Space haters vs. Space lovers.
Space lovers, in contrast, are a hopeful lot. They seek to conquer space for sheer glory’s sake. And space-o-philes don’t just crave evidence of life; they intend the colonization of space to remake human society. Space lovers even expect to save the world — by giving humans a new home in case a stray asteroid, or ecological disaster, threaten Earth. Dreams like this keep the space lovers going.
I’m all for killing big government, but dang it, I want my rocket pack. I want to live on the moon. I’d love to visit Mars. If private enterprise won’t get me there, then I’ll get a ride from NASA.
Not So Fast 
Well, the gov’t only has to invest the capital in it until it becomes a viable commercial undertaking. We’re in between the “discovery” phase where scientists will do it “for free” just for glory’s sake but not quite to the “profit” stage where companies will take over the R&D. As they say on slashdot:
1. Fly to the moon
2. ???
3. Profit!