THE NATION: Historic Beginning

Far outrunning all other achievements of the lusty, newborn age of space missilery, the U.S. one morning last week unleashed the powerful Pioneer moon-probe rocket from the pads of Cape Canaveral and sent it piercing space to a distance of 80,000 miles above the earth.

Hairline calculations were made to aim the Pioneer for the moon's vicinity, in the hope that its instruments could measure and even get a dim picture of the mysteries that have nagged men's minds for centuries. But its trajectory was off; Pioneer missed the moon and headed back to a fiery death in the earth's atmosphere. Still, the unprecedented shot was a historic success, especially because Pioneer's instruments flashed reams of new knowledge of outer space. Britain's top scientists called it "an amazing feat," "a most tremendous achievement." Paris' Roman Catholic daily, La Croix, echoed: "The most prodigious event in history." India's Nehru called it a "tremendous triumph of modern science," wagged: "I understand it has strayed from the straight and narrow path. Nevertheless the fact that it has been sent out is another great advance." A Soviet official in London expressed "all good wishes."

But Project Pioneer's stab toward the moon was only the beginning. At Cape Canaveral this week, missilemen were busy at launching pads and hangars, preparing for two new moon shoots: a second by the Air Force, set for next month; another by the Army, before year's end. Beyond that lay plans for still another new space bird, whose job it will be to map the entire earth. In the fast-maturing age of missilery, a world of new wonders was in the making.