Spaceflight History Discussion Thread.

[NSEP]

This is a thread to discuss Spaceflight History.

By the way, stay away from politics!

Remember the forum rules when talking about the who won the space race.

Edited December 22, 2017 by NSEP

[DerekL1963]

1 hour ago, NSEP said:

This is a thread to discuss Spaceflight History.

Why?   And why the silly poll?
 

1 hour ago, NSEP said:

By the way, stay away from politics!

While you can avoid toxic partisan politics, you can't discuss the space race without bringing at least international politics - because those form the whole basis of the space race.

[Starman4308]

First, on the poll, while it's probably less important than what a forum full of KSP players would suggest, it definitely has its place as an example of the proxy conflicts that the US and USSR engaged in; in this case, the Space Race was a proxy for ICBM development and space dominance. In the case of the US, I also suspect part of it was an attempt to reassure the US public that the US was still on top, and that traditional liberal democracy with a regulated free market economy was still superior to the Soviet model.

Second, I'm reading through the Wikipedia article on STS-61, and it's quite interesting reading. My vague guess for why they started off servicing the gyros and solar panels instead of the mirror was to get the astronauts accustomed to EVA operations before more delicate operations involving optics. It was a lot of work to service what I presume was something not intended to be serviced in orbit.

[NSEP]

1 hour ago, DerekL1963 said:

Why?

Because a thread like this should exist on the forum in my opinion, and i don't see why not?

1 hour ago, DerekL1963 said:

While you can avoid toxic partisan politics, you can't discuss the space race without bringing at least international politics - because those form the whole basis of the space race.

Yes thats true, but at least be carefull with it, if you can. Maybe stay away from the race itself and focus on the spacecraft designs and proposed ideas instead.

[DerekL1963]

16 minutes ago, NSEP said:

Because a thread like this should exist on the forum in my opinion, and i don't see why not?

I don't get why all of space history should be shoehorned into one thread.
 

17 minutes ago, NSEP said:

Maybe stay away from the race itself and focus on the spacecraft designs and proposed ideas instead.

Then it's not a space history thread.

[NSEP]

15 minutes ago, DerekL1963 said:

I don't get why all of space history should be shoehorned into one thread.

Space history does not look like the biggest topic that is being talked about on the forum, most at the time people talk about upcoming launches, and pruposed ideas of the future. Putting it in one jar does not seem like a bad idea to me.

19 minutes ago, DerekL1963 said:

Then it's not a space history thread.

How is it not? If you are talking about anything that is of the past, you are technically talking about history. Not saying that yesterdays launch belongs here, but the things of what people consider a long time ago does.

[Rus-Evo]

The space race had many benefits in terms of technological advances that help mankind.

Also can you imagine not having detailed information on all the planets and moons? The solar system would seem so much more mysterious.  Which brings my mind to considering whether the launch of space probes was part of the space race....

To actually answer the thread, I see it as a subset of the Cold War.... which is itself a major part of history. 

Edited December 22, 2017 by Rus-Evo

[Bill Phil]

I feel like it was inevitable. The technical knowledge necessary was in existence at least 10 years before Sputnik. The militaries of the world were developing missile technology, as well. The two superpowers had even announced launching a satellite for the international geophysical year. The race itself served as a way to demonstrate rocketry technology being developed in a "non threatening" way, ICBMs, IRBMs, and so on. It certainly benefited the world in many ways, weather satellites, GPS, early warning systems, and other earth science. It certainly belongs in the history book and has had a significant impact on history. Just look at major events since the dawn of the space age. The effect on wars, natural disasters, and our perception of ourselves is tremendous. Not to mention the economic benefits. The "gross space product" is in excess of 300 billion USD. Space has made an enormous impact on the world. Without it, the town I live in may not even exist, either that or it would have a very small population with little economic activity.

[Vanamonde]

9 hours ago, DerekL1963 said:

I don't get why all of space history should be shoehorned into one thread.

Then why not skip past the thread instead of posting in it to complain about it? 

 

Quote

Then it's not a space history thread.

He/she doesn't want the moderators to have to close the thread if it strays into politics.