Word: thors
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...fiery blast and departing roar, the U.S. last week sent three missiles streaming into the Atlantic skies from Florida, and marked the most important week of U.S. missile firing to date. From the hot launching pads at Cape Canaveral Test Center shot the Air Force's intermediate-range Thor, the Army's counterpart Jupiter and-successfully for the first time-the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile Atlas...
...committee of eight top Administration civilian officials flashed the production green light for both the Air Force's Thor and its intermediate-range (1,500 mi.) Army rival Jupiter, temporarily resolving the two missiles' nose-and-nose race for survival. Both IRBMs have flown successfully three times, and both have flopped several times. Only last week a Jupiter rocketed away promisingly from its Cape Canaveral launching pad, was exploded a few minutes later-"because of technical difficulties," said the Army's inscrutable announcement. As Defense Secretary Neil McElroy admitted, neither Douglas Aircraft Co.'s Thor...
Behind the guarded doors, Military Specialist Mahon and his committee had heard facts about U.S. missiles that for a long time have been smothered in security and distorted by political wrangling and unseemly interservice bickering. Most solid piece of news: the Air Force's intermediate-range Thor, while still in the testing stage, has proved its reliability, is already on a production-line basis (TIME, Nov. 25), and production can be speeded promptly...
Other reassuring facts in Washington's week of survey: ¶ Because of the promise shown by Thor, the National Security Council reversed a three-month-old economy order by now-retired Defense Secretary Charlie Wilson cutting back research-and-development production of Thor test missiles from four a month to two. New quota under the NSC order: four a month. In sanctioning a step-up in Thor production the NSC did not rule out the Army's competitive, "hand-tooled" Jupiter, which may well go into stockpile production with Thor. Reason for production of both, with resulting complication...
...Done? Yes, with qualification. Thor, the Air Force IRBM, is in its first production stages. The first operational unit (about 16, by present tables) could be deployed in Europe by the middle of next year. Within two years, a monthly output of 100 Thors is considered feasible at a cost of less than $1,000,000 per bird. The Army Jupiter is an equivalent IRBM weapon-and also a good one. But no production line now exists for the Jupiter; those fired so far were "hand-tooled." i.e., individually assembled. Question still to be resolved: whether to concentrate exclusively...