The thread below, which has a lot of good posts in it, basically distills down to: where do we go in space, and how do we convince the government to do it?

I used to follow the L-5 Society back since it was started in 1975. Taking its inspiration from Gerard O'Neill's amazing space colony concepts, the organization began a long, futile attempt to try and influence the government--the only route they could comprehend--to open space up in a big way.

For a quarter of a century they have been hammering at this, with little success, with the sterling exception of their successful efforts to squelch the socialist Moon Treaty. Those of us who were convinced that the private sector would have to find a profitable reason to go into space made very little headway in such organizations.

And now the arguments are the same. Everyone has their own Great Idea to Bring Space To All Mankind, and everyone needs NASA to do it for them. NASA is a government bureaucracy, and while there are some marvelous and talented people working there, one has to remember that a government bureaucracy has but one overriding function: to make sure it exists twenty years from now, with a larger budget. Period. Everything else is pretty low on the agenda. The fact that NASA is actually many bureacracies tied together makes it more complicated, but doesn't change the big picture.

The hard truth is that although there are many individuals and groups within NASA who would love to see a major thrust into space, the agency as a whole has really nothing to gain by it.

So, the question you need to ask yourself is:

If NASA vanished tomorrow morning, what could we do to get people into space and explore the Solar System?

If your mind goes blank, and you say, "nothing. It would be impossible," well, okay. Keep up with the current program, but as the Man In Black once said, "get used to disappointment."

Now, if you have other ideas...then we might start getting somewhere. It won't be easy. Believe me, I know--I've been at it for thirty years. But the technology is getting better, and cheaper. A few outfits like Rotary Rocket, Mircorp, Beal and others have made a pretty good run at it, and other outfits are still running. Something may come entirely out of left field. But one thing is sure:

We need to do it ourselves.