Englishman Tim Berners-Lee?
For reference.
You can not name one specific inventor - radio, television, Internet and cellular phone.
Main scientific achievements of the United States were made by foreign experts (it is not contestable fact). U.S. is the only country that has managed to get rich first and second world wars. Dollar is world currency. Print more. Or the U.S. stocks ended toilet paper? Therefore, when people talk about lack of funding of U.S. programs. This makes me doubt.
The most important achievement is the U.S. "victory" in the lunar race (until now, many people argue about the reality of the event).
The Soviet Union launched the first satellite and man into space. Causing these actions impact on American prestige. Americans had to recoup. All landing on the moon was a huge PR company.
1. Competition between the two empires. Really was not any competition. U.S. 90% competed with itself. In the Soviet Union to the lunar program allocates at least a day (the main customer of space industry has been the defense establishment. For military priority is to deliver warheads to the United States. After the Second World War the USSR had to rebuild the economy. USSR Moon program was unable to get the real substantial funding.
2. The Western press landing American astronauts being touted as a remarkable achievement. At the same time silenced achievements of the USSR in lunar exploration.
Russian lunar rover (becoming the progenitor of such systems) for the minimum money spent of research and delivered, so to lunar soil to earth. Virtually the USSR made no less significant contribution to the study of the moon. Very often in the west tend to avoid publicity of the facts that they do not like.