This paper discusses why the American space
program was worth the cost. It presents a retrospective history of the program
with regards to its impact on the U.S. economy and way of life. It shows how the 1969 trip to the moon allowed many new
technologies, which would normally take decades of development to be refined in the private sector, to crystallize in mere years. Technologies like cell phones, TV, the Internet, and many others got their start during the American 'space race'.