If I can jump in here..
I am a space fanatic! I even have a collection of space artifacts that I am very proud of.
The problem is NASA.
NASA, I believe, has lost its way. The issue is that they have no incentive to accomplish anything. There is no "Before this decade is out". There is no "keep up with the Russians". Without any hard, concrete goals, NASA has floundered.
Consider the following..
- The space shuttle was retired in 2011. That means that America, once the leader in space technology, has not had a manned space program in seven years!! We bow to the Russians whenever we are desperate for a ride.
- The SLS system was preceded by the Constellation program that was to get us back to the moon. This project was active from 2005 to 2010 until Obama terminated the project. That is five years and countless dollars spent on a program cancelled due to a lack of commitment (aka funding).
- Now we have the SLS project, which began in 2010 is supposed to build on the work of the Constellation project.
- Just recently (surprise, surprise) NASA announced that the first launch date is being slipped to 2019. I can guarantee that the date will slip several more times. Keep in mind that NASA has no concrete, tangible goals, No "before this decade is out", No "Let's beat those Russians. What incentive is there? Let the date slip? Don't let the date slip? what does it really matter to NASA.
so..
We have not had a manned space program in 7 years and have been working on getting a space shuttle replacement for over the last 13 years, with no actual working hardware to show for it.
To put this into perspective, Apollo took just seven years to design, build and have a manned launch. That is seven years during a time when a slide rule was the main computer for engineers.
Nixon proposed the Space Shuttle in 1972 and the first launch was in 1981. That is 11 years from setting the goal to a manned mission for the shuttle. It took 11 years without todays advanced computer design capabilities. This was when a home computer was a very new concept.
The SLS will take a doubtful 15 years before it's first manned mission. This is for what is essentially the same technology developed for Apollo, only bigger and more powerful.
This is why we need people like Elon Musk and companies like Spacex. Coming from the private sector, they can remain goal oriented, focused, and economical. I honestly believe that privatization is the only effective way for America to reclaim its place as a spacefaring nation.