Seeing as how I quoted that part of the report, it can hardly be said that I overlooked it. My quote ends with that text because because it marked the end of the most relevant material I wanted to use; the quote had special significance to me because of that.

To put my point another way, any time we declare one goal, there's an unconscious assumption that we're excluding other goals. The human mind prefers tunnel vision because it simplifies our mental model of the world and saves energy.

At the start of the 60s, NASA's thinking was based on von Braun's vision of an integrated space program based on going to the Moon and then Mars, and building a space station; and an array of vehicles to support the plan. But it's hard to dispute that when Kennedy chose to focus on the Moon, he excluded a space station right away, and postponed Mars from our consideration. Our plan became fragile, therefore, and sure enough, when people lost interest in the Moon, plans for a space station (beyond Skylab, already under development) and Mars were put on the shelf indefinitely.

That's why late in the thread I started talking about a vision bolder than Mars: Declare our intent to explore the entire Solar System and make it all ours. That way, our vision of a spacefaring civilization doesn't rest entirely on the outcome of debate over specific destinations. If somebody disputes one destination, be it Mars or asteroids or simply the Moon, we have another worthy goal to put on the table; and the other side has to argue against the fundamental value of the exploration of space and can't shoot it down mission-by-mission.

That's not incompatible with my remarks that it'd be OK to propose the Moon as a medium-range goal simply because it's relatively easy. That's part of the boiling-the-lobster strategy. The important thing is to not make the Moon the final destination, but to be careful to portray it as the most accessible in the short run of all the destination we intend to explore.

I have an end in mind, Mark. The entire Solar System, and then the stars.