| Summary/Abstract |
Early on the morning of 3 January 1958 I received a high priority message from Headquarters. I read that the Soviet satellite, Sputnik 2, was failing and would make its last global orbit that night. In doing so it would pass over Santiago de Cuba, and I was instructed to observe its functioning and to forward a compass azimuth of its final direction. It was common knowledge the Soviets were a step or two ahead of the United States in the development of satellites and, undoubtedly, Headquarters planned to follow the azimuth I struck, recover Sputnik 2, and study its scientific technology.
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