I’d question even the interest among geeks. Recall the observation that the rationalist or new-atheist community of the early millennium declined just as social

I’d question even the interest among geeks. Recall the observation that the rationalist or new-atheist community of the early millennium declined just as social-justice rhetoric rose: people were shifting their interest en masse from one thing to another. I think geeky Westerners are so focused right now on social and political battle within Earth society that space exploration would draw no more than a "that’s neat" response before the discussion in their bubbles went right back to the usual.