“The U.S's first ballistic missile test was a complete disaster. The Atlas Missile Program, which began in the early 1950s, attempted its first ballistic missile launch on June 11, 1957. The rocket flew for 24 seconds before blowing up. It took two more years before the first successfully armed test flight took place.”

American politician and former CIA clandestine officer

William Ballard Hurd is an American politician and former CIA clandestine officer. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 23rd congressional district from 2015 to 2021. Hurd's public career has combined intelligence work and electoral politics. He is known for representing a large and politically varied district in Texas, and for a career that moved from the CIA's covert service into Congress.