations was shaped
largely by the work of the these German ex-patriots.

The American B-47 bomber, for example, which laid the
foundation for all subsequent aircraft in its class,
both military and commercial, was based entirely on German
experimental work on swept-wing airframes that the Boeing
Corp. had acquired.

If not for the Germans, we'd probably still be flying
the B-36.

Yes, you probably would be which, I seem to recall, used a development
of the British Whittle jet engine!

--
Moving things in still pictures