Lemon Cheesecake The space elevator won't reach the moon (it can't--it requires a geostationary orbit and the moon moves in relation to the earth). Still, it's very cool and will decrease the cost of getting stuff into space by several orders of magnitude.
Balcan that's funny. I got your association to things that advance space travel! Anyway, I think that's more of a footnote in history thing than anything really groundbreaking. (Perhaps a new low in marketing?) For example, look at the movie GRAVITY and other space movies--the camera doesn't care if there's gravity or not, so I don't know what else there is to gain from a screen perspective.
It has been said that porn has driven many technologies. I don't know if it's true and while it's a sad commentary on humans, if it helps us get to Mars and beyond faster, I say Warp 13!