IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

[jporter]

Andrew with some nifty scholarship sheds light on words from the text of
GR, but then reflects:

>One of the other threads I unknotted by reading this history was how
>politicised the space race was and how uncritical most US citizens
>(and lots of non-US citizens too, of course) were of rocketry during
>the 50s and 60s. I remember details from when I was 10 or 11 but not
>the political situation. While Tom was writing his magnum opus
>billions were being paid to fund the manned missions, in substantial
>part as a cover for research into the more important unmanned missions
>used by the CIA and the military. Not surprising that, given such a
>shiny ideal, Pynchon started digging round in the dirt to uncover the
>program's diseased roots.


Ah yea, but the space race and moon landing were really cool. I wish the
space program was still going full tilt. And as for diseased roots, true
enough, but huge outlays of public funds are usually always tangled up in a
myriad of good and not so good motives. Think about the origins of the
internet.

jody