But what has that to do with the space station? If that’s our goal why are we pumping billions into this dead end.
Nothing. I was just responding to your comment that no one has any idea how to get us to the nearest stars. Ideas are coming in fast and furious. Sail technology seems to be leading the pack as most doable in the foreseeable future, though I'm not a big fan myself. Interestingly, DARPA is taking proposals for a 100-year starship study. It's fascinating to me that those guys think that someone might be able to figure it out in the next 100 years.
I would never have gone along with the ISS, if it had been up to me. I'm not a "let's do endless experiments on tadpoles" kind of guy. But now that the taxpayer has paid for it, he should get his money's worth; there are useful experiments that still can and should be done, and the ISS is as good a place as any to do them.