Hey Bob,
As a student of physics and astrophysics, I feel for you. I too grew (and am still, to an extent, growing) up with Captains Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Archer, Kirk (again), Hari Seldon, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, and would love to venture forth into the final frontier within my lifetime. Part of the problem is that the scientific community as a whole doesn't see much worth in it. The conception and experimentation of General Relativity, Hawking radiation, Standard Model, and even the principles that allowed us to launch the rockets and shuttles were all carried through to their logical conclusion (or at least their practical conclusion) on Earth or without much human intervention in space. Most of the enlightening data doesn't need human involvement to be gathered, here or in space. To be honest, it never really was pertinent to have humans venture forth scientifically speaking. It was mostly a PR/nationalism campaign, an attempt to get our parents to embrace America and embrace science. Perhaps fortunately, the PR of the scientifically community today (as weak as it is) is more focused on the wonder of science and the world that rational reasoning can provide. That, I believe, is a more accurate and secure way of bringing science to the public in lieu of instilling delusions of becoming an astronaut.
The more pressing problem is that American society's interest in science has waned heavily. Without an intellectual foe for us to fear and conquer and with trivial inconsequences like physical attractiveness, wealth, and fame being our incentives, we really have no interest in pursuing scientific endeavors. Perhaps it has always been like this (the nerd stereotype has existed for a while and is still, on the whole, accepted) and we were momentarily relieved of it, or perhaps it is a new phenomenon. It is a problem, however, and I personally would like to hear your take on this similar-yet-more-general topic next week. Anyway, done pontificating.