Is it really necessary to send humans to those places just to get the knock-on benefits? Couldn’t we do those things directly, without going there?
It seems to me that, today, those who have the money to spend on these endeavors would only do so if there were perceived short-term benefits to themselves. That means they plan to exploit the resources, or increase their own power somehow.
I know the good engineers that make this happen are doing it for the challenge and in the pursuit of knowledge, and I know that’s why we poors support it, but that doesn’t “pay the bills.” What is the motivation behind the money? Why are they really doing this?
Mars talk is a red herring to attract bright young employees. Once they’re hired, they work on drenching the sky with low orbit Earth satellites. That’s what Starship is really for. The same with kids wanting to be peaceful astronauts ending up as fighter pilots killing people for oil.