Well said.
Pretending space exploration is purely a scientific endeavor, is at best sophistry, and at worst, disingenuous rhetoric. It reminds me very much of the squabbling over ‘Mars vs Moon’ missions.
Both arguments share a very narrow, unrealistic “either or” world view, as if only one vision should prevail, in other words, a pissing match. I suppose if that’s one’s favorite intellectual pursuit, then...good luck with that.
Regardless, missions to LEO, Moon, Mars, and beyond, human crewed, and robotic, will go forth, and at some juncture, coalesce into one infrastructure. Everyone here knows the many forces propelling this inevitable outcome. From the perspective of an individual, who wants to see the U.S. dramatically increase it’s efforts towards that outcome, I focus on just two: (Not necessarily in order of importance)
[1] The simple human drive to explore, like it or not, I’m afraid it will be with us for quite a long time, and should not be underestimated.
[2] The resuscitation of the U.S. technological engine.
The focus on the U.S. is not meant to exclude any other nation(s), it just reflects who, and what I am. I hope Russia, ESA, and the PRC pursue the same goals to the fullest extent they are able..
As inevitable as I believe the eventual outcome is, the time required could be centuries, or decades. The “match” contributes only to prolong this effort.