4 ms·

If India really did make it to mars before the US did, we would probably congradulate them, not try to compete with them. When the USSR put Sputnik into space,

If India really did make it to mars before the US did, we would probably congradulate them, not try to compete with them. When the USSR put Sputnik into space, the US's response wasn't because oh no we need to beat them to the moon! it was because the fact that they could put a satellite into space meant they could also land a nuclear warhead on US soil.

efuquen 12y ago
> not try to compete with them I seriously doubt this. Sure, it wouldn't be seen as a threat, but it certainly would be seen as a clear sign of America's decay in technological leadership and capabilities. > oh no we need to beat them to the moon! Everything I've seen documented from that era actually points to this being exactly the attitude. Sending satellites into orbit and launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads involves a different set of skills then sending humans into space. Sure you need to launch rockets in all cases, but life support, pushing the extra payload (into orbit, and then the moon), developing a whole set of extra skills (docking, space walking, etc.) It's just way more complicated and expensive to send people into space and there was no military advantage for either country to do it. Both countries wanted to beat each other in a game of technological machismo, just plain old competition at work.
- josho 12y ago
  It really depends what your source material is. Anything geared to the masses will site US innovation and competitive spirit. Anything geared to the political/military class focuses on how Russian rockets were superior to the US, and that the US had to catch up and surpass the Russians. If you take away the cold war background, many observers seriously doubt that the Americans would have bothered going to the moon. And yes, both countries wanted to beat each other in a game of technological machismo, because they were convinced that the other side was going to be a military aggressor if they didn't. That is something missing from today with China/India, and why I doubt the US would care much if those countries space programs surpassed the US.
stcredzero 12y ago
it was because the fact that they could put a satellite into space meant they could also land a nuclear warhead on US soil. It was not only that, however. There was also a competition between two different forms of government and societal organization. I would bet that many in the US would experience anxiety about our "declining status as a superpower" if another country were to beat us to Mars. Also, in the long term, if only non-western cultures expand into the solar system, they will surpass the western nations. The Earth will become a major but junior member of a coalition in a larger political context, in the same way that the UK has become a major but junior partner in the power bloc centered around the US. Just as the UK now crews Trident missile subs built by the US, the Earth will retain considerable autonomy but will ultimately answer to the Solar System wide civilization that controls the strategic high ground outside of the Earth's gravity well.
known 12y ago
Unlike India, USSR/US/EU have spent millions on R&D to reach Mars since 1960. "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." --Isaac Newton

efuquen 12y ago

> not try to compete with them I seriously doubt this. Sure, it wouldn't be seen as a threat, but it certainly would be seen as a clear sign of America's decay in technological leadership and capabilities. > oh no we need to beat them to the moon! Everything I've seen documented from that era actually points to this being exactly the attitude. Sending satellites into orbit and launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads involves a different set of skills then sending humans into space. Sure you need to launch rockets in all cases, but life support, pushing the extra payload (into orbit, and then the moon), developing a whole set of extra skills (docking, space walking, etc.) It's just way more complicated and expensive to send people into space and there was no military advantage for either country to do it. Both countries wanted to beat each other in a game of technological machismo, just plain old competition at work.

josho 12y ago
It really depends what your source material is. Anything geared to the masses will site US innovation and competitive spirit. Anything geared to the political/military class focuses on how Russian rockets were superior to the US, and that the US had to catch up and surpass the Russians. If you take away the cold war background, many observers seriously doubt that the Americans would have bothered going to the moon. And yes, both countries wanted to beat each other in a game of technological machismo, because they were convinced that the other side was going to be a military aggressor if they didn't. That is something missing from today with China/India, and why I doubt the US would care much if those countries space programs surpassed the US.

stcredzero 12y ago

it was because the fact that they could put a satellite into space meant they could also land a nuclear warhead on US soil. It was not only that, however. There was also a competition between two different forms of government and societal organization. I would bet that many in the US would experience anxiety about our "declining status as a superpower" if another country were to beat us to Mars. Also, in the long term, if only non-western cultures expand into the solar system, they will surpass the western nations. The Earth will become a major but junior member of a coalition in a larger political context, in the same way that the UK has become a major but junior partner in the power bloc centered around the US. Just as the UK now crews Trident missile subs built by the US, the Earth will retain considerable autonomy but will ultimately answer to the Solar System wide civilization that controls the strategic high ground outside of the Earth's gravity well.

known 12y ago

Unlike India, USSR/US/EU have spent millions on R&D to reach Mars since 1960. "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." --Isaac Newton