The White Fleet: Argentina's 1950s Space Program

Long before the V-2 rockets or Sputnik, Argentina was building its own orbital ambitions in the 1950s. This episode explores the story of the Comision de Investigaciones Espaciales (CIE) and its charismatic director, Dr. Julio María Sala. We trace how a small group of physicists and engineers in Buenos Aires managed to launch sounding rockets that reached the edge of space, despite political instability and international isolation. The narrative centers on the white-painted V-2 inspired vehicles, the collaboration with German expatriate scientists who fled post-war Europe, and the eventual dissolution of the program as funding dried up and Cold War priorities shifted elsewhere. It is a tale of scientific ambition colliding with economic reality, revealing a forgotten chapter where South America briefly touched the stars.

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