Where Were You When the Space Age Began?

FREDERICK C. DURANT III “We were all gathered in Barcelona, Spain for the International Astronautical Federation conference, and there were delegates from about 20 countries. The head of the Soviet delegation was Leonid Sedov. We saw him at the airport on Saturday afternoon, and we knew nothing about the launch because in Spain under Franco they didn’t allow British papers in until they had been censored or reviewed. So a lot of us didn’t know about it until later, when peo

Written byNeil Mcaleer

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FREDERICK C. DURANT III

“We were all gathered in Barcelona, Spain for the International Astronautical Federation conference, and there were delegates from about 20 countries. The head of the Soviet delegation was Leonid Sedov. We saw him at the airport on Saturday afternoon, and we knew nothing about the launch because in Spain under Franco they didn’t allow British papers in until they had been censored or reviewed. So a lot of us didn’t know about it until later, when people came in from England and the States with the news.

“We saw Sedov that evening at a reception and, of course, congratulated him. We also sent a cablegram of congratulations to the president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.

“At this point, I’m deeply concerned over the U.S. loss of leadership in space. It will take five to seven years before we pull our weight the way we should. ...

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