Secretary Wilson was one of many who didn't take space exploration seriously before Sputnik 1's launch. An international conference on astronautics in Paris during October, 1950, gathered a total of over 1,000 attendees from all over the world, but none from America. Yet there were still some Americans who displayed an interest in space exploration, but most of their pre-Sputnik suggestions were in vain, due to the lack of interest as noted by Gerald Siegle:
"... neither Mr. Johnson nor any other Senator, to my knowledge, had given any really serious thought to either missile or to anything like a civilian space potential... prior to the launching of Sputnik." - Gerald Siegle, aid to Senator Johnson
Previous U.S. Efforts
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Wernher von Braun - Courtesy of the Smithsonian
On June 25, 1954, Office of Naval Research and Army Ordnance Corps members created a proposal called Project Orbiter. Nicknamed "Project Slug" by German-born, American-employed rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, it detailed a simple 5 pound satellite with optical tracking. The Office of Naval Research approved it, and set Commander George Hoover to direct it in October. However, the Navy's Vanguard proposal was selected instead, because of Orbiter's possible lack of reliability with its extra stage and extra engines. Choosing to have only one satellite program hindered the United States' development of long range missiles, something the USSR had been developing since the end of World War II. The U.S. didn't start until 1954.
The International Geophysical Year
Conceptualized in 1952 by a council of scientific unions because solar cycle activity would be very high, the International Geophysical Year (IGY) lasted from July 1, 1957, until December 31, 1958. During October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for satellites to be launched during the IGY to map Earth's surface. President Eisenhower was in full support of the IGY, and the IGY was the main reason that many of the satellite projects suggested, including Orbiter and Vanguard, were created.
"The American public had been exposed to dreams of space exploration by movies (such as Destination Moon in 1950), by magazines, and ultimately by Walt Disney and Wernher von Braun. I think that anyone who thought about space exploration in the 1950’s just assumed that America would lead the way. That is part of why Sputnik, which demonstrated that there were other powers (who had nuclear weapons by the way) who had similar aspirations and appeared to be 'ahead.'" - Ron Hobbs, Museum of Flight Curator