I wonder how much of that also has to do with the cold war having lead to wasteful prestige and/or brute force projects. We really badly needed the SR-71. Space

I wonder how much of that also has to do with the cold war having lead to wasteful prestige and/or brute force projects. We really badly needed the SR-71. Space projects were often more about prestige and doing better than the enemy than scientific or economic value creation.