It's true launching somebody a large portion of mankind (the youth) recognizes as one of them, is a way to attract their attention towards space.
This is punctual, however (and might not even be happening in the next few months) and the enthusiasm won't last very long.
I'm old enough to rmember the entire Apollo era, but too young to associate it with the cold war and the Soviet threat. I was just amazed it would happen.
Or perhaps now, am amazed it doesn't happen like it used to.
If the purposes change so much, it's no wonder we can't go very far.
But in a way, we do and much further than we did, at the time. But only with machines.
Perhaps our appreciation towards them will also change.

Raoul