October 4, 1957---Everything Changed!

It was a Sunday morning, October 4, 1957, and my father, Cecil B. Peck, and I were on our way to the Commiskey Baptist Church. I was driving my Dad's new 1958 Chevy on what we called then, the Graham Church Road, (Now: County Road 650S) and we were nearing the intersection of Indiana Highway 3 when the car radio made an announcement that not only changed the world, but the future course of my life.

THE SOVIET UNION HAS LAUNCHED THE WORLD'S FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE--- NAMED SPUTNIK 1.

For several preceding months I had followed, primarily in Sky and Telescope magazine, the progress of the United States to launch the Vanguard satellite.  Our efforts were timed to coincide with the International Geophysical Year of 1957. I was especially interested in Project Moon Watch that  consisted of amateur observors who would time and track the satellite. (This alone indicates the primitive state of our satellite tracking technology.) The US Navy had the mission of putting our satellite in orbit. The many failures of their launch vehicles became a joke for TV and radio comedians. The US Army would successfully launch our first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. Shockingly, it was the Soviet Union that won the first artificial satellite race!

The Soviet Union was not just another country; it was a Communist nation, a Godless nation, a nation that controlled every aspect of their citizen's lives, a nation that had already slaughtered 20 million of its people and had enslaved millions more, a nation dedicated to our destruction and world domination. (Former President Raegan may have summarized the Soviet Union best when he called it "An Evil Empire.")

Details of the Sputnik started to emerge. The satellite circled the earth every hour and one half; it was about two feet in diameter; it weighted less than 200 lbs (Most of the weight was batteries to power a one watt HF transmitter and provide power for temperature control inside the satellite); but the most interesting fact of all was the satellite transmitted on 20.005 mhz. This had profound psychological and propaganda impact. Any shortwave receiver, with a good antenna, could receive the tracking beacon anywhere in the world when the satellite was overhead. The frequency selected was just above one of the US WWV time standard stations. The Not So Subtle Message: "Listen world, we are now the big dog on the international stage! Furthermore, we can hit you with little to no warning and ruin your whole day and nation!"

.Monday morning at PCHS, few students shared my excitement about the world's first artificial moon. Only teachers Mr. Blades and Mr. Franklin seemed interested in listening to my enthusiasm for the significance of the event.

(I guess I was a Geek and a Nerd long before the words had entered the American lexicon. "After all, that Peck guy builds them shortwave radios and spends much of the night starring at the stars through that long black telescope!")

I have already mentioned in an earlier Post that I would be directly involved in the ICBM and space arena in the USAF. The work I did at Purdue University, prior to entering the USAF, in the civil engineering labs would also play a role in preparing me for the most exciting and fulfilling USAF career anyone could ever dream or hope for.

"God has a way of using some mighty crooked sticks to hit some mighty straight licks." ----Dr. Roy Fish, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX