"rk" wrote in message
Ignorant question: Were any of the ASTP engineers and managers around
for the "bring-on-the-Russians" plan? There was quite a bit of insight
into technical, procedural, and management approaches learned there.
This is clear from reading ASAP reports from the 1970s. Good insightful
references on ASTP would be appreciated.

Well, I could write a book on this subject... No, wait,
I already did.

'Star-Crossed Orbits' (McGraw-Hill, 2002)

Read the chapter on the birth of the partnership, and see if it answers your
questions,
and provides clues on the distribution of ignorance.