Nice post
As a child of the 70s, tv was about 6 o clock news (Vietnam), football, angry men in donkey jackets, Top of the Pops - and being glued to the set whenever something about space came on.
Obviously it seemed inevitable it would continue, and even accelerate.
Then the Shuttle came along - 80s seemed exciting!!! Except people were already complaining that deep space programmes were being cut.
I was due to sit a final exam at school when Challenger happened. I was at home watching the launch. I was in shock for days I think.
At the time I was beginning to hang out at a sci fi society that was frequented by astronomers, engineers, writers etc.
At first I was astonished and angry that some with a foothold in the British "space" lobby were against manned missions.
It didn't take long for me to realise that sending squishy meat-sacks into space to do science was rarely the most efficient option. To
I was lucky enough to meet the HOTOL lot in the late 80s.I continue to wish them luck!
Rockets are fun to watch, but it appears they can never be safe to the margins I consider acceptable for adding human payload.
Ram/scram jets - possible.
Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk are the "privateers" that hopefully can advance things.
For me the only thing that would really excite me is a space elevator. I don't think we are far away at a material science level to at least try....I've even considered starting the world's most ambitious KickStarter.
If enough of us in the top 10% of the world's wealth distribution contributed 1k a year over 15 years, I honestly think that by the early 2030s we'd be listening to Aerosmith "love in an elevator"...in an elevator with the most spectacular view imaginable.
The allure of the zero-g club will probably have worn off by then though
(I can but dream!)