Someone asked a NASA administrator why we beat the Russians to the moon.
And he said "Because our Germans are better than their Germans".
Although the thing that made it all possible was the liquid fueled rocket, invented in Worcester, Massachusetts by Robert Goddard, WPI, class of '08.

During WWI, Goddard submitted plans for a shoulder held, tube launched rocket, to the War Department.
He received a nice letter saying they had reviewed his idea, and concluded that it was of no military value.
During his career Goddard was unable to get the War Department interested in rockets or jet engines. He was ridiculed for his efforts. He died in 1945.