Irony of the Space Race

[Kerbalsaurus]

I’m sure if you were an American during the Cold War, you would’ve definitely heard that the Soviets were goin to militarize space. The ages old propaganda campaign that the U.S. is using on China too. But here’s the thing: the U.S. wanted to do the the exact same thing.

One example is the Explorer satellites Werner von Braun could’ve had the first satellite in orbit by 1955, but America didn’t green light it because it wasn’t good for any military services. Apparently, von Braun wanted to use it for “science” and “discovery”. The mentality of the USAF was nuke or nothing. So as you can imagine, von Braun was liquided when the USSR launched Sputnik 1 in 1957.

And even then, the U.S. was still attempting to use space for their own military purposes. The Discovery program was project CORONA, launched 1958. Yet the America got all mad when the Soviet Union used Sputnik 4 for spy purposes. What was originally going to be the first U.S. satellite, Vanguard, was built and launch by the Navy. America wanted to use space for everything they claimed they didn’t want the Soviets to use.

[Shpaget]

Once the rockets are up,

who cares where they come down.

That's not my department,

says Werner von Braun.

[magnemoe]

I read that the US wanted an purely civilian and scientific satellite as first launch because they was afraid satellites might become banned by  international treaties. 
So launch something small and nice first.  Well Americans are always so legal focused, and yes they was planning on spy satellites. 
Then Sputnik was launches and this was no issues it was launch whatever. 

[SunlitZelkova]

2 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

I’m sure if you were an American during the Cold War, you would’ve definitely heard that the Soviets were goin to militarize space. The ages old propaganda campaign that the U.S. is using on China too. But here’s the thing: the U.S. wanted to do the the exact same thing.

One example is the Explorer satellites Werner von Braun could’ve had the first satellite in orbit by 1955, but America didn’t green light it because it wasn’t good for any military services. Apparently, von Braun wanted to use it for “science” and “discovery”. The mentality of the USAF was nuke or nothing. So as you can imagine, von Braun was liquided when the USSR launched Sputnik 1 in 1957.

And even then, the U.S. was still attempting to use space for their own military purposes. The Discovery program was project CORONA, launched 1958. Yet the America got all mad when the Soviet Union used Sputnik 4 for spy purposes. What was originally going to be the first U.S. satellite, Vanguard, was built and launch by the Navy. America wanted to use space for everything they claimed they didn’t want the Soviets to use.

Not to go into politics… perhaps this is history… but such a dynamic dominates a lot of Cold War events. It was just the nature of the era.

[mikegarrison]

31 minutes ago, Shpaget said:

Once the rockets are up,

who cares where they come down.

That's not my department,

says Werner von Braun.

Nice Tom Lehrer callback.

 

[Nuke]

i think the whole notion of using space for peaceful purposes was just a smoke screen to allow governments to develop space tech for military applications. they know the first nation to put nukes or some other wmd in orbit will give them a huge tactical advantage. the real space race really hasn't even started yet.

what we have seen thus far is more like a pre marathon stretch. to continue the metaphor, starship (or an equally capable vehicle) will be the starter pistol going off. at that point the sky is no longer the limit. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Nuke

[Vanamonde]

Political discussions never end well. Please leave those for other places on the internet.