IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

[Tom Stanton]

At 11:21 AM 6/24/97 BST, andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk wrote:
>Here's a question, and accompanying answer - or at least a partial
>one, which never got posted on the GRGR because I was away in India
>when the relevant section was being discussed. On page 101 of GR
>mention is made of the motto IN HOC SIGNUM VINCES - literally BY THIS
>SIGN YOU CONQUER - as part of the description of the rocket firing
>stand near to where Katje was quartered with Blicero and Gottfried:
[snip of detail]
> The Roman emperor
>    Constantine, early in the 4th century, had seen just such a
>    vision, accompanied by the words *In hoc signo vinces*. But in
>    that sign Korolev would not conquer, for the rocket went out of
>    control and disintegrated.
>
>So, the quote comes from Constantine, presumably at his point of
>conversion. Wonder where Pynchon picked it up from. Heppenheimer gives
>no source for the Constantine story in his account. Perhaps Pynchon
>and Heppenheimer both saw it in something written by Korolev or some
>other rocketeer?

Anyone raised a Roman Catholic, as TRP was, knows this is
a seminal moment in Christian history, because it marks Constatine's
true conversion (by adopting the cross he also won the battle) and
a major turning point for the Church from cult into state religion. 

>One of the other threads I unknotted by reading this history was how
>politicised the space race was and how uncritical most US citizens
>(and lots of non-US citizens too, of course) were of rocketry during
>the 50s and 60s. I remember details from when I was 10 or 11 but not
>the political situation. 

I have read there was some questioning of the German team when
it first arrived but Von Braun's relentless PR turned them into "the
good Germans," mostly after Sputnik. I was 5 at the time but recall
that rocket scientists were Germans & remember a joke that "our
German scientists are better than *your* German scientists (the
*your* referring to Russia). Publicly, the US was in complete denial 
regarding the Russian rocket program & was convinced they had
German help, which was only partially true. Forget the Chief Architect's
name, but they had a strong liquid fuel program before WW2 on a
scale slighly larger than Goddards. After the V2, the Russian program 
was immediately given top priority (though Stalin did jail the CA for
a few years during WW2).

>While Tom was writing his magnum opus
>billions were being paid to fund the manned missions, in substantial
>part as a cover for research into the more important unmanned missions
>used by the CIA and the military. Not surprising that, given such a
>shiny ideal, Pynchon started digging round in the dirt to uncover the
>program's diseased roots.

The US moon program was very unpopular with the Left & the new
youth movement. While we could not find funding for the War on
Poverty, education, etc., we spent billions on Viet Nam & the moon,
which most folks knew was a Cold War strategic goal for high ground
supremacy. TRP tapped into the deepest roots of it, IMHO, by going back
to the V2 and the men who built it, and tossing in a few choice lines like
"look high, not low" in reference to Von Braun & his role in Dora, Nord-
hausen, etc.