The Soviets took a different approach. Rather than frantically show off their bombs, they developed a better way to deliver them. In 1957 they revealed the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a rocket that could be launched from Soviet territory and, traveling at 15,000 miles per hour, arrive at a target halfway around the globe in 15 minutes. That prompted the Americans to begin testing their first ICBM, Atlas. But the first Atlas test blew up, as did the next five.
