50, 100 and 150 Years Ago; May 1999; Scientific American Magazine; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

ROCKET DESIGN SUCCESS-"On February 24, 1949, man made his first really substantial step into outer space. An ex-German V-2 rocket took off from the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico [see illustration]. In its nose it carried an America-made rocket, the Wac Corporal, filled with telemetered instruments. The Wac Corporal began to burn its own fuel at an altitude of 20 miles and coasted upward to an altitude of 250 miles. While definitions of the limit of the atmosphere differ, it is fair to say that at the peak of its ascent the Wac Corporal was in interplanetary space. The largest promise in that shot was in the use of the step [now called stage] principle. If the principle can be extended to three steps, we may get a 'satellite rocket' that will circle the earth."

THE NATURE OF DREAMS-"When we dream we speak a language which is also employed in the most significant documents of culture: in myths, in fairy tales and art, recently in novels like Franz Kafka's. This language is the only universal language common to all races and all times. It is the same language in the oldest myths as in the dreams every one of us has today. Moreover, it is a language which often expresses inner experiences, wishes, fears, judgments and insights with much greater precision and fullness than our ordinary language is capable of.-Erich Fromm"