I suppose you could count me among "those people" inasmuch as I was about 10 when Sputnik launched.

I'm glad private companies can launch things now, because "Government science" is just way too cautious. As I have said before, 3 accidents in 40 years means more paranoia than exploration. Caution is good. Caution that translates to freezing in place isn't so good. It's too bad that the moon was touched and then abandoned.