American Veteran
Such commitment to expand the space program came from the Cold War. The conflict between the Soviet Union and the US was a clash of ideas that sometimes spilled into the battlefield. For example, Aldrin was a fighter pilot in the Korean War, flying in 66 missions and taking out two MiG jets.
Losing the Race
The Space Race was another issue. When Kennedy announced his intention to have Americans on the moon, the Soviets had already stolen some of the space exploration marches twice. Clearly, the US was lagging and hadn’t made as many advancements.