If Russians reached the Moon first would we still have a USSR?

[Seedle]

Originally posted by Heraclitus


Would it annoy you more even more if I added to the mix a misspelled Star Wars and inappropriate D&D reference too?

It would not annoy me, it would thrill me. I enjoy getting my geek on. And as any internet user should know, when geeks start correcting trivia, they aren't annoyed, they're annoying.

[Q Classic]

Originally posted by Seedle


If you are referring to the Organian peace treaty, then, uhh, no. It said nothing about cloaking devices. Of course, you may be making a SG1 reference (or some other Sci Fi universe), but if you are, google can't find it. Or maybe you were just making something up that sounded sci-fiey.

God, I'm criticizing the possible use of an obscure Star Trek reference that was used, if it was used, in a joking manner. I am officially a hopeless geek.

If it is a reference to Star Trek, he's actually looking for the Treaty of Algeron, which prohibits Starfleet from utilizing cloaking devices.

This was amended later to say that the treaty didn't cover its use in the Gamma Quandrant...

[Elok]

Originally posted by Heraclitus
Would it annoy you more even more if I added to the mix a misspelled Star Wars and inappropriate D&D reference too?

All D&D references are inappropriate. As for the OT, I doubt it. Of course, I don't know the history of the era in depth, but it just sounds silly. The moon trip was an impressive bit of penis-measuring, but in the long run that was all it was. If throwing people at a barren rock produced worthwhile results, why did everyone stop doing it decades ago? Except China, who are now trying to demonstrate that their penises can be just as big as ours were in the seventies.

[Seedle]

Originally posted by Elok
All D&D references are inappropriate.

Actually, though the board's artifact of shunning does indeed reject D&D references, you can bypass the artifact's effect by giving the references a +5 cloak of relevance.

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Heraclitus


Again I never said it wouldn't happen eventually, but can't you admit that "we got to the moon first" was big boost to US patriotism, confidence and international respect.

No offense, but I think that you have gotten something wrong - moon landing was in 69 and US wasn't exactly known for patriotism, confidence and international respect in the 70'ies

If the USSR got that it might have lingered on to the late 1990's.

Nope - soviet only survieved for that long due to the iron fist of the party - public opinion didn't matter.

[Lord Avalon]

Actually, if the USSR were spending more on a space program, wouldn't that hasten its collapse?

[Swissy]

Originally posted by Lord Avalon
Actually, if the USSR were spending more on a space program, wouldn't that hasten its collapse?

QFT

I don't think the Soviets had the resources to go to the moon and maintain their military presence and suport of Eastern Europe. The Soviet military presence was more for keeping the Soviet system entrenced in Eastern Europe than to protect the Motherland from NATO. Perhaps Dubèek succeds and retains power, thus starting the demise of the Soviet system in the late 1960s and not in the late 1980s.