This has drifted to the second page, so you may not see it, but:
The Soviets got into space first because their atomic warheads were so primitive and heavy that they had to build huge missiles to carry them. These boosters had a big advantage in putting large payloads into orbit, and, along with the U.S. initial preference for manned bombers over missiles, bought them a short lead. Their space program, like their military, was a "showpiece" for their nation, and absorbed a good chunk of their resources.
We could have made a lot more progess in space if we had been willing to impoverish our citizens for that purpose.
As for everything else, without their nuclear and conventional arsenal, they would have been just another third-world nation. They never amounted to anything much economically, and what they did accomplish was often stolen from the West.
Their "Space Shuttle" knockoff, almost identical to an American orbiter, was only the last, and most pathetic of these me-too operations.
Current Events » in reply to Re: WWII
Soviets in space
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