[erikpukinskis]

I wish more space aficionados would admit that it's really about entertainment. SpaceX to Mars is like the world's awesomest reality show. People seem to think it's shameful to admit that something is for entertainment, but I think it's a noble calling to do entertainment well. I think of Elon Musk as a modern day Jacques Cousteau, also a great entertainer.

People always make these super slippery arguments about how space research leads to earth inventions and humans need frontiers to stay mentally healthy, all kinds of strange stories to make space exploration seem like a humanitarian pursuit. I think it's just leftover zeal from the U.S. government story that space exploration was important for the country...

... which it was. We needed to stay up on our rocketry game for national defense reasons.

I feel it just muddies the true rationale for space when you try to make it about something it's not.