Operation Argus - Satellite Launching from an Aircraft-1960

This came out of one of my favorite programs, NOTSNIK or Project
Pilot. Essentially, a bunch of physicists (the original guys with the
idea were not even engineers) at China Lake in 1957 figured they could
leapfrog the costly official Project Vanguard by using what one
participant called "Tinkertoy engineering." I admired the sheer
audacity of these guys, who eventually wangled sort-of-official status
and a small budget and used variations on existing motors and
equipment scrounged from everywhere (some of it using less-than-
official channels, if you know what I mean) to build their prehistoric
Pegasus. In the end, they couldn't quite pull it off (or at least,
couldn't pull it off consistently). But God love 'em for trying a
project the likes of which no one could ever do in this modern era of
micromanagement. Erika Lishock and I wrote the first detailed account
to appear in any book, giving Project Pilot a chapter in The First
Space Race (Texas A&M, 2004) after some very enjoyable interviews with
project veterans.
(Oddly, WIlly Ley gave the project a very brief mention in a book he
wrote in the 60s when it was all still classified. We don't know who
or what his source was.)

Matt Bille
www.mattwriter.com