The failures that threaten are survival are not failures of science as such. They are failures of vision and courage.

Not enough foresight and vision to commit sufficient resources to the projects and programmes. At least ten or twenty times the money, time and personnel should have been put in, but far more was wasted on military spending.

Not enoughg courage to defy the fossil fuel industry which to this day is still doing everythig it can to maintain our dependence on oil, gas and coal.

Too cowardly to embrace the necessary risks. Since 1961, only 19 people are known to have died in acidents related to space travel, and only four of those actually died in space. How many died at sea, exploring the world centuries ago? Drake left England with five ships and 170 men. He returned two years later with one ship and 59 men, having circumnavigated the globe and bringing back a fortune in loot and spices. Blood, as Kipling said, is the price of admiralty. The reluctance to risk and lose lives has held us back since the middle of the last century. Exploration of Mars by robots will teach us nothing beneficial. The only way to learn is sending crew after crew, mourning the dead while choosing the next, until we put boots on the ground.

That's what young men are for. To die like flies doing difficult, dangerous shit!