 That's one small step for man. Since man first looked upon the moon, he has dreamed of probing its mysteries. On a summer day in 1969, that ancient dream becomes a reality, as two United States astronauts carry the stars and stripes to the Earth's natural satellite almost a quarter of a million miles from Earth. Americans are justly proud of their nation's achievements in space exploration, achievements in which the United States Army played an important early role. Beneath the sea, men of the U.S. Army move in another alien environment, as army divers go underwater to repair military facilities and salvage costly equipment sunk by accident or lost in action. Astronaut and Aquanaut. Each accomplishes his goal supported by an array of technical knowledge unparalleled in the history of man. Today on The Big Picture, the United States Army's contribution demands conquest of the two vast and mysterious boundaries of his world. The sky and the sea. The of 1969, Cape Kennedy, Florida. The day of the beginning of a new era of discovery. U.S. Space Flight Apollo 11, powered by the giant Saturn launch vehicle, is about to take off for man's first landing on the moon. That giant leap for mankind began with many smaller steps. The operation of the Saturn engines, powering Apollo 11, with almost 8 million pounds of thrust, can be linked to experiments in rocketry conducted by the U.S. Army Air Force 24 years earlier. In 1944, events are taking place across the Atlantic, which will have a far-reaching effect on America's space efforts. At Penamon, Germany, the Nazis continue to test their deadly V-2 missiles, which had brought destruction to England. The time ran out on the third right. As Hitler tottered on the brink of defeat, the German rocket experts fled from the advancing Russians and sought out the protection of the U.S. Army. During their hectic escape, Werner von Braun, the top German missile expert, is injured in an accident. But nevertheless, he and his staff reached the American forces. In an operation code-named paperclip, this important team of scientists and technicians is quickly transferred to Fort Bliss, Texas. By late 1945, the vast open lands at White Sands, New Mexico, close to Fort Bliss, become the main testing site for the U.S. Army Missile Program. As the new technology develops, the Army's White Sands Proving Ground, to be known later as White Sands Missile Range, builds facilities needed to house the complex launch and control equipment essential to the rocketry art. Army ordnance experts and the von Braun Group, most of whom become U.S. citizens, conduct missile testing programs. By assimilating the German expertise and by actual firings of the V-2, America gains its first practical experience in the operation and handling of large missiles. Here began the research that heralded all of our future space effort, both civilian and military. Under operational control of the Army, White Sands is used during this period by all the services in perfecting their missiles. The U.S. Navy's Viking Missile receives its early test firing cheer, carrying intricate electronic apparatus for research of the heavens, in radio communications, weather forecasting, and high altitude flight. Air force sleds use the vast Army range, racing at higher speeds than ever before. To learn more about human reaction to the tremendous forces that a man's body must survive as he is thrust into the vast realms of outer space. The nation's first operational surface-to-surface guided missile, the Army's corporal, is successfully tested. The intensive space studies of the 1950s are a tribute to the work of Dr. Robert Goddard, who had conducted solid propellant rocket tests for the Army in 1918, and had fired the world's first liquid-fueled rocket as far back as 1926. Much of today's space technology evolved from the cornerstone laid by Dr. Goddard, and his contribution as a rocket pioneer is honored by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, which bears his name. In the decade following World War II, the Army almost alone pursued the advancement of rocket-propelled missiles and space vehicles. For a while, it was virtually a shoestring operation, with only token budgets from the government. Still, the Army managed to continue its research and development until, during the Korean War, additional funds become available to back the Army's effort to keep America ahead in space technology. Gradually, the new technology shapes the pattern of things to come. Tracking devices, specially designed camera, and a variety of telemetric equipment are devised under Army supervision to analyze the performance of projectiles hurled skyward. Each step in the perfection of military missile systems points inevitably in the direction that man will take to the stars. On test ranges, rocket engines undergo prolonged static firings to determine their efficiency. In April 1950, the Army's rocket experts were moved to the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, and thereafter, Redstone becomes the chief center for rocket and guided missile research. Here, named for its birthplace, there was created the powerful Redstone missile, a weapon that was to play a vital role in our steps to the moon. Following Redstone, fueled by liquid propellants, the Army began the development of solid-fuel rocket engines and missiles that could be emplaced and fired without delay. First of these was Sargent, highly mobile, quickly emplaced and extremely accurate. Next came Pershing, big, powerful, highly mobile, easily moved by air range 400 miles. Later, a wheeled transporter is fitted to the Pershing 1A so that it can travel across country under its own power. But Redstone, Sargent and Pershing were only a part of a whole series of rocket-powered Army weapons developed by the Army Missile Command, some like Little John. And Honest John were simple reflight rockets designed for artillery use in battlefield areas. Others, like Dart, were guided by wire and were directed by the gunner. And Shalely, that would become the main striking force for America's armored vehicles. For Dragon, the free world's first assault missile, light enough to be carried by one soldier, yet powerful enough to destroy armor and other enemy strong points. For air defense against high-flying aircraft, the Army provided the Nike Ajax. All of the longer-range, fast-reaction Nike Hercules. Later, work began on protection against intercontinental missile attack. First in the new family of longer-range missiles was the Nike Zeus. Today, Nike Zeus has become the Spartan