>>>>Sept. 8, 1900: The Galveston hurricane was deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, killing from 8,000 to 12,000 people.
>>>
>>>That was before they had satellites and hurricane hunters right? They probably didn't know what hit them.
>>
>>Well considering the Russians launched the first satellite in 1959(?) and the first airplane to fly over a hurricane did not happen until WWII...
>
>First Russian satellite was launched October 4, 1957.
>To clarify, it was launched before the first American satellite. (Explorer 1, January 31, 1958).
>:)

I can recall several of the statements about rocket scientists from the 1950's. One was from Warner von Braun. A reporter was interviewing von Braun and was saying how much the German’s knew about rocket science. Then von Braun replied, “I learned from your Dr. Goddard”!

Another statement was, “For every German Rocket scientist that the United States has, Russia has 200”!

What helped to slow down the United States entry into the race for space was politics. The Navy was given the task to develop a missile and created the Vanguard. The Vanguard failed at two attempts and then the Army was asked if von Braun and his team could assist. A Jupiter rocket was employed and successfully launched our first satellite.

I like the idea of keeping my feet on the ground! :)