My answer
It was a technology race and that was in the hands of engineers. It was the driving force to shape engineering practices in order to take advantage and secure regional stability both militarily and economically. Engineers are always interested in the gap of research and want to fill that for their career boost.
My partner’s answer
According to my partner’s experience, most people decide on their career with the salary. Though most people didn't know much about the cold war. Thus, I believe the cold war ideologies still influence people's ideologies which is much more similar to my answer to some extent.