missile and Spartan has been teamed with a high-acceleration sprint missile. Together, these two highly accurate weapons are part of the safeguard ballistic missile defense system. Shield against low-flying enemy aircraft, there was hawk used by both U.S. and Allied forces around the world. And for the Infantryman, red-eye. A portable shoulder-fired guided missile designed to destroy by homing on the heat of a jet engine. But while the Army's prime objective was defense of our nation, the vast and rapidly growing fund of rocketry knowledge that the Army accumulated was to become America's foundation for the peaceful exploration of outer space. A massive output of data on rocket propulsion, performance, and control is filed away, indexed, and made available for research. America learns more about rocket fuels, more about nose-cone design to survive the fiery plunge back into the Earth's atmosphere, more about self-contained guidance systems that can steer a vehicle unerringly through all types of weather and atmospheric conditions. And of particular importance, more about designing engines powerful enough to lift a man-made satellite beyond the pull of gravity. This Saturn booster, first tested by the Army in 1958, was one of several dramatic accomplishments that would lead to man's first steps on the moon. Several other key milestones on the road to Project Apollo that also took place in the late 1950s. An Army Jupiter sea missile is chosen to put into orbit the free world's first scientific satellite, which becomes the historic Explorer-1. Explorer-1 will radio back data on the radiation belt surrounding the Earth, knowledge indispensable to manned space flight. Shortly afterward, another Army satellite, Pioneer-4, will become the first successful American lunar probe, 33,000 miles of the moon, and sending back more information essential to future space exploration. In May of 1959, America achieves a historic breakthrough. A Jupiter missile launches a capsule into space containing monkeys, able and baker. Their journey 300 miles up and 1,200 miles down range from Cape Canaveral ends in their live recovery, one hour after liftoff. Living, breathing animals avoids safely into the dark regions of outer space and back again. Throughout this series of successful space launches, Army spokesmen take the lead in urging a national space program. Major General John B. Madaris, head of the Armabilistic Missile Agency at Redstone, and Dr. Von Braun, now chief of development and operations, suggests that the country could and should begin a full-scale program of space exploration. A separate civilian space agency is created by executive order of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Many Army scientists involved in the early rocket studies at White Sands and Redstone move into the new organization, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA. Secretary of the Army, Wilbur Brucker, guides and encourages the Army's historic pioneering efforts in the exciting days at the beginning of the missile and space era. May 5, 1961, is the start of U.S. manned space flights. Commander Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space. Secured in a capsule atop a modified Army Redstone missile, Commander Shepard is rocketed 115 miles up and 302 miles downrange from Cape Canaveral for a successful mission. Thus did history record the United States Army's early leadership of America's adventure into space. Then, with NASA established, the Army continues to concentrate on the military applications of using the space environment. Army agencies develop new electronic communications for the growing family of missile systems. The Signal Corps moves ahead in communications research, not only in missilery, but in the gradually developing field of satellite communications for linking widely deployed troop units in the field. As far back as 1946, the Signal Corps, in Operation Diana, had bounced radar signals off the moon, demonstrating that communications through outer space were possible. In 1958, Project Score, the world's first orbiting communications satellite developed at Fort Monmouth Laboratories, transmits the voice of President Eisenhower around the world. A Christmas message that literally comes from the sky. To the men, women and children of America and to all people throughout the world, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Now Signal Corps scientists pioneer in a whole new field of modernized communications built around the concept of orbiting satellites. To fully explore the potentials in space communication, the U.S. Army Satellite Communications Agency is created in September 1960. In the years that follow, SATCOM develops programs for both tactical and strategic satellite communications and becomes a leading participant in the nation's space program. SATCOM's tactical ground terminals consist of various types of radar receiver and transmission equipment. The nation's communications satellites are launched by Air Force missiles. Orbiting high above the earth, they carry important Department of Defense messages 24 hours a day. The Army, through the Satellite Communications Agency, is responsible for providing the ground environment for the military satellite communications program. Deployed around the world, tactical satellite communications terminals can get the message through, whether the distance is across a hill or thousands of miles across an ocean. SATCOM tactical terminals were instrumental in relaying communications data via satellite for safe recovery of the astronauts on their return from space. Today, like other Army agencies, the Satellite Communications Agency continues to provide support for our country's space explorations. At its Fort Monmouth headquarters, banks of telemetric equipment monitor SATCOM's hundreds of orbiting satellites. These not only carry vast amounts of information, but provide television transmission around the world including pictures from Apollo moon missions. Personnel skilled in communications electronics tune in on the satellite broadcasts to check the efficiency of the signal and to make certain that all satellite stations are operating. Control, control, this is TRICOM 85, over. Control, this is 85. Can you give me position of satellite less six, over? Operations in space demand the concentrated efforts of many types of scientific skills. Manned space exploration requires very special planning in the preparation of navigational maps. Mapmaking for the U.S. space program is one of the activities of the U.S. Army Topographic Command. In