The point of NASA was to create an agency for non-military aerospace development, while ARPA was supposed to handle military applications. I think Eisenhower t

The point of NASA was to create an agency for non-military aerospace development, while ARPA was supposed to handle military applications. I think Eisenhower thought that this would insulate NASA from postwar budget cuts and make its funding more secure rather than less. In retrospect, Eisenhower was a hell of an optimist.