I was just reading this today, first part deals with this subject &gt; <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;waitbutwhy.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;08&#x2F;how-and-why-spacex-will-colonize-mars.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;waitbutwhy.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;08&#x2F;how-and-why-spacex-will-coloni...</a><p>I asked the same question of an old engineer at Kennedy Space center who was talking about the Saturn rockets to a (small) group of people (most just wanted take photos and cared little for history). He was quite blunt in his response, 
&quot;We were doing great but then someone higher up decided that we won the manhood measuring contest and its better to spend public funds on bombing some poor souls in paddy fields half a world away...&quot;