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A Little Sun. On a choppy sea 40 miles north of Antigua Island and more than 1,500 miles from Cape Canaveral, a small squadron of Navy vessels waited. Navy airplanes cruised overhead among the broken clouds. Lookouts on the tug Kiowa stared into the dark sky. From Florida over the radio came the Jupiter's countdown ; Kiowa''s men counted the minutes, picturing the missile curving through space more than 300 miles up.
Then came an incredible sight—a dazzling, moving spark of light much brighter than the moon. It dodged behind clouds and out again, finally dividing into three parts: the spent body of the Jupiter, its guidance section, and the nose cone itself. Minutes later, a bright white light blinked on the sea about five miles from Kiowa. This was the light on a small balloon that had popped out of the nose cone. The shot had been perfect, hitting its target almost exactly. After the nose cone's speed was checked somewhat by the upper atmosphere, a small, tough parachute checked its speed still more. Then a bigger parachute broke out. The cone floated easily down to the sea, released its balloon and a dose of shark repellent.
Mark on Top. As Kiowa steamed toward the blinking light, Navy airplanes dropped flares and circled with powerful searchlights pointing down under their wings. Each time a pilot passed over the cone, he called "Mark on top" through his radio. In 25 minutes Kiowa was close to the cone, and four frogmen scrambled into a rubber raft. Two of them, Lieut, (j.g.) Raymond E. Foy and Mineman 1/c Rodman Priestley, went into the water with Aqua-Lungs and made fast a wire strap to the nose cone. One shark circled the swimmers 40 ft. off, and Priestley brushed against a Portuguese manofwar, stinging his leg painfully. But otherwise there were no mishaps. The strap was attached to a heavy line. Kiowa's crane hauled the cone close, hoisted it out of the water, lowered it gently to a mattress on her deck.
Scientists and technicians pressed about the cone. The hatch stuck. But after a struggle they got it open. Both monkeys were alive and apparently well. Reported a Kiowa officer: "They're happy, healthy and eating."
Kiowa headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the monkeys were transferred to an airplane and flown to Washington. At a monster press conference, Able and Baker posed with no signs of shyness before a barrage of photographers' flashbulbs. Baker's little white jacket covered surgical scars made for the insertion of electrodes, but otherwise the pair seemed in fine shape.
Then they were both taken away to live out their natural lives under close observation as the first visitors to the undiscovered country of space, from whose bourn no traveler, until last week, had ever returned.