re: A goal
NASA succeeded in the Moon landings because it was a highly centralized organization with a specific goal.
The Soviets failed to land cosmonauts on the Moon because they had two programs competing against each other for the same goal.
It doesn't mean it's going to be like that all the time, but it does mean that some projects have such a scale in their goal, that an entire nation must sometimes unite to achieve it.
Raoul