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Question: it seems there is a lot of overlap between the technology required for space exploration and the technology needed for ICBMs. To what extent was space

Question: it seems there is a lot of overlap between the technology required for space exploration and the technology needed for ICBMs. To what extent was space exploration in the Mercury-Apollo missions a way to make a huge investment in ICBM technology palatable to the public? Does anyone know good documentaries that discuss this? (Put it another way: how important was R&D done in the name of human space exploration to the development of ICBM capabilities?)

exDM69 10y ago
> how important was R&D done in the name of human space exploration to the development of ICBM capabilities? Not very important. By the time of the Gemini program, ICBMs had reached the capabilities needed. All the human rated launch vehicles after that were developed for manned spaceflight exclusively (unlike Mercury and Gemini programs which used missiles) and didn't have a lot of overlap with ICBM development. There might be other areas of military interest that overlap manned space flight efforts, though.