There is nothing stopping us from aiming at the stars now. Despite the apparent magnitude of the task, no new technologies are required to begin human deep space exploration. While innovative technologies like reusable launch vehicles, large inflatable habitation structures, and advanced nuclear thermal propulsion systems would make the job easier, they are not essential. We already have the tools to begin.

Lower cost access to Earth orbit is also highly desirable, but again current space transportation systems are adequate for the short-term. What the strategy does not require is a new government-led orbiting station after the completion of the International Space Station. Exploration is about going out there, not spending another couple of decades doing circles around the Earth. Destinations like the Moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars are rich not only in material resources that may sustain life but also in the promise of adventure, discovery, and hope. There will be no shortage of opportunity once you are out there.

The challenge of human voyages away from Earth will become even more achievable when nations are united under a common goal. There is currently no effective international coordination system to unify the plans of the individual space agencies into a single strategy for human exploration away from Earth. But once such a system is in place, the material, financial, and intellectual resources of the entire planet will be focused. It will become very difficult to imagine what we could not do.

Even the current framework of space treaties is adequate for the preliminary steps in human space exploration. While these agreements will likely evolve as humanity expands into the Solar System, nobody has drafted a law saying that we cannot start the voyage now.

In the final analysis, the only major obstacle is the lack of public and political support. The world space community has to do more to educate governmental and corporate decision-makers, their advisors, and especially the general public on why humans should explore space. But the message must shift from the notion that space is a foreign and hostile environment to be "conquered" to one that views space as a part of humanity's natural habitat. In many respects, we have gone full circle. The title and spirit of this design report merely reflects what Konstantin Tsiolkovsky already knew nearly a century ago: "Earth is the cradle of humanity; one cannot live in the cradle forever."

Human exploration away from Earth is not about leaving. It is about going home.

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