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This analysis argues that the Apollo program was a central, contested symbol in the cultural and political wars of the 1960s and 70s. It was simultaneously a symbol of transcendent national ambition and a glaring symbol of misplaced priorities. By examining the critiques from the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war and countercultural left, the feminist challenge to its masculine ideals, and the contentious political debates over its colossal cost, we can see that the journey to the Moon was not a unifying national pilgrimage.