Exploring outside of the local planetary system (Mercury/Venus/Mars) will require a new approach and flexible ethics and loss scenarios. We are used to the idea of sending one ship/one crew and getting them all back home safely. The reality for distant space travel is that a shotgun approach is needed. We need send dozens of ships/crews and hope that some of them live long enough to accomplish their mission. The idea of getting everyone home safely is an idea that needs to end.

Even if we could, say mine asteroids for materials/H2O/fuel, it's not a viable concept because it's not like there are asteroid stops every 10,000 miles. If there is a problem with the ship or resources, it's not going to be possible to simply hang-on until an asteroid comes near so it can be mined for resources.

The best system we can use for long distance travelling is redundancy and a new definition of what is moral and acceptable. For example, you have two ships and one just ran out of H20. You could borrow from the other ship but then neither ship will have enough H20 to complete the mission. What do you do? You kill everyone on the ship that ran-out and take their ship for spare parts. Unethical, but gives the best chance for success of the mission. That's what I mean by redefining ethics and morality. Probably will need AI support for that since humans have a hard time making those decisions.