Why has no other country put a man on the moon?

[septimus]

This thread tends to confirm what I wrote here almost three years ago.

@septimus

Even today, there may be Americans who think the Apollo Program was a waste of money… At the time it struck many people [including Eisenhower] as absurd. The project to land a man on the Moon is considered one of the biggest and most expensive programs ever undertaken by the United States: among single efforts, only the Panama Canal and the Manhattan Project are comparable, and they had clear economic or military purpose.

The budget estimated for the effort was equivalent to about 800 Billion Dollars in present-day federal spending … and there was no guarantee of success.

Man would probably not have set foot on the Moon to this day without John F. Kennedy’s determination and charisma. Certainly such a thing is inconceivable in today’s political clime. The political hurdles were as difficult as the technical hurdles.

Kennedy was surprised he was able to develop support for the project, was himself overwhelmed by the expense and difficulties, and actually tried to backpedal out of the project.…