Preparations at Huntsville and Pasadena

The staffs at ABMA in Huntsville and JPL in Pasadena did not wait idly for the final Washington approval—the initial Sputnik launch was their call to action. General Medaris took an audacious step only a few days after the launch by instructing von Braun and his organization to take Jupiter C, Missile 29 out of storage and begin preparing it for use. Although the general lacked authority for that action, the amount of money was small, and he figured that he could hide it if necessary. He was absolutely convinced that the Vanguard effort would run into trouble.7

Thus, von Braun and Pickering’s people began implementing the plans on which they had been quietly working. Although the tank of Missile 29 had been elongated earlier to hold more fuel and oxidizer to increase its performance, and although the engine had already been test fired with the new hydyne fuel in October 1956, many other changes were required. The vehicle had to be fitted with an attitude control system that would reorient it during the coasting period following first stage burnout,

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so that the cluster of upper stages would be horizontal when it reached the highest point in its trajectory. The apex predictor that Stuhlinger had built had to be integrated into the launch operations procedures so that it could be used in firing the second stage at just the right moment.

Both ABMA and JPL intensified their studies of the dynamics of injecting a satellite into orbit, maintenance of a durable orbit, satellite temperature control, and other technical factors. Most importantly, they began to tie the numerous studies, hardware, and software efforts together to produce a system that would operate effectively as a whole.