Eli5: why was the US the first to make it to the moon despite the USSR being first in nearly everything else in the Space Race?

Question

Eli5: why was the US the first to make it to the moon despite the USSR being first in nearly everything else in the Space Race?

In: 14546

Answer 1

In 1961 John F. Kennedy picked a goalpost the US could win: “landing a man safely on the moon and returning him to earth safely.” Before that speech, he asked his advisers what the US could be first at. So, part of it was picking the right finish line.

As others here have said, it was due to the US’ ability to develop complex technical things, like guidance, communications and life support systems. The Russians were good at building ICBMs.

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