All the things you’re talking about makes perfect sense. They should have followed up with bold progress in space (ie., a moon base, or Zubrin’s Mars ideas). One thing you saw was how they killed the DC-X, which was an SSTO which could land vertically and take off vertically. But they killed it because it allowed for a Moon landing, and politicians have no vision. The same thing goes with the prohibition of cryogenic fuels stored in space or nuclear rockets - cold war, reactionary hairless ape thinking. I appreciate the work you did, but the political force was not there to make you successful - nothing personal I promise.
Thank you, I will still be doing that work for a few more months.
But now I am off to laugh and cry and have a cocktail or two with my friends that are leaving.