And if God wanted man to fly, He would have given him wings.</bitter sarcasm>
Manned space flight is the collective future and collective dream of humanity. Would that we were all forced to view Earthrise for some perspective on the insignificance of all of our petty concerns. Manned space flight *transcends*.
I understand your point, though I think "space exploitation" might actually involve transporting people across space. Manned space flight could serve as a preparation for that.
Manned space flight is an anachronism. It impedes space exploration and exploitation.Eventually we're going to want to start settling on other planets, outside the solar system even. Neither the Earth nor the Sun are going to last forever, but humanity can outlast both if we keep space exploration going.
-Eric