National Affairs: Thor's Flight

Dazzling in the Florida sunshine, a slender white missile, 60-odd feet long, rested on its launching pad at the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Center one morning last week. At count down's end, fire flashed at its base, and the monster slowly rose into the air, a pencil of orange flame lengthening behind it. Straight up it rocketed, gathering speed. Several miles up in the bright blue sky, it arched gracefully into a southeastward course, dwindled to a speck and then, 2ΒΌ minutes after rising from its pad, disappeared out over the Atlantic, hurtling on toward a faraway watery target.

Fulfilled was the...

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