I see others have already given the answers I wanted to give to this. I can only add that this view is remarkably myopic and misses or ignores the undeniable value and contribution to the well being of society that comes from science. The technologies that have come from the space program have improved lives around the world.

If we all had to care only about the same things and spend all the money in the world in the same place we’d still be back in the stone ages and we’d not only have homelessness and ill-health but we’d still be dealing with slavery on a massive scale and all the other problems that came with a lack of the knowledge brought by science.

If the space program is ‘the dream of boys’ then thank God some of us value the dreams of our children.