[SteveMcKing]

We could have explored half the solar system by now, if not for the imagined need to produce retired astronaughts who travel the country telling school kids about their heroic achievement of breeding worms in zero-gravity.

Kids need inspiration, I guess... as in melodrama.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Astronauts build space stations, deploy space telescopes and probes to other worlds too. They spacewalk as well and have rescued Hubble more then once. They ride the fire into orbit and come back home at Mach 24. I would trade places with them on launch day in a New York minute.
It still fuels passion in people. Very much so.

[Mulder]

We could have explored half the solar system by now, if not for the imagined need to produce retired astronaughts who travel the country telling school kids about their heroic achievement of breeding worms in zero-gravity.

Or if they put more priority on real science instead of putting the first amputee midget porn star from turdworldistan into space.