Civilian space programs were glorified cover stories for ICBM programs. The Apollo program was announced at a time when a lot of things had gone wrong, e.g. Ba

Civilian space programs were glorified cover stories for ICBM programs. The Apollo program was announced at a time when a lot of things had gone wrong, e.g. Bay of Pigs, so it was a political easy win. Satellites were needed because those pesky Russians could shoot down the spy planes. All the good peace loving stuff was facilitated by the Cold War imperative. The war was the main meal, peaceful things were garnish. In some parallel peace loving alternative universe there are no countries or wars and the surplus capital is spent on space exploration. Sadly that is not our world. However, had we not spent all our silver on wars then we would have had the resources to get to Mars. The tech aspect of navigation and landing was achieved on the moon. You also have to remember people got bored of space after a while. This audience wasn't regained until a generation later with early Shuttle launches. SpaceX launches are equally lucky to have a fresh audience in a new generation to be wowed. Interest wanes, politics is politics, resources get spent on war first, however, I don't question our collective ability to have got to Mars in the 1960's had we wished to.