By Lt. Col. Blake Hoagland, 7th Space Warning Squadron / Published April 21, 2021
BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.
In 1955, with visions of better detection and warning against Soviet missiles, many of the United States’ most talented minds were asked to develop, test, and field infrared warning technologies at the speed and relevancy required to meet the emerging nuclear threat.
It was a vision as vast as the operating altitudes of the early test platforms. The project named MiDAS, for Missile Defense Alarm System, realized just four years later, would expand into one of our most important national security programs. It would also highlight the significance of testing applied to space systems.