While you're exercising... look at how many of those were funded by - and for the exclusive profit of - the State.

You are, of course, correct. And this would have been typical in the times we are talking about, when the State and the private sector--if such a term was even valid--were even more firmly entwined than they are now, and most property was held and distributed as a consequence of heredity and royal privilege. The merchant class definitely played second fiddle in the wealth and power department.

That doesn't change my basic point, that exploration of distant and difficult realms is most often undertaken with the goal of making some money at it. That the beneficiaries were princes, realms and emperors instead of private entrepreneurs is unfortunate, but not really relevant.

British chartered companies were basically statist, operating under exclusive state license without real competition. And the U.S. government paid Lewis and Clark's freight. But still, cash flow was near the top of the list of what was being sought.

The main thing to remember is that if you want to get mankind off its butt and into space, there had better be a way that human beings in space can do something profitable up there.