The other space race

Explores the history of the earlier, secret "space race" conducted by the U.S. Air Force under the auspices of President Eisenhower between 1954 and 1961, the goal of which was to establish either a network of unarmed satellites to give advanced warning of Soviet movements, or else hypersonic armed vehicles that could achieve low orbit for attacks. Explores the history of these endeavors and why neither was ultimately implemented before the wider known space race in the later 1960s.