enthalpy

Tuesday, January 27, 2009


Here's a response to Miles O'Brien's column from the other day. Sounds like this guy thinks Miles drank the Kool-Aide:
Apollo was not about the Moon, or even about space. It took place in space and ultimately, on the Moon. But Apollo was a battle in the Cold War. John Kennedy did not say, “Go to the Moon and press onwards to the planets.” He challenged America to show the superiority of its economic and political system by landing a man on the Moon and returning him to Earth “before this decade is out.” The key objective was not going to the Moon – it was to beat the Soviets to the Moon. This objective was attained with profound consequences, critical to our Cold War victory to a degree still not fully appreciated.

Most space program observers acknowledge this distinction, but they have only accepted it intellectually, not emotionally.
Well, is it? It was a lot more photogenic on the front page to beat the Soviets on the Moon than with 1,000 megatons of fusion, but to say that's the only reason Apollo went to the moon is pretty dishonest. It's obviously not the reason NASA continued.



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