So many people like to argue that we need the government to fund space travel because without the government, it wouldn't happen!  Well, this isn't reality because it's happening now!  Private companies are flying to space and in the very near future we will have commercial flights to outer space. Rocket launches by these private companies are actually tens of millions of dollars cheaper compared to a NASA launch!  And right now, private companies are planning on mining asteroids to extract rare earth metals. This is the beauty of capitalism at work and it doesn't cost the tax payers a dime.