Ernest Schwiebert on ballistic missile development: “The hurdle… was not a sound barrier, or a thermal barrier, but rather a mental barrier, which is really the only type that man is ever confronted with anyway.” (via Rescuing Prometheus)
Poignant if not literally true!
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The Air Force saw itself as “about" daring pilots, planes in combat—the officers were almost all former pilots. Atlas was in part about a shift from pilots and battlefield strategy to scientists, engineers, and analysts.
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Got it thanks to your hearty recommendation! 👌
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Denying the truth of it might count as a mental barrier. Hardly scientific, but statements of faith are non-falsifiable by definition.
A goal to build missiles is a bit of a mental barrier, if there are other ways to achieve peace and prevent war.