Funny, I don't remember it that way....

"Let us not fool ourselves into thinking we went to the Moon because we are pioneers, or discoverers, or adventurers.   We went to the Moon because it was the militaristically expedient thing to do.
-Neil deGrasse Tyson

Tyson was nine years old that July day in 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon.  I was seventeen.  It felt to me that, while competition with the U.S.S.R. was certainly a factor, our main drivers were a lot more idealistic than simple Cold War competition.  I don't care what the historical revisionists come up with, we were pioneers, discoverers and adventurers.   Successful ones at that. And, damn, but it felt good.