Good post. Certainly not the rock post I was expecting though! :P
I remember when Cassini's mission was over. I felt it was wasteful. We should be out there a lot more than we are now. I think for as much work that NASA does, they don't give enough.
I've played a lot of Elite: Dangerous and other space simulators like No Man's Sky and Empyrion. I would love to be a miner on a galactic expedition some day.