In 1961 a Gallup poll showed only 33% of Americans in favor of moon landing
One thing the article <i>doesn't</i> cover is that whilst the pessimists had a point about the moon landing itself not achieving very much except some prestige and cool pictures[1] considering the proportion of US national income spent, the Apollo program ended up generating an enormous number of inventions later used in everyday life, from freeze dried food to flight computers, and other tech that could only have come out of a space program like satellites are an essential part of the functioning of the modern world. Estimates suggest the ROI wasn't just non-negative, it was hugely positive (NASA claims $7 for every $1 spent)<p>That was more evident in 1989 than when people were wondering whether it was a massive waste of money in 1969, and certainly than in 1959<p>[1]the sci-fi optimists' predictions of it leading to permanent colonies and starships within a generation or two have aged worse.