My point is that NASA invariably dumps better long term lower cost or better long term utility solutions for low development costs. Why? Since they're a govt institution and not a business that must later live with their short sighted and wrong decisions, they have zero incentive to design it right initially, q.v. the camel known as the Shuttle. Now we're seeing the entire 'Return To The Moon' approach having high RECURRING cost designed in right at the start. Expensive sea recovery for every flight, corrosive seawater damage to every CEV, high maintenance and safety cost corrosive hypergolic fuels, with no forward prospect of being obtained via space resources. Those are the big ones we know about. doubtless there are myriad others. Operating costs are a non-issue for NASA.

Compare the state of crewed spaceflight today vs. the Lunar Landing and SkyLab era. Pathetic, especially given close to 40 years of spending at close to $15,000,000,000 per year. OK, much of that was for unmanned where they've done good, but you get the point.