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At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Army's Jupiter-C rocket is ready for America's second attempt

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to launch a space satellite.

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No relation to the IRBM Jupiter, this is a rebuilt Redstone, a 200-mile missile carrying

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instead of a warhead three stages of solid fuel booster rockets and the Explorer, a six-foot

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bullet only inches across crammed with electronic gear, 30 pounds of payload.

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This close-up of the United States edition of Sputnik was made at a press conference

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with leaders of the scientific teams, Dr. Werner von Braun, Dr. James Van Allen and Dr.

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William Pickering, a three-way collaboration between private industry, academic science

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and the military.

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The university stands poised on its launching pad.

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The hours-long countdown approaches zero.

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A moment of enormous tension for every missile launching is still an experiment.

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Any one of tens of thousands of things can go wrong with catastrophic results, but all

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that can be done to assure perfection has been done.

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The moment is at hand.

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The countdown reaches zero.

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Some three minutes later, Explorer is in orbit, broadcasting to the world its coded scientific

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data.

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Cosmic ray intensity, meteor impact, solar radiation, these are the dry facts that will

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help carry man ever farther into the age of space.

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Two presidents, Kamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Shukri al-Khawatli of Syria meet to make

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history in Cairo with the federation of their two states into one, the United Arab Republic.

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The news electrified the entire Middle East, in Cairo, cheering throngs followed the two

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leaders through the streets exultantly.

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The Al-Haza Mosque is the scene of prayers for the new union, which has already invited

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all Arab states to join.

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One, Yemen, is expected to bid for inclusion.

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The new state number is 30 million, largest in the Mideast.

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Syria sent vast forces in motion with this act.

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The effect on the precariously balanced Middle East, no one today can prophesy.

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The rest of the world, America, Russia, Israel, all remain cautiously quiet awaiting the events

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that will follow on Kamal Nasser's moment of triumph.