NASA should not get in the space gas station business, nor the lunar mining business, any more than NASA should be in the airline business.

NASA does have some involvement in the airline business. It's just not trying to run a commercial airline.

If business- people doing something in space [as contrasted to a "space program"] is not something which is going to occur, there isn't much reason why the govt should be spending tax dollars on any space activity.

I mean, if you could *actually* rule out this possibility occuring in the future.

Though of course at the moment, business is involved in space. But if there wasn't such commercial interest in space- the communication satellites, etc- it would be doubtful that the present NASA budget could be funded.

Imagine a world in which all we did was sent a man to the Moon, and we didn't have this global communication network so dependent upon space.

If all we had going in space was whatever NASA or other govt space agency did.

In such a world, NASA budget would probably be similar to SETI govt funding.