President Kennedy picked the goal of landing a man on the Moon because the Soviets had already handily beaten the US at everything else. The US in the space ra

President Kennedy picked the goal of landing a man on the Moon because the Soviets had already handily beaten the US at everything else. The US in the space race was like that meme of a guy standing in last place on the awards podium, bathing himself in champagne. I also wouldn't necessarily discount the effect of losing someone like Korolev to the Russian space program. From what I understand, the Russians were so hamstrung by bureaucracy and politics that the loss of someone actually competent in a position of power could very well have devastated the future of the program. Look at the debacle that was the Vanguard project in the US, for instance, which was mostly the result of ruthless cost-cutting from higher ups who considered rockets to be a waste of time and money for any purpose other than delivering nuclear weapons. In a more centralized system like the USSR, the damage caused by political meddling can be more difficult to mitigate, I think.