"Space Race" on Wikipedia

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 23:26:50 -0600, in a place far, far away, Pat
Flannery made the phosphor on my monitor glow in
such a way as to indicate that:

It's interesting how that first treaty is phrased - national ownership
of the Moon, or any part of it outside of a scientific base is a no-no,
but there's a big loophole (unintentional?) in it that suggests that
private ownership might be okay.
I assume that at the time it was drafted private means of getting to the
Moon seemed so unlikely that no one thought that a treaty regarding that
possibility was even necessary.

Basically, yes. One of the purposes of the treaty was in fact to shut
down the space race, by rendering the rest of the universe not worth
racing over.

From Jorge:
"Stuf4" wrote
I haven't seen anyone at sci.space post a reference to this "Space
Race" article from Wikipedia, so here it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_race

I will be interested to see any constructive feedback you may have.

"After its successful landings on the Moon, the U.S. explicitly disclaimed
the right to ownership of any part of the Moon."

The US had already explicitly done so when it ratified the Outer Space
Treaty of 1967, well before the first landing.

For that matter, the article makes no mention of any of the space treaties,
their role in the space race, nor their role specifically (the Outer Space
Treaty and the Rescue Agreement especially) in leading to Apollo-Soyuz.

I would consider the Moon Treaty of 1979, and the L5 Society's successful
effort to block US ratification of same, as beyond the intended scope of
the article.

Lots of good inputs from everyone. I agree that the article could use
the addition of key events, along with improving the accuracy of what
it does contain.

I didn't see anyone mention the error in that outrageously mistaken
quote of JFK, "I'm not interested in space". Here is the context from
that Wikipedia article:
___________

In conversation with NASA's director, James E. Webb, Kennedy said:
Everything we do ought to really be tied in to getting on to the moon
ahead of the Russians... otherwise we shouldn't be spending that kind
of money, because I'm not interested in space... The only justification
(for the cost) is because we hope to beat the USSR to demonstrate that
instead of being behind by a couple of years, by God, we passed them.
___________


But the audio tape clearly captures JFK's statement, "I'm not
that interested in space", which fits with JFKs actions (unlike the
erroneous quote).

[The official transcript with the correct quote can be found he
http://history.nasa.gov/JFK-Webbconv...transcript.pdf
And if you'd like to listen to JFK yourself, the audio can be found
he
http://history.nasa.gov/JFK-Webbconv/pages/audio.html ]


~ CT

Here are a set of quotes from that Wikipedia article that I'd like to
highlight:

_________

The term [Space Race] originated as an analogy to the arms race.
Space technology became a particularly important arena in this
conflict...because of its military applications...

Early military influences
It took war to catapult rocketry into notoriety. This proved a
harbinger for the future, as any "space race" would become inextricably
linked to military ambitions of the countries involved, despite its
mostly scientific character and peaceful rhetoric.

Cold War roots of the Space Race
....space-faring accomplishments could serve as propaganda to tout a
country's...military potential. The same rockets that might send a
human into orbit or hit a specific spot on the Moon could send an atom
bomb to a specific enemy city. Much of the technological development
required for space travel applied equally well to wartime rockets such
as Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Space research had a dual purpose: it could serve peaceful ends, but
could also contribute to military goals.

Artificial satellites start the "race"
Sputnik
Because of its military and economic implications, Sputnik caused fear
and stirred political debate in the United States.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice President to President John F. Kennedy,
expressed the motivation for these American efforts as follows:
In the eyes of the world, first in space means first, period; second in
space is second in everything.1
The American public, initially discouraged and frightened by Sputnik,
became captivated by the American projects which followed.

Lunar missions
Landing a human on the moon
While the Soviets beat the Americans to most of the Space Race's
initial firsts, they failed to beat the U.S. Apollo program to land a
man on the moon. ... The Apollo Program met many of their objectives
and promised to defeat arguments from politicians both on the left (who
favored social programs) and the right (who favored a more military
project). Apollo's advantages included: 1) economic benefits to
several key states in the next election, 2) closing the "missile
gap" claimed by Kennedy during the 1960 election through dual-use
technology and 3) technical and scientific spin-off benefits.

___________


~ CT