Times have changed, and America has changed, if we were the way we are today back then then we never would have put a man on the moon, and as a nation we were desperate to put a man on the moon before the Russians, not only did we want to put a man on the moon, but we wanted to do it before the Russians. Now, no one would even care. And Elon Musk is not a real American, he is South African. People are not going to rally behind Elon Musk the same way that people rallied behind John F. Kennedy.
Our Space Program was great at one time. I look at pictures of our old astronauts from our space program and it makes me proud, those were good wholesome heroes who the kids could have as role models.
I had a step dad who was a supervisor on the Space Shuttle Program, he was an abusive asshole, but it was great to be around all of the people from the Shuttle Program, and to get to go spend time in Cape Canaveral in Florida, it was great. Our Shuttle program was fun, and it made me proud as an American.
But there is no pride anymore, and no one gives a shit about Elon Musk.
I guess we are entering a world where we can do space projects as an international team of scientists, etc, and it does not need to be a source of National Pride like when we sent men to the moon. We can work together as a team with the Chinese and others to put men on Mars, etc. And I do not like Elon Musk, and he is not an American, but it does not matter anymore, times have changed, and the space program is no longer about being a source of National Pride.
Salute,
Tony V.