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I wonder what sparked interest in rocketry in the USSR enough that they launched Sputnik, etc with no immediate military benefit. As berated as communism is, th
by aswanson 8y ago
I wonder what sparked interest in rocketry in the USSR enough that they launched Sputnik, etc with no immediate military benefit. As berated as communism is, they had vision enough to see past the capitalists in that moment...into space.
- greedo 8y agoI think you're underestimating the military benefit of being able to launch something into space...
- le-mark 8y agoIndeed, it was always a military application, v-1, v-2, launching sputnik was demonstrating the ability to put a warhead anywhere on earth. It was called the 'red scare' for a reason.
- BurningFrog 8y agoControlling the higher ground is always a military advantage.
- aswanson 8y agolol. you're right.
- simonh 8y agoAll the early Russian and US space launch systems were modified ICBMs. The US started their ICBM program immediately after WW2 the same as the Russians. It’s just that with the US developing the atomic bomb firsts, Russia had a stronger incentive to get a really big technological ‘First’ of their own. I’m not in any way denigrating the Russian achievement, but it’s not as though the US had no rockets of it’s own at the time and the military benefits were clear to both sides.