a special topographic command project for NASA, Army scientists mapped the lunar surface for the early moon landings. Now they continue the increasingly important job of charting space, working from aerial photographs taken by space satellites. Pictures of the moon are projected in fragments and assembled into a large reproduction of a section of the lunar surface. A giant plastic simulation of the moon surface made by Army map experts provided a practical training facility for the first landings on the moon. Lunar mapmaking has proved invanguable to astronauts in the Apollo program. More about how manned equipment will function in space. Scientists and engineers have gone underwater. The weightlessness of outer space is simulated in this neutral buoyancy tank at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Inside the tank, astronauts practice activities they will have to perform during their flights. Some of the space hardware, clothing, and foods they use are developed by Army scientists in cooperation with NASA. The Army has designed a special environmental test chamber which is being used at White Sands missile range. The astronauts' space suits are tested to see how well they can withstand the extremes of heat and cold that are encountered on the surface of the moon. The panorama of space exploration and the U.S. Army's contribution to the program is dramatically on display at the Alabama Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Man's earliest dreams of flight are portrayed in works of art. The realistic exhibits, activated by visitors, illustrate many principles involved in space flight. The gyroscopic chair suggests the spinning action astronauts might feel as they rocket through space. Much of the research in stabilizing and guidance systems needed for space travel was evolved from early Army missile guidance systems. On view at the center is a replica of the capsule Commander Shepard made the country's first space journey atop the Army redstone missile. An impressive array of various stages in the progress of space flight. Nile stones in Army development of the projectile art are vividly displayed in an outdoor exhibit. This early effort in space technology provided the nation with its first exploration in a new dimension. In devising a body of rocketry knowledge that opened a window into a new world, U.S. Army scientists laid the groundwork for the brilliant achievements of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which they continue to support. Beneath the sea, U.S. Army skill moves in another strange and challenging frontier, as Army divers train for the difficult and dangerous job of underwater salvage and repair. At Fort Eustis, Virginia, the school provides intensive instruction in how to maneuver and work in an underwater environment. A select group of young men in excellent physical condition receives a 26-week course in three forms of diving, shallow water, scuba, and deep sea. The mission of the Army diving team is to salvage sunken equipment and repair underwater facilities such as pipelines or pier supports. The working model of a recompression chamber is used to determine the student's reaction to underwater pressure at various depths. Controlled on the training apparatus create pressure conditions inside the chamber similar to those the diver may encounter underwater. The recompression chamber is designed essentially for treatment of divers suffering from compressed air illness, sometimes known as the bends. A diver breathing compressed air beyond the depth of 35 feet is subject to this condition. Relief is provided in the chamber by simulating the pressure at the diver's original depth and then gradually reducing it. Instruction in metal cutting and welding prepares the student for underwater salvage and repair operations. Training is also provided in underwater demolition. Before the students are assigned tasks in actual waterways, they receive practice training in a specially designed tank. In this exchange, they will learn how to remove a disabled propeller from a ship. Student divers face rigorous training. Only the best can make it through the course and qualify as full-fledged members of the Army diving team. With classroom and tank training completed, the student diver gets a chance to put it all into practice in actual underwater problems. Home base is the Army Diver's school training barge. A student descends to make an underwater survey. Materials have been placed at the bottom of the water near the barge. The student diver must report to his instructor exactly what he sees below and make an appraisal of the salvage or maintenance problem. Analyze the situation down there and tell me just what the bottom condition is. And when you get on to the steel pipe, I want you to go out and check it out and tell me exactly what you're going to need in order to do this job. Aye, top size. Army divers are responsible for clearance and maintenance of inland waterways and harbors used by our military units around the world. The first salvage diving school was formed at Fort Scriven's, Georgia, in 1943. The furnished divers for port construction units in World War II. From Antwerp to Naples. From Port Moresby to Manila Bay. Army divers went below the sea to make certain that the waters were clear for navigation. Following World War II, the salvage diving school was transferred to Fort Eustis. In the Korean War, another urgent need for divers to clear the ports of entry drew on the skills of graduates from the Fort Eustis training facility. The Army divers mission in Vietnam salvaged millions of dollars worth of equipment, kept underwater pipelines in repair, helped build docks, secured the harbor environment for safe passage of transport and supply vessels. A major test of Army diver training was participation of members of the Army diving team in Operation Tech Type II off the Virgin Islands in 1970. The purpose of the program was to test man's ability to survive and work beneath the sea for long periods of time. Army divers brought supplies down to the aquanauts and provided for underwater safety. When aquanauts' breathing apparatus become fouled, an accident occur in their undersea's quarters, or shark or barracuda threaten, the divers would be immediately available for rescue operations. Whether the effort is deep beneath the sea or in the farthest reaches of outer space, it is supported by the highly skilled and inventive scientific team of the United States Army. An Army constantly in search of new horizons for the advancement of our nation.