The 1960s was an interesting time for America.  This decade was in the middle of the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union.  Accompanying the tensions between the two largest countries in the world, was the development of various spying and military devices.   These devices were ever decreasing in size and seemed to become more and more complicated and undetectable.  However, there was a small group of scientists beginning the research on some of the largest human-made machines in history.  These machines are now known throughout the world, rockets.

When the Soviet Union first launched Sputnik, the first human made satellite into space, America was thrown into a frenzy.  There was a common stereotype among the people that the USSR was a financially unsound country and could barely even manufacture a refrigerator.  However, the reality of the situation was that the Soviets had just beaten the US to a milestone in extraterrestrial exploration.  When the US' launch of the Vanguard TV-3 rocket failed horribly on national television and the Soviet Union was able to launch another satellite and even people into space, the government was truly in trouble.  

Consequently, thousands of prospecting students, teachers, and scientists rushed to job openings in the newly formed NASA / NACA to assist in 'beating the Soviets.'  This sudden 'boom' in research and experimentation in space became widely known as the . . .