I guess the story is more complicated than generalizations will allow. It is rarely obvious when decisions made in good faith will come back to haunt you, as with the decision to give the Apollo command module a sturdy hatch that could not be quickly jettisoned. For everyone saying the Shuttle booster 'O' rings were in danger of failing, there was someone saying that they had been fine so far.
In the case of MR-2, was the schedule to have an orbital flight before what turned out to be Gagarin's day of destiny? The response to Glenn's flight leaves little doubt that, in the popular view, it is orbital flight that counts as being 'in space', and the start of the Moon race might have hung on that perception.
In the case of MR-2, was the schedule to have an orbital flight before what turned out to be Gagarin's day of destiny? The response to Glenn's flight leaves little doubt that, in the popular view, it is orbital flight that counts as being 'in space', and the start of the Moon race might have hung on that perception.