Doing something because it's difficult makes no sense

Reading JFK's speech about America's goal to reach the moon by the end of the decade struck me as being very strange and made the whole notion of exploring the moon to be very pointless. One paragraph really made me question the utility of putting a man on the moon,

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do the other things -- not because they
are easy; but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure
the best of our energies and skills; because that challenge is one that we're willing to
accept; one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win -- and the others,
too."

Later JFK continues to talk about all the utile uses of satellites to guide ships and track weather systems. Yet the justification for going to the moon is because it is a challenge and a difficult goal to accomplish? There are a number of actions a country can embark upon that are difficult. Because they are difficult does not mean it is necessarily useful to pursue them. This has caused me to question what the purpose of going to the moon was, what positive contributions did going to the moon bring to society that could not have been achieved by increasing funding for better satellites. Specifically, what use did going to the moon have? I sincerely question the motives and the outcomes of going to the moon at this point. Maybe later in the reading some questions will be answered.