Other notable events in the U.S.'s historic missile week:
¶ At Vandenberg A.F.B., Calif., new training and operations center for military missile-launching teams (TIME, Dec. 15), Captain Bennie Castillo, 35, of the Strategic Air Command, fired the first Thor ever launched by a military crew. After prolonged preliminaries and one false start, Bennie Castillo turned the key that started the countdown. With cool efficiency, his five-man team rolled back a hangar-like shelter, elevated the bird, force-fed it with liquid oxygen, sent it soaring in 19 min. after the launch command was given (ultimate goal:...
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