It really depends what your source material is. Anything geared to the masses will site US innovation and competitive spirit. Anything geared to the political/m

It really depends what your source material is. Anything geared to the masses will site US innovation and competitive spirit. Anything geared to the political/military class focuses on how Russian rockets were superior to the US, and that the US had to catch up and surpass the Russians. If you take away the cold war background, many observers seriously doubt that the Americans would have bothered going to the moon. And yes, both countries wanted to beat each other in a game of technological machismo, because they were convinced that the other side was going to be a military aggressor if they didn't. That is something missing from today with China/India, and why I doubt the US would care much if those countries space programs surpassed the US.