PRX offers an interesting documentary examining the history behind the decision of the U.S. Government to land an astronaut on the moon and bring him home safely in the 1960s.

In 1969, humans landed on the Moon. But why? Why did we go? Look at anything with the perspective of decades and it can seem inevitable. How often do we ever stop, look the things around us and ask: How did it get that way? When it comes to the question: Why did we go to the Moon, the answer has a little bit to do with science and a lot to do with politics. In this program we learn how the Democrats rode Sputnik to the White House in a campaign that forever changed science, technology and academia in America.