What if Sputnik 1 had failed? (my new article in QUEST)

The new issue of QUEST, the History of Spaceflight magazine (Vol 26 #2), offers 13 articles exploring "What if?" Mine is "What if Sputnik 1 had failed?" 
All my friends in the space history community are here, including Jim Vedda (alternate plans to go to the moon), Dwayne Day (events resulting from JFK's death), John Logsdon (if Apollo 8 had failed), and many more, including my First Space Race co-author, Erika Maurer, who looks at the Space Race as a poker player might. 
Thanks to publisher Scott Sacknoff and all the staff at QUEST. 

You can download the issue here!