our long term goals are a mess because it's all politically motivated instead of being centrally planned by people that understand the problem. what we should be doing to become a space faring civilization, assuming that is the goal, is: > leo spin gravity station to find the minimum g without long term health problems > if it's less than 0.166 g we can start on a moon base > if it's more than 0.166 g we'll need to build and test a spinning cone base on earth > if that works then we build one on the moon > focus on lunar resource prospecting > see what is accessable  > if the resouces exist focus on making the base as independant from earth as possible > build a magnetic linear accelerator that can yeet small items back to earth > build a giant one > from there start building interplanetary / asteroid redirect ships on the moon > throw them into leo for fitout with components that can't be made on the moon > start crashing rare earth metal asteroids into the moon > jeet some back to earth to help with costs > use some to start producing more of a spaceships mass on the moon this is extremely long term planning where the people that order the production of the leo spin station will no live to see the first spaceship made on the moon and that is the biggest problem. politicians aren't going to increase taxes or nationalize resources to fund a project that won't produce results in their lifetime, it will take major social change for us to ever leave this rock in a meaningful way.
Australia