Comment on US concerned NASA will be overtaken by China's space program

• bionicjoey@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  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.

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  • Windex007@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    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.

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    • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

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

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      • Windex007@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        My B!

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    • redfox@infosec.pub ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

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

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      • redfox@infosec.pub ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Ha, I was actually taking about the space program, but same for the invasion. Although, I feel like more people have come forward about the invasion being BS than early space program stuff.

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      • Windex007@lemmy.world ⁨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.

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