NEO mission
Good thoughts, Raoul. I'm a big proponent of a crewed mission to an NEO. First, it's new territory (adventure) and new science. Plus it also helps us understand better the specifics of the NEO threat as we see how solid one of the puppies really is. And it's a reasonable step beyond a moon mission in flight time but nowhere as lengthy (with the right target) as a Mars mission nor does it require the delta V or mass in orbit to achieve it.