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For all that people are having a go at Branson and Bezos's dick-measuring contest, let's not forget that the original "space race" was to a large extent a dick-measuring contest between the USA and USSR. Yeah, there's been quite a bit of interesting science that came out of it, but let's not delude ourselves into thinking that it was all, or even primarily, about lofty scientific goals.

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It was as much about science as Napoleon's invasion of Egypt was. Sure, plenty of very important science happened. But that is not why Napoleon did it. The legacy of that invasion however is remembered in the West pretty much only for the breakthroughs in our understanding of history that followed it.

It wasn't. The main purpose of the original space race was to develop capabilities to put satellites in orbit and to be able to deliver nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles, which both countries considered (rightly or wrongly) to be existential necessities.

Being a logical course of action and being a dick measuring contest aren't mutually exclusive. There was certainly lots of national pride and patriotism involved, in addition to it being a tactical necessity.

> Being a logical course of action and being a dick measuring contest aren't mutually exclusive.

They are by definition.

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