Shakran hit the nail on the head there with all of that.
It'll start off as rich people going for rides and it will grow from there. It's the same kind of idea as when NASA first went to the moon. All the technology they ended up with and the advancments that were made while trying to get to the moon ended up benifiting society as a whole. I think the same kind of thing will happen with this and with the quest to go to Mars.
I do believe that Shakran is right about the private sector being key to faster, cheaper and safer space travel though.
