USA was behind in Science and Math. So the federal government dumped massive amounts of money at the high school and college level. Americans so the Cold War heat up in Space. Very far behind.
The first space shuttle had enough capablities to go to Mars.
Mars was the orginal goal!
Moon became the target because USA moved it to so.
Watch Hidden Figures and October Sky for some inspiration.
The things that interested Columbus the most in his first meeting with the Taino, as he himself wrote in his journal, were the abundant possesion of gold that the Taino showed and the inferred knowledge of them of the places where the gold could be found. In his opinion it was worthy to try to convert them to Christianity.
Explanation:
The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, 2 for each state. Until the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, Senators were chosen by state legislatures, not by popular vote. Since then, they have been elected to six-year terms by the people of each state.
