What's going on with you, part II...

[radind]

Some early history of missile development in Huntsville AL.  From the Army Redstone Arsenal, two major programs were launched: 
1. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center(MSFC) in 1959
2. The pioneering development of the nations ballistic missile defense program. This research formed the basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative(SDI)  in 1983.

Quote:http://themilitarystandard.com/missile/redstone.php
… "Huntsville's Role in Ballistic/Guided Missile Development 
In 1950, 120 German scientists led by Dr. Wernher von Braun along with American scientists and military personnel arrived from Fort Bliss, Texas, to begin work. Work at Redstone had initially centered on rocket-related research and development including basic and applied research on free rockets, jet-assisted takeoff engines, and solid-propellant fuels. With the arrival of the von Braun team, Redstone also became responsible for research and development of guided missiles. Their first major project was to develop a surface-to-surface missile with a 500-mile range. This missile became known as the Redstone.”..
… "February 1, 1956, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) came into existence at Redstone Arsenal under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Ordnance and assumed control of the facilities of the former Guided Missile Development Division of Redstone's Ordnance Missile Laboratory. Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris became ABMA’s first commander.”…

…The October 4, 1957, Soviet launch of Sputnik proved to be an important factor. Although earlier ABMA offers to launch a satellite were spurred in favor of the Navy’s Vanguard program, on November 8, 1957, Defense Secretary McElroy ordered ABMA to prepare a Jupiter C missile to launch a satellite.”…

… "On March 31,1958 the new Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) stood up at Redstone Arsenal with Maj. Gen. Medaris in command. ABMA became a subordinate command of AOMC on the following day, as did the newly formed U.S. Army Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA),

… "On October 21, 1959, President Eisenhower ordered components of the military's space program to be transferred to NASA. Thus in July 1960, a substantial proportion of ABMA facilities was leased to NASA to become the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center.”….

… "In 1963, Nike Zeus became Nike X. The Huntsville Project Office continued to fund research to develop vital components of what eventually would be dubbed the Sentinel and later Safeguard ABM systems. 
… "With Secretary of Defense McNamara announcing in September 1967 his decision to deploy Sentinel, another reorganization placed the Huntsville Project Office under the new U.S. Sentinel Systems Command (SENSCOM). Because the Department of Defense restricted SENSCOM to functions relating to the engineering requirements needed to support Sentinel deployment, the Army set up an additional organization to support research and development (R&D) for an advanced system. This organization eventually became the U.S. Army Advanced Ballistic Missile Defense Agency (ABMDA) and reported directly to the Army's Chief of Research and Development. Although collocated in Washington with the SENSCOM System Office, ABMDA also maintained a presence in Huntsville adjacent to the SENSCOM field quarters.”….