"George R. Gonzalez" ) writes:

Even in the free spending 1950's there was only enough spare $ to put up a
miniscule shield. Many of the Nike sites were put up in full view of major
public thoroughfares, to reassure the public that the US govt was on the
job!


Yes, I remember seeing one site just off a main street in
Detroit, MI. The site was surrounded by a high fence but
citizens (and visitors from Canada, like me) could easily see
the missiles sticking up above the fence. This was early '50s.

Just wonder if the second part of the name (Ajax, Hercules, etc)
refers to the booster rocket that the Nike was mounted on. I
recall that some upper atmospheric research rockets were mounted
on Ajax boosters.

.... Martin VE3OAT