No. 2 - Minuteman After Sputnik was launched, American scientists and politicians were afraid that the Soviets were way far ahead of the U.S. when it came to missiles. The Soviet boast that they were churning out the weapons "like sausages" didn't help. The Minuteman was born to help close this "Missile Gap."
And close the gap it did. The Minuteman represented an enormous advance in missile technology.
It used solid fuel, which is more durable and stable than liquid fuel and also allowed for the missile to be launched with very little prep time - hence the name "Minuteman."
The small missile, about half the size of the Titan, created a lot of work. One reporter remarked that the ICBM program created a new national industry: "Tens of thousands of industrial and Air Force managers, engineers, and workers [had] to be trained. New machine tools and test facilities [had to] come into being. . . . " These efforts changed "the face of America, the make-up of the Armed Forces and the industries that support them. "
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