I don't know if you noticed, but there is a headline on Yahoo that's entitled,?

"U.S. Dominance in Space Race Slipping."

What's so important about remaining in the lead? Do We The People really need to be spending billions more of our weakening dollar for something that 10% of Americans will never ever see firsthand?

I find this to be very frustrating. Why not just let the other nations have some room? In fact, why are we even trying to colonize space? We already know that it will cost far too much money and take too much longer to ponder than anyone in this lifetime will see. This isn't a stepping stone in evolution, Brother Government. This is humankind's greatest falter. That we think that we MUST put humans in space is the worst idea yet. Why don't we just forget it? I, myself, am tired of helping pay money out of MY pocket for crap like this.