[Ileca]

There was a lot of "great times" if we are talking about tech development. It was also a great time to board a locomotive at the beginning of the XIX century. Then, I think a great time not too abstract would be to actually go to Mars more than looking at pictures.

[brianpgordon]

For now I think of manned space exploration as a vanity. It's so ludicrously expensive compared to robotic exploration that, in my mind, it's impossible to justify. It's just "cool."

Eventually we'll need manned spaceflight to escape this rock, but we have more pressing concerns at the moment.