When the U-2 Spy Plane was invented, it was the first of it’s kind. It was specifically invented to fly higher than all others and out of the reach of any missiles of that time period. Nicknamed the “Dragon Lady,” the Lockheed U-2 was a jet powered ultralight glider, and it was capable of reaching heights of 70,000 feet and above. The wingspan was 80 feet across, which was longer than the body of the plane itself. The government gave a thirty-five million dollar budget to the Lockheed Marin Aerospace Company project, which paid for 30 planes all equipped with with high altitude cameras. They worked fast and had the first one ready in 88 days. This excited President Eisenhower. He could have the planes flown over Russia and other countries to gain information, in this particular case, on their nuclear advancement and such paraphernalia. He had proposed ideas such as open air space before, which meant that all of these countries could fly over each other without any resistance anytime, but Russia had always disagreed. There were several of these "secret" flights; flights that Russia knew of but couldn't prevent. Things all changed on May 1st, 1960, when a new weapon Russia had been developing locked onto one flown by Francis Gary Powers. The soviets had designed this especially for the planes that had, until then, been out of their reach. Powers survived by jumping out of the plane and parachuting down, but he was met by many police forces when he touched down.