I guess its really trivial to point this out which is why it isn't being said, but they did send rovers to the Mars, and they kept the ISS manned with the shuttle program, all the while under orders to move away from manned missions.

This isn't a comprehensive list by any means.

~~Also - the cold war ended, the symbols are now eroding.~~

NASA does not get 10 billion a year just to explore the moon. They had and have other priorities. Why would they develop a new-and-improved shuttle when space exploration was basically canceled?

Because NASA has no incentive to become more efficient. When you are a national organization the incentive is to keep your budget as high as possible and spend as much as you can to prove that you need the money, every year. That is precisely why such businesses are ripe for disruption, because they were never built for achieving a lot while spending less. If we ever see Space Tourism develop, it will not be through NASA operations, that is for sure.