this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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US concerned NASA will be overtaken by China's space program::undefined

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[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 40 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Especially stupid considering last time they gave the space program appropriate funding, it led to a lot of advancements that the military industrial complex could use.

[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You make it sound like the military advancements were an unexpected byproduct, as opposed to the real goal.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The goal was optics. Kennedy didn't know what advances would result from Apollo. He wanted to show that the US was better at science and technology than Russia.

[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago (2 children)

The science of putting a ballistic payload anywhere, including heaven.

The space race was awesome because it let the two countries measure their dicks (specifically their military dicks) without actually obliterating the planet.

The "for all mankind" angle was a great way to frame things for the population of Earth, for sure. But just like mobile chemical WMD labs in Iraq, sometimes the given justification and actual justification are two different things.

Don't get me wrong, there absolutely were beneficial optics. Something doesn't have to just be for one thing. But it was always primarily about practical demonstration of weapons capacity under the facade of human exploration.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The dick measuring is what I was referring to by "optics".

[–] redfox@infosec.pub 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don't disagree, but has anyone found corroborating evidence or documentation, past speculation and reasonable assumption?

[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

No, I don't think anyone has definitely proven that George W Bush and Colin Powell KNEW that the WMD claims in Iraq were bullshit when they were presenting them as the primary justification for the war.

It's just the nature of the beast.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

Nonsense, surely their shortsightedness will pay off in the long run!