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One morning, about 2am in one of the Mission Control rooms at JSC, I was sitting next to two semi-retired flight controllers managing a simulation. They went ba
by hindsightbias 7y ago
One morning, about 2am in one of the Mission Control rooms at JSC, I was sitting next to two semi-retired flight controllers managing a simulation. They went back to Apollo.
One of my 20-something peers walked back to our row where the pizza boxes lay, ruffled through them, sighed “its all cold” and walked back to his terminal.
Now, we’d been doing this for weeks.
Old fart #1 turns to #2 and says under his breath “You know, I gave up my marriage and kids to get us to the moon”
And so they did.
- permatech 7y agoYou know, I think we would have still made it to the moon if those two guys spent time with their family
- Jare 7y agoBut it wasn't just about mankind making it to the moon. It was about getting there "before the bad guys". About making a show of willpower. About proving that no sacrifice is too large.
- lonelappde 7y agoMaking "a show" of willpower isn't useful. Beating the Russians to the moon isn't what caused their failing political and economic system to collapse. The Russians are still the ones who keep the ISS alive, and it's not meaningfully harming USA or helping Russia in geopolotical hegemony
- krageon 7y ago> About proving that no sacrifice is too large. I would posit that this mindset is broadly a disease and not a cure.