I'd find it interesting to be part of the team that goes to Mars. Because we are probably going to be on a mission by the time we go visit. The idea of terraforming is gaining promise the more we study the red planet. We know how to do it, just need the proper equipment to get there in the safest manner.
I don't know how space doesn't interest people. Perhaps they lose perspective, lost in their daily drama, forget that we're already in space, on a tiny little rock, the only one we've found with life, evolved over billions of years...