My opinion (and we all have those along with a particular orifice. . . ) is that NASA has been legislated into the jobs program that it is and also, since it is (or should be) a huge pride for the US, when things go wrong, there is lots of oversight. Somehow during the early days of NASA (NACA, Air Force development etc.) it was fine for the Gus Grissoms and Chuck Yeagers (and many others) to put their life on the line each time they were doing development to move the ball forward. In reality, I think the Shuttle program was realistically the same, but somehow it was supposed to be safer and when people lost their lives, it was a tragedy for sure, but the risks were very real.
I don't mean to sound callous, but if a person is going to fly into space, to the moon or to Mars, they are very aware of the risks and the population of our country should also be aware and when things go wrong, good people die. Politics, oversight by committees who know nothing about the technical challenges and budgets made by people who are focused on their own agenda vs. the good of the national benefits of space have ruined NASA and will eventually ruin commercial manned space travel as well. The first time SpaceX or Blue Origin or any other player that can fly humans has a catastrophe that results in lives lost, there will be oversight that cripples further progress, IMO. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I truly believe that will happen and it is bad, as there are people who choose to take unreasonable risks to move the ball forward. By hamstringing programs with too much oversight by unqualified people making decisions based on politics or their own agenda, all of the sacrifices of the good men and women who have taken the risks and paid the price are diminished. To truely honor those who have lost their lives in advancing the space program, we need qualified people guiding the ship with qualified people performing the work, both with a passion for success and safety, but not worried about covering their orifice or getting re-elected.
As far as SLS goes, I doubt many of the people involved would have suggested it was the right path forward, but they were likely doing their best when given bad direction. The problem starts at the top, not the bottom.
Sandy.