>>You mean, the first satellite ever launched was launched even before a USA launch!
>>
>>Man, a lot of people in this country are going to be aggravated by this news!
>>
>>GRD very very very fast!
>>
>>Alex
>
>Alex;
>
>If we knew then what we know now about high technology - we would have outsourced the space race! :)
>

Hi Tom, conspiracy theory follows:

Sputnik was indeed the result of outsourcing gone south. The US hired Russian companies to take care of the electronics, shielding, navigation, and propulsion systems of what was to be called the "US-1" satellite, but at the time the legal industry in this country wasn't as advanced as it is now and the outsourcing contracts all lacked the right language.

Then the russians got wiser and instead of delivering a satellite to NASA, they decided to launch it themselves and take all the credit!

As a result, the US stopped all outsourcing for the following 40 or 50 years. Of course, those that "remember" are mostly dead or retired now, so when the new wave of outsourcing started, there was no one to remind us of the grave mistake.

OK, I better do some creative programming now, which is what I'm really paid for.

Alex