[gfodor]

You wrote a lot but I think you answered my question: "we could be a little behind."

I'd argue that we would likely be a lot behind. Advancements don't just "happen." Progress can be lost, windows of opportunity can be closed, and risk can be avoided. I'd argue there's a good chance we'd have never gotten re-usable rockets if it wasn't for Musk's (at the time, foolish) risk taking with his personal funds to keep SpaceX solvent. Everyone at the time said it couldn't be done, if you recall, and in that kind of world, nobody is "doing the work." It's just considered not worth working on. It's out of mind. People allocate resources and time elsewhere. It's too risky anyway. We're in a period of relative peace that may or may not last. So there's a good chance no, we may have never gotten re-usable rockets, if the odds of a risk-taker coming along and giving it a shot comes along one or twice every couple of generations.

Our current space program regressing so far is evidence enough that willpower and human decision-making, not just waiting for people to "do the work", constitute a large part of what causes progress to happen.

And if we ever get to Mars, I'll argue it's even more likely that we would have never gotten to Mars without that risk taking. And who knows what potential futures unlock for humanity if that ever happens that can be traced back to Musk's decisions.

Being thankful that people like Musk are out there taking huge personal risks to advance human progress isn't "hero worship", and it doesn't disparage the work of the thousands of people who have helped achieve the goals. You are arguing with strawmen.