Too Far, Too Fast III

<p data-rte-fromparser="true">[3rd excerpt from Commercialization of the Space Program, J.V. Edwards, PhD] 
</p><p data-rte-fromparser="true" data-rte-empty-lines-before="1">The Reagan Era signaled the end of government's strong support for the Space Race. Space now belonged to only the interested few - those who could afford it. Historians argued that had Reagan pushed for a military justification (and with the right marketing), then perhaps the space program might have survived. However, without a significant threat to the <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22U.S.%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22United%20States%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Afalse%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BUnited%20States%7CU.S.%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="61196-1764748411592ac717a4f4b" href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">U.S.</a>, there seemed little incentive. Our only other competitor, the <a data-rte-meta="%7B%22type%22%3A%22internal%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22Soviet%20Union%22%2C%22link%22%3A%22Soviet%20Union%22%2C%22wasblank%22%3Atrue%2C%22noforce%22%3Atrue%2C%22wikitext%22%3A%22%5B%5BSoviet%20Union%5D%5D%22%7D" data-rte-instance="61196-1764748411592ac717a4f4b" href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>, had already showed the danger of reaching too far, too fast.
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