How was the space race anything more than a petty waste of time and resources?

[Alcoholic_Wannabe]

I'll never understand international dick-measuring contests like this where you're throwing the equivalent of billions of dollars down the shitter for bragging rights.

[NathanDavis]

the space race was not just about going to space...

it was a race to develop technology... of many kinds

a lot of the technology that you're using to post this right now... it is partially or even directly a benefit from the developments that came from NASA and other "space" companies

even with the latest space venture, the Webb Telescope, and the technologies and developments achieved through this engineering challenge, they will find other uses for it, and they will profit or benefit in some ways... it's not just for the nice pictures from space

[jshm2]

You're confused.

That' "the military" you're thinking about. Where they spend billions on stuff they will never really use.

Space is a zero environment unlike anything on Earth. The experiments that cane be done there are things you could not do here.

[Seinna]

It didn't even happen, the space race was a hoax... so yes, a waste of resources and I'm really curious where all that money really went.

[Alcoholic_Wannabe]

This DICC

[Gremlinimo]

Or... things like that actually push the human race to advance itself purely because it's a competition. Yup, a lot of money has been spent, but think of the tech we've gained just because someone had to invent it in this "space race". And then there's the science and understanding that comes with a new view of our universe. Of course it would be nicer if the entire planet pooled it's resources to save money, but that ain't gonna happen.

[Alcoholic_Wannabe]

The mental leaps you need to make to think that we wouldn't have eventually gotten there without some competition are some gymnastics I wish I were capable of.

[Gremlinimo]

It took the human race as we know it 160,000 years to start mining minerals. A further 39,700 years to invent a steam engine designed to pump water out of mines. That is "eventually". Now look at the last 200 years, and the last 50. An era where someone wants to be the first or have the best.

Not saying that space exploration done the way it has been is money well spent, simply stating that we all benefit technologically from what some perceive as vanity projects.

[Astarlessnightsky]

Many inventions everyone use today came from this, and it was much better than war, which was the go to dick measurement contest before.

[Anonymous]

Probably because you’re not very intelligent and think that space exploration is a dick measuring contest.

[Alcoholic_Wannabe]

It was when it first started.