billions and billions of dollars and all we got was this lousy tang
Dan Riehl points us to some of the neat technologies developed during the Apollo era. They are neat, too, but I have to say – given the price-tag of the space program – you’d think we’d have come up with better stuff than scratch-resistant glasses and memory foam. In other words, the fact that these technologies were developed during the massively expensive space program is incidental – I’m sure wireless headsets would have been invented regardless.
While not strictly related to the Apollo program, the space program has been a phenomenally successful government program. Leaving aside Tang, there have many technologies that have led to immense wealth creation, scientific advances and modern conveniences. I am still waiting for my phaser and tricorder.Report
The question though is whether those technologies would have been developed anyways…through private innovation rather than on the taxpayer’s dime.Report
Technologies…sure. But going to the moon and planting a giant Pepsi symbol on it lacks the panache of an American flag, doesn’t it?Report
I’m still waiting for my phaser, too. And my jetpack.Report
This may be one of those things that is indicative of deeper beliefs about government, but I find it much more inspiring and beautiful because it was a national project, not just a private company. Private business may have gone into space but surely not anywhere near when We went and with likely far less emphasis on science.Report
That’s a good point. And maybe there was cause for a massive space race to unify the nation. It is also possible that the money could have been better spent on other programs – but I do understand that space exploration may also have its long-term benefits. I’m skeptical, though.Report
When there is a slinky green seductress from Alpha Centuri dancing around in front of you, you’ll be just fine with it.Report
The key distinction is between manned and unmanned flight, IMHO. Unmanned is unquestionably worth it (I doubt GPS would have gotten off the ground as quickly without govt, plus the benefits to science); but manned space exploration doesn’t make sense until you’ve got a space elevator or some other way of getting to orbit on the cheap.Report
I think Apollo is nothing short of mankind’s greatest peacetime scientific achievement.
Sure we’ve made great strides in technological strides in agriculture, transportation, and medicine and I don’t mean to belittle the invention – however accidental – of penicillin, or the agricultural revolution but there’s something transcendent about Apollo.
Think about it, in 1960, the modern automobile was about 70 years old. The plane even younger and cabin pressurization allowing flight over 3,000 m, was less than thirty years old. By the end of that decade we had travelled 828,743 nautical miles to place two men on the moon in time for the steam locomotive’s 175th anniversary.
Maybe I would think differently if I weren’t American, but to look up at the moon, recognize that a human being has stepped foot on it, and that such a cooperative, peacetime endeavour is possible is enormously inspirational. It doesn’t just speak to the space race or American know how, it speaks to the possibilities of mankind. There’s something in that worth the billion dollar price tag, that’s worth more than the convenience of the internet or the alacrity of processing provided by microprocessors.Report