The manned space program was entirely political, so complaining about politicization is hilarious. Apollo was a national potlatch. It was "look how rich and s

The manned space program was entirely political, so complaining about politicization is hilarious. Apollo was a national potlatch. It was "look how rich and successful capitalism is; we can put 4% of the federal budget into a pile and set it on fire, we're so good." Spinoffs are an unjustifiable myth. To the extent we can know, they'd have occurred anyway (ICs, for example). The most important thing to remember about Apollo is we didn't go back, which is clear evidence it wasn't needed. But to a true space fan, like a true communist, space programs can never fail, they can only be failed.