Editing Redstone Arsenal (section)

===Army Ballistic Missile Agency===
[[File:Medaris vonBraun and Toftoy 01.jpg|thumb|right|RSA commander Maj. Gen. [[John Bruce Medaris|John Medaris]], [[Wernher von Braun]], and RSA deputy commander Brig. Gen. [[Holger Toftoy]] (left to right) in the 1950s]]

The [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency]] (ABMA), commanded by Maj. Gen. [[John Bruce Medaris|John Medaris]], was formed on 1 February 1956, taking over from Redstone Arsenal the facilities and personnel of OGMC.  Von Braun was the Director of ABMA's Development Operations Division. Redstone Arsenal then became an Army post, supporting the ABMA and, in the future, other agencies. Medaris also commanded RSA, and BG Toftoy was deputy.<ref name="baker"/>

The ABMA's primary mission was developing and fielding the Army's first intermediate-range ballistic missile, the [[Jupiter (missile)|Jupiter]]. By August 1958, the system was delivered to the Air Force for early deployment overseas. Jupiter deployment to Turkey later proved to be a cause of and significant bargaining chip in the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. During his command, Medaris' operation also fielded the PGM-11 Redstone and [[MIM-23 Hawk]] missiles, accelerated the development of the [[Nike Zeus]] system, and began development of the [[MGM-31 Pershing]] missile system, which later played a role in ending the [[Cold War]].<ref name="baker"/>

As part of the 1957–58 [[International Geophysical Year]], both the U.S. and the [[Soviet Union]] proposed to launch a scientific satellite. Although von Braun had proposed in 1954 that the OML could place a satellite in Earth orbit, the [[Naval Research Laboratory]], using its [[Vanguard (rocket)|Vanguard rocket]], was given this assignment.

On October 4, 1957, the USSR orbited ''[[Sputnik I]]'', the first Earth satellite. A second Sputnik was launched a month later. On December 6, 1957, a first attempt to launch a satellite-carrying Vanguard failed. Toftoy, Medaris, and von Braun immediately pleaded for the opportunity to show what the Army's "space team" could do.  The go-ahead was given and on 31 January 1958, America's first satellite, ''[[Explorer I]]'', was placed into orbit using a modified Jupiter launch vehicle (a four-stage system designated [[Juno I]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Explorer_01 |title= Explorer I Mssion |access-date=February 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108105558/http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Explorer_01 |archive-date=January 8, 2008}}</ref>

By 1958, 20,000 civilian, military, and contractor workers were employed within Redstone Arsenal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jobs Rise At Redstone|page=4 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/01/03/83433060.pdf |access-date=May 21, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=January 3, 1959}}</ref>

The Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) was formed in March 1958. Headquartered at Redstone Arsenal and commanded by Maj. Gen. Medaris, AOMC had several subordinate elements, including ABMA, White Sands Missile Range, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology.  Another local activity, the Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA), was formed and added to AOMC in June.<ref name="baker"/>

Six months after ''Explorer I'', President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight Eisenhower]] created the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) on July 29, 1958.  On October 21, 1959, he approved the transfer of all Army space-related activities to NASA. This was accomplished effective July 1, 1960, when 4,670 civilian employees, about $100 million worth of buildings and equipment, and {{convert|1840|acre|km2}} of land transferred from RSA/ABMA's Development Operations Division to NASA's [[Marshall Space Flight Center|George C. Marshall Space Flight Center]] (MSFC). Von Braun was MSFC's first director.<ref>"Historical Facts", MSFC History Office; [http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/history_fact_sheet.htm]{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>