ooc: I disagree. Sure, Soviet Von Braun means no-operation paperclip, but that doesn't preclude any success of the U.S. space program. In OTL, the soviets had a successful program with much less german expertise, so I don't think its entirely unreasonalbe that the U.S. could have launched the first satellite into space. Finally, this could be in the early 2000's, (more succesful soviets would meen they wouldnt collapse.) With Von Braun leading a more capable soviet space program, there would be more intense and longer copetition, which would encourage the U.S. to put forth alot of effort into it as well. Having Von Braun doesn't mean you have a monopoly on the space game, and while it might give the soviets a more capable program thean the americans (which I never denied,) it doesn't mean they control space.