Editing Space Race (section)

=== American rocket development ===

[[File:Early US Rocket Launchers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The US stable of [[Explorer 1]], [[Project Mercury|Mercury]], [[Project Gemini|Gemini]], and [[Apollo program|Apollo]] launch vehicles were a varied group of ICBMs and the NASA-developed [[Saturn IB]] rocket.]]

Although American rocket pioneer [[Robert H. Goddard]] developed, patented, and flew small liquid-propellant rockets as early as 1914, the United States was the only one of the three major allied World War II powers to not have its own rocket program, until Von Braun and his engineers were expatriated from Nazi Germany in 1945. The US acquired a large number of V-2 rockets and recruited von Braun and most of his engineering team in [[Operation Paperclip]].{{sfn|Schefter|1999|p=29}} The team was sent to the Army's [[White Sands Missile Range|White Sands Proving Ground]] in New Mexico, in 1945.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=123}} They set about assembling the captured V-2s and began a program of launching them and instructing American engineers in their operation.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|pp=129–34}} These tests led to the [[first photos of Earth from space]], and the first two-stage rocket, the [[WAC Corporal]]-[[V-2 sounding rocket|V-2]] combination, in 1949.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|pp=129–34}} The German rocket team was moved from [[Fort Bliss]] to the Army's new [[Redstone Arsenal]], located in [[Huntsville, Alabama]], in 1950.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=137}} From here, von Braun and his team developed the Army's first operational medium-range ballistic missile, the [[PGM-11 Redstone|Redstone rocket]], derivatives of which launched both America's first satellite, and the first piloted Mercury space missions.{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=137}} It became the basis for both the [[Jupiter-C|Jupiter]] and [[Saturn (rocket family)|Saturn family of rockets]].{{sfn|Burrows|1998|p=137}}

Each of the United States armed services had its own ICBM development program. The Air Force began ICBM research in 1945 with the [[MX-774]].<ref name="Atlas">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.astronautix.com/a/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710093606/http://www.astronautix.com/a/index.html |archive-date=July 10, 2016 |title= Atlas |encyclopedia= Encyclopedia Astronautix |last= Wade|first= Mark|access-date=September 28, 2020}}</ref> In 1950, von Braun began testing the Air Force [[PGM-11 Redstone]] rocket family at Cape Canaveral.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Man on the Moon: The U.S. Space Program as a Cold War Maneuver|jstor = 25162945|journal = OAH Magazine of History|date = January 1, 1994|pages = 42–50|volume = 8|issue = 2|first = Rita G.|last = Koman|doi = 10.1093/maghis/8.2.42}}</ref> By 1957, a descendant of the Air Force MX-774 received top-priority funding.<ref name="Atlas"/> and evolved into the [[SM-65 Atlas|Atlas-A]], the first successful American ICBM.<ref name="Atlas"/> The Atlas made use of a thin stainless steel fuel tank which relied on the internal pressure of the tank for structural integrity, this allowed an overall lighter weight design.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlas Missiles and Space Launchers {{!}} Historic Spacecraft |url=https://historicspacecraft.com/Rockets_Atlas.html |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=historicspacecraft.com}}</ref> [[WD-40]] was developed to prevent rust on the Atlas rockets so that rust protecting paint could be avoided, to further reduce weight.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Much Do You Know About the History and Invention of WD-40? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/wd-40-1992659 |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=WD-40 History {{!}} Learn the Stories Behind the WD-40 Brand {{!}} WD-40 |url=https://www.wd40.com/history/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.wd40.com}}</ref>

A later variant of the Atlas, the [[SM-65 Atlas|Atlas-D]], served as a nuclear ICBM and as the orbital launch vehicle for [[Project Mercury]] and the remote-controlled [[Agena Target Vehicle]] used in [[Project Gemini]].<ref name="Atlas" />