I too was at high school during A17 - it was daytime here but as a pupil I was forced to go to classes. I still remember the science teacher watching the broadcasts on the school TV - we were not invited ..

From what you said about STS95 and John Glenn it seems the human interest is what the public wants: historic first landing on the moon, the drama of Apollo 13, first shuttle launch, Glenn's flight, and now the Discovery flight following Columbia. The common thread here is to be some new undertaking with big risks; even with Glenn's flight there were risks due to his age. Based on that a Mars mission really would grip public interest in a huge way ...