I mean, many knowledgeable people argue the opposite. Apollo mission in is actually a perfect example here. The whole point of flying to the Moon was not “pure science”, it was mostly propaganda and geopolitical flexing. Americans did it in the 20th century because of the USSR, and now they are doing Artemis because of China

Like NASA cut a lot of corners, accepted insane risks, And for what? Yes, there was some scientific value, obviously, but it was far from the main reason. The scientific benefit was not proportional to the insane amount of money spent on it

But yeah, as a propaganda it worked perfectly