Apollo Project
The Apollo project as well as the goal of manned space flight to the moon was a rare government project that finished the goal ahead of schedule and under budget. Learning how to get to the moon produced many positive spinoffs that helped make things from teflon to micro electronics.
After Apollo 11 returned to earth is when the debate about spending money for better causes began. People lost interest in space exploration even while the technology made great gains in their lives.
The shuttle program was not ambitious enough. It was a big difference in building the international space station in low earth orbit as well as launching many satellites including the Hubble telescope. Compared to the first 10 years of space exploration, the last 30 years was quite timid. A new space vehicle could have been designed 15 to 20 years ago to replace the shuttles and be in use now.
It is sad that the shuttles are going to be turned into museum pieces like the last Saturn V rocket was turned into a lawn ornament.
