[M_Grey]

I think that's a little sad, because it implicitly gives up on the notion of real progress in favor of PR and imagination. I'm excited about SpaceX, but not because of their "Mars Colony" PR. I don't think the situation is so dire that we need to suspend our skepticism and become mindless cheerleaders in the name of "dreams".

[kitsunesoba]

It's definitely a good idea to keep expectations grounded, but at the same time there's no reason why the current mind-numbingly slow crawl that space travel has come to should be taken as some kind of rule or requirement or inevitability. Musk's timeframes are overwhelmingly optimistic at best, but the current pace of development is also unacceptably slow.

[M_Grey]

...And when people realize that this was PR and hype, you think there won't be a cynical backlash?

[aptwebapps]

I think that's a bit of a false dichotomy. I don't think some portion of the public being swayed by PR is going to stop SpaceX (or other entities) from making real progress. Musk is definitely not giving up on that notion.

If you just mean that it's sad that people need this kind of hyperbole to get excited about space, well, different strokes for different folks. You don't need it, they do.

[M_Grey]

The thing about false hope, is that it doesn't last, and in its wake you get cynicism and apathy. In the long run, lying to gin up excitement backfires.

[pm]

Agreed, what's required is solid discourse, to fill in the endless details of a plan that will no doubt take longer than expected. However, the broad strokes are there, the goals have been set, and action is being taken. This is what makes me excited - not SpaceX, not Elon Musk, but that someone is trying to make commonplace space travel in my lifetime a possibility.