Big Week for the Birds

With shock wave, fiery blast and departing roar, the U.S. last week sent three missiles streaming into the Atlantic skies from Florida, and marked the most important week of U.S. missile firing to date. From the hot launching pads at Cape Canaveral Test Center shot the Air Force's intermediate-range Thor, the Army's counterpart Jupiter and--successfully for the first time--the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile Atlas.

Jupiter, which had been fired successfully at least once before and failed on two other occasions, this time was only a qualified success. In a burst of fire at night that lit the missile like a futuristic firework, Jupiter swept into the sky in a first-class launching. But, said the Defense Department, it "failed to complete its full flight because of technical difficulties." Thor, on the other hand, was eminently successful. For the first time, the Air Force fired its IRBM complete: nose cone, full guidance gear--and ballast in the nose to simulate the weight of its warhead. Thor flew a little under 1,200 nautical miles, landed within less than two nautical miles of its preselected target point. Thus Thor proved to be the leading IRBM in the U.S. arsenal; indeed, its manufacturer, Douglas Aircraft, already boasts the capacity to produce Thor "at almost any rate."

But it was the flight of the intercontinental Atlas, even though only over a 500-mile test range, that was the roar heard 'round the world. Instantly the word was flashed to President Eisenhower at the NATO conference. The message electrified the Senate caucus room where Texas' Lyndon Johnson and his Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee were conducting missile hearings. "That," said Johnson, "is mighty good news."

There will be many tests--and probably more flops along with successful firings--before the U.S. long-range missile program is in high gear. But the clear proof that the missiles are coming and coming fast will be a factor in free world diplomacy from now on.

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