Actual, literal Nazis got us to the Moon and frankly no one cared. Not then, not now. Try separating politics from the advancement of humanity, you'll feel better.

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WalterBright 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

In "V2" page 179 Dornberger writes:

"Do you know that your closest colleagues (including von Braun) have stated in company at Zinnowitz that it had never been their intention to make a weapon of war out of he rocket? That they had worked, under pressure from yourself (Dornberger) at the whole business of development and only in order to obtain money for their experiments and the confirmation of their theories? That their object all along has been space travel?"

The men had been arrested by the Gestapo and were going to be executed. Dornberger was also threatened with arrest, but he managed to get von Braun and the other released.

	▲	GolfPopper 16 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		From by Tom Lehrer's "Wernher von Braun"[1], Don't say that he's hypocritical Say rather that he's apolitical "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department!" says Wernher von Braun 1. https://youtu.be/QEJ9HrZq7Ro?t=14
	▲	pudgywalsh 16 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Good info Walter, but I wasn't trying to get too deep. Point is to not judge a book by its cover.
	▲	WalterBright 14 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Another interesting factoid about the V2 program is it accelerated the collapse of the Reich. How can that be, you might ask? The V2 program was an incredibly expensive program, and sucked up enormous resources. But the V2 proved to be an inconsequential weapon, and did very little damage, because its guidance system was primitive. The V1, ironically, was effective. Not because it wreaked critical damage on Britain, but because it was cheap to build and deploy, and the British spent a great deal of resources trying to stop it. It reminds me of the current drone warfare. Hitler also demanded that it be used to attack London, blowing up civilian homes, when it would have been much more effective attacking the staging areas for D-Day.
	▲	486sx33 16 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		[dead]

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qarl2 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You're conflating politics and ethics.

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adastra22 17 hours ago | parent [-]

Von Braun used the Nazi war machine to make his rockets. Musk ran DOGE. They’re both political figures by their own choices.

	▲	qarl2 16 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The important factor isn't politics. It's ethics. Saying it's about politics is obfuscation.
	▲	feshbach 16 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		[dead]

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jaybrendansmith 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Perhaps it takes a Nazi to make a good rocket?

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mlindner 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

You're implying that von Braun was still a nazi when he was working in the US (he wasn't) and you imply that Elon Musk is a nazi in the first place when he's done nothing to indicate that.

	▲	qarl2 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> nothing Heh.