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Forum:	Free Space
Topic:	Red Bull Stratos: Felix Baumgartner's skydive

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by YankeeClipper: [B] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Robert Pearlman: [b]A valid argument could be made that Apollo 8 [i]was[/i] a stunt, if considered within the larger context of the Space Race, which itself was built upon a series of stunts aimed primarily at political one-upmanship. The decision to fly Apollo 8 around the moon wasn't done out of an interest in science or for the betterment of humanity; it was done to beat the Russians to the moon. For that matter, Apollo 11 didn't land on the moon to return moon rocks or deploy a seismometer; it was sent to beat the Russians to the moon.[/b][/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Originally posted by mjanovec: [b] A lot of great science was conducted with the Apollo program (not to mention Mercury and Gemini). But it was not the driving force behind the program (or Kennedy's goal).[/b][/QUOTE]Ok, let's go back to September 12, 1962 and the [URL=http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm]John F. Kennedy Moon Speech - Rice Stadium[/URL] <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage. [b]If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join in it or not, and it is one of the great adventures of all time, and no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space.[/b] Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it--we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and [b]we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.[/b] [b]Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world's leading space-faring nation.[/b] [b]We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.[/b] For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. [b]The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school.[/b] Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, "Because it is there." [b]Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there.[/b] And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE>Science (from Latin [i]scientia[/i], meaning "knowledge") was not an afterthought bolted on after the US beat the Russians to the Moon, it is the [i]absolute reason[/i] why the US beat the Russians to the Moon. To suggest that Apollo was all about beating the Russians and then throwing in some science at the end, is to put the cart before the horse. Applied, interdisciplinary, physical and life science was fundamental to the development of the manned spaceflight program rockets, vehicles, materials, hardware, software, etc. Only by making that technical journey first on the ground and then in space, could the US hope to be peacefully pre-eminent through technological superiority. Apollo was about being being technologically superior, bold, and first. By using brilliant scientists to build the most superbly engineered rockets, and then asking the best test pilots to fly them further, higher, and faster where no one had gone before. Apollo 8 and 11 were about proving flight and landing capability and scheduled to be firsts, Apollo 12 proving pin-point landing capability to pave the way for Apollo 13-17. If scientific exploration (knowledge exploration) was not always the principal objective, then the US could have stopped risking lives after Apollo 11 and 12. Why continue flying unless the overall higher program objective had not been completed? The Russians sought to dismiss Apollo 11 as a meaningless propaganda stunt because they wanted to demean, degrade, and downplay the endeavour. Yet we know they were feverishly chasing the exact same goal, but just could not match the US technically. In reality both sides seriously respected each others achievements in space. <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969, A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE>The Apollo 11 plaque inscription does [b]not[/b] say: <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]"HERE MEN FROM THE UNITED STATES FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969 A.D. WE CAME TO BEAT THE RUSSIANS"[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE>The statement, "WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND" is derived from the 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act's declaration of policy and purpose: <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind.[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE>Ultimately, the manned spaceflight program was always about pre-eminence in the science of spaceflight and exploration, not performing stunts.[/B][/QUOTE]
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