I don't know. If you had told me when I was watching Neal Armstrong step on to the lunar surface that we send missions there until 1973 and after that by 2007 we would not have returned even once, I'd have asked what you were smoking.
We live in a nation whose media scorns heroes. When is the last time you saw a national story on the valor of one of our soldiers? The same media looks for phantom evils in the actions of our government and industry. The focus of today's media, news and entertainment are the so called victims. Not of crime or terror, but of their own gov't and business.
A new mission to Space will require a clarion call to rally America behind the heroes who wll plan, build, and carrry out the mission. If JFK had one skill it was to push the right rhetorical button and catch the people's imagination to do something great. Who will do that now?
The problem is to identify the modern heroes. Professional sports furnished heroes for a while, but their image is failing lately. Dot.com industry furnished heroes for a while, but they didn't hold up long. The heroes appear to be politicians, some politicians. Yet, what have these heroes done? Hillary!08? Obama? Diana? Bono?