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The U.S. Post Office’s Experiment To Deliver Mail With Missiles
The United States hoped to use technology to deliver mail faster with a bold experiment from the 1950s
The motto of the U.S. Post Office boasts “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” In helping get all the mail delivered, the institution is always on the lookout for new methodology and technology. Although they don’t all pan out, some are still tried for effectiveness. One that didn’t quite make the grade occurred in the late 1950s when they used an actual unarmed missile to drop off a pile of mail at a naval base in Florida.
By the late 1950s, the world was captivated by the idea of space exploration and all associated technology. The United States unofficially entered a space race with other countries like Russia to see who could reach the top of the mountain first. This competitive spirit swept the country and manifested in unusual ways and places. The U.S. Post Office also wanted to see how they might utilize space-age tech to help in their business of delivering letters and packages and ventured into this unknown realm by attempting to send mail by way of a guided missile. Their hope was, that if successful, a new supersonic speed of delivery could be…
