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Old December 21st 16, 09:05 AM posted to sci.space.history
snidely
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Default The Space Race was about Power Projection - Miles O'Brien

Stuf4 submitted this gripping article, maybe on Monday:
On Monday, December 12, 2016 at 1:02:04 AM UTC-6,
wrote:
On Saturday, December 10, 2016 at 5:56:54 AM UTC-6, Stuf4 wrote: snip
Miles O'Brien's statement is the latest example.

~ CT


My view is that the space race was an example of a single combat warrior,
sort of like David and Goliath. The idea is that instead of having the two
countries duke it out on the battlefield, their representatives, David and
Goliath in ancient times and astronauts and cosmonauts in modern times,
would vie for superiority. Russia won the first round, by getting a man into
orbit before the U.S. did, but the U.S. raised the stakes, making a man on
the moon the new goal, and in this arena, the American warriors were
superior.


That's an excellent analogy! I must say that is compelling. Thanks for
sharing that.

As for people like Jeff who four decades+ on, who refuse to recognize the
direct nuclear ICBM driver behind putting humans atop these boosters, here is
the most recent quote by Frank Borman:

“The space program was essentially a battle in the Cold War. Vietnam — we
lost. Korea — we tied. And the space business — we won,” Borman said.

We hadn't lost in Vietnam until after the moon landings. In 1969, we
may have still been thinking we could win in Vietnam.

/dps


--
"This is all very fine, but let us not be carried away be excitement,
but ask calmly, how does this person feel about in in his cooler
moments next day, with six or seven thousand feet of snow and stuff on
top of him?"
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain.