Push for Polaris

If the Soviets were unconcerned about U.S. space progress, they might well have been jolted on another front last week when the Polaris missile lifted out of the Pacific on its first successful launching from underwater.

The big (28 ft.) yellow-and-black bird was fired from a launching tube some 200 ft. below the surface off Southern California's San Clemente Island. At the press of a button in an island blockhouse, a blast of compressed air pushed the Polaris to the surface. As soon as it splashed out of the water and climbed to just 15 ft., a short charge of its solid fuel ignited in a brilliant plume of fire, sent it roaring straight up for another 1,785 ft.--the planned altitude of the limited test. Then the missile dipped back into the waves half a mile from the launch site.

Said the Navy of the 18-second test: "Successful in every respect." Next big step: a full-range, two-stage, 1,200-mile firing from the nuclear submarine George Washington in August--and then on to operational duty at sea, where the well-concealed, virtually invulnerable Polaris will add a new dimension to U.S. defenses.

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