re: Technology or human minds
It was more than the leadership in government that took Apollo to the moon: Managing the moon journey. President Kennedy and the moon decision. Click on the memorandum (request) links from Webb and the Secretary of Defense at that last page. It may have been politically driven, but Kennedy would not have agreed if NASA wasn't ready... proved itself for the challenge. Today, it comes down to how fast we want scientific questions answered... in turn, that will be the driving force for the technology (or when the Chinese land on the Moon).