Sonic Barges

You probably haven’t seen on of these have you? This is a Sonic Barge, kid.
Back when it was just a space race between us and The Russians it was all about getting there. That’s all we cared about – who could reach the stars first. And for a while that was enough. But once we got to the moon the shine started to fade. We made it to the finish line but we didn’t know what to do when we got there. Before you know it, no one wanted to pay for frivolous trips to outer space. Gas was might expensive. There had to be a return on investment.
Unfortunately the technology hadn’t caught up to us, so space travel languished for decades.
That’s until the big brains cracked the code. Next thing you know we’re hitting Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. It was a big deal then, but that’s a trip around the block compared to what we can do now. Maybe the biggest difference was the way folks were talking about it. They weren’t talking about the wonder of it. The absolute glory of humanity’s achievement. Nope. They were talking about iron deposits. Hydrogen skimming. Resource harvesting.
Return on investment.
Miners were stationed across the solar system digging up all the treasures the planets could give us. Sonic Barges would leave earth with supplies to keep them alive and working overtime. Once they’d drop off the cargo, the miners would load them up with whatever they were digging up. The Sonic Barge was built to move all that plunder from one rock to another. Our rock.
Economies and infrastructures were built or rebuilt thanks to these ships. Without it there’s no Andalee-9. And certainly no goddamned Grand Lisa. 
Now look at it. Sitting in a graveyard of rust. It doesn't matter how many miles you logged. How many hauls you carried. How far you lead humanity.
In the end your disposable.
Life moves on without you.