I'm amused that geeks, to the extent hey notice this at all, think that the space program is science masquerading as military. Are people under the impression that Lockheed Martin makes microscopes and centrifuges when they're not building shuttle components? Or that it is coincidental that outgrowths of the billions spent on the space program include Tang, Velcro, and the ability to turn Moscow into glass?
Good point. Makes me wonder how much further spaceflight would have progressed if SDI had got off the ground. On one hand weaponizing space is bad, but on the other it could push better space technology forward. A faustian bargain.
