In August of 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first successful Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). It was capable of delivering a heavy nuclear warhead to a target six thousand miles away, in under half an hour. The West was left scrambling for a solution. From what U.S. Intelligence could gather, the Soviets were quickly pulling ahead in developing missile technology. Projections showed that by the 1960s, the Soviets would likely have enough missiles to launch a preemptive nuclear attack. America needed a way fill this perceived ‘missile gap’.