A memorable cocktail party: The announcement

It was customary at those conferences for receptions to be hosted to provide fur­ther opportunities for social interaction and technical exchange. The U. S. National

CHAPTER 6 • SPUTNIK! 167

Academy of Sciences started this off with a cocktail party on the opening day. This was a grand and glorious affair, with most of the official delegates and other con­ference participants in attendance. The Americans were unusually gregarious, in no small way a result of the growing publicity accompanying the U. S. satellite program and the expectations of a Vanguard launch within the next few months.

During the week, the official delegates and a scattering of newsmen received invitations for a Friday evening cocktail party at the Soviet Embassy. Those invita­tions read, “The USSR Delegation to CSAGO [sic] Rocket & Satellite Conference request the pleasure of the company of [name] at cocktails on Friday, October 4, 1957 at 6:00 o’clock, [at] 1125 16 Street, NW.” Since Van Allen had initially been expected as one of the formally designated U. S. delegates, an invitation had been made out to “Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Van Allen.” As he was busy launching rockoons in the south Pacific and I was attending the conference as the sole University of Iowa representative, the embassy staff had lined out his name and substituted mine. There­fore, purely by an accident of circumstances, I was able to witness that momentous event.

After the technical meetings for that day ended, I freshened up in my hotel room and walked the short distance to the old Soviet Embassy near Scott Circle. I was warmly greeted and escorted to the grand ballroom on the second floor. During the next half hour or so, most of the other guests arrived. As the assembly gathered, the babble of mingled voices swelled, as small, animated groups formed and reformed around the tables of elaborate hors d’oeuvres and the abundantly stocked bars. Most of the discussions centered on the IGY planning and technical information at the conference, and the three Soviet delegates and many of the embassy senior staff mingled freely with the knots of guests.

Just as the party was reaching full swing—as if upon cue from an unseen master of ceremonies—there was an interruption. Not six feet away from where I stood, Lloyd V. Berkner, CSAGI vice president, and reporter for rockets and satellites, climbed onto a chair and clapped his hands loudly to get our attention. The crowd hushed, and he declared13: