@ Cecilia
It's not government agencies that will push humanity into space, but the opportunities available to private business which will provide both the necessary investment and the incentive for the human race to make the necessary steps IMHO.
The missions to the moon fascinated me as a kid, my childhood heros were people like Neil Armstrong and Alan Shepherd. It was the defining moment in 20th Century, where something amazing was achieved for the greater good of humanity and it enriched our culture as a result.
However, the moon missions were totally at the mercy of political will, which is why we haven't returned in thirty two years. When / if we do return and colonize the moon, it will be because there is profit to be made in doing so. Spaceship One was a private venture that netted ten million dollars in prize money, which must surely be a fraction of the total cost of development. You can be sure that the technologies pioneered in Spaceship One will be utilized elsewhere in order to help pay for development costs...
