Mankind should make this kind of investment in space-travel:

2, 3, and 1 (in that chronological order).

While I don't feel that space-travel is not important I think we should work more here first.

None of the above, really. The space station comes closest; it's a good first step. I think we should concentrate on first getting a permanent industrial presence on the moon (manned or not). Start using the aluminum, silicon, and oxygen available there, both for further industrialization and building useful things such as solar power satellites. Further industrialization will soon need some things not found on the moon, namely anything with hydrogen (water, etc.) Apollo and Amor objects seem like the best place for this, although traditional asteroids may do the trick.
The ultimate goal (other than getting a strong space presence): dirt cheap energy. This solves a lot of problems down here on earth. Pollution goes down, making high-energy fertilizer becomes cheaper (less famine), people in general become wealthier (I could make a case that wealth is directly proportional to how much energy you have at your disposal) and have a better quality of life.

interstellar travel! Obviously we have alot of problems here that we need to take care of, but really focussing exclusively on them isn't likely to solve them any more than if we put effort into space travel. We really need to get ourselves off the planet so that we don't have a single point of extinction, and it's likely that the tech we'd develop in the process and that scientific discoveries we'd make would be very useful to the folks back home too.

What good does going to another planet do if we keep ruining them? Deal with here first, gather scientific data about space (because it is fascinating, after all) and then worry about going off and ruining another planet.

I think if we shut off our possibility of expansion, we ultimately shut off any possibility of dealing with our problems on Earth. Eventually I'd like to see the entire Earth turned into a large wilderness area and genetic diversity preserve.

All of the above. We have the capability, we should be looking to space more than we do. The problem is the outlay of capital. There must be some good way of getting off the planet cheaply. I realize that we have HUGE problems here on the planet, but space can help alleviate some of these. While we are expanding into space, we can address the problems at home. If we have no where to go, then things will continue to boil as they are (refering to war here). I don't think the solutions to mans problems will occur until there is a change in the ways that we are taught (or learn) to think. I won't expand on that here (I get far to preachy and it would be far to much space).

I think space is as important as earthly interests. I think we have a long way to go before we can send anything very far and it still be working well enough to transmit data back, but I think we should invest in trying to. Manned missions are less important, for now, and the space station is a good way to launch deep space studies and research for both earthly and space issues. We need to figure out our solar system before going much further and in a step wise fashion some day interstellar travel may be possible.

I am not knowledgeable enough on this subject to check a box. If the only reason we are spending tons of money to go into space is scientific curiosity, then I would pick the last option. If there are real benefits (that we can realistically anticipate, I know there can always be benefits down the road of scientific inquiry...) to be gained, that will help all us earthlings, then I would pick whichever option would help us to make those gains.

Unmanned exploration. Eventually this really big piece of rock or ice is going to hit this planet. I would like some advance warning so that maybe I can mysteriously find a god before I have to kiss my butt goodbye.

I like NASA's new "smaller and cheaper" approach. Less publicity stunts, more hard scientific data. Once we have enough data to feel reasonably secure, its time to move on out. No sense in sitting around here on little ol' earth waiting for armageddon.

I am, and have always been, torn between the last two.

I chose investing at home. "Get your house in order."

I am so psyched they're finally building the space station! I visit the NASA web site a lot, keeping track of the progress. That seems so amazing to me. I'd also love for us to set up a base on Mars; I love "Mars" by Ben Bova. All of the research we do for space has incredible ripple effects in "normal Earth" technology that helps everybody. *** Many problems on Earth deal with us running out of energy and food. If we could acquire these things in space, never mind allow people to live in space, it would directly help our existing Earthly problems.

I would say 2 & 3 -- unmanned exploration plus a space station. Manned exploration is kind of silly at this point in our scientific development, but we learn a lot from our probes, and we need to start building in space if we're ever going to send more than little token packages out of our gravity well.

(Speaking of space - I highly recommend the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson)

stop spending money on war and there will be plenty to spend on the ground and the stars. nasa's "smaller, faster, cheaper" has spawned a new series of missions, btw, the new millenium series. starting with a craft called DS1 (yes, exactly what you think), these missions will prototype cheaper/new technologies in missions that have value but aren't Big Hype. the first will be doing some asteroid work...

It is my belief that we will, *of necessity* eventually "use up" this planet. We'd better be ready to leave it.

we should concentrate on the second two equally in order to prepare ourselves, eventually, for manned journeys to other planets.

There is a large SPACE for investment here in earth...

The last one.

Of course, "we" is made up of individuals who should decide for themselves what to invest in.

We need space to give us hope. Once we have that, the rest follows. (Isn't that cheesy? But I believe that if we can look beyond our fairly petty problems and continue to explore our world, the rest will follow.) And go read some Allen Steele, if you haven't. 8)

space is cool but im very afraid it will become just a way for the rich to escape all the problems they created on earth, leaving the poor to exist in a living hell of pollution and toxicity

I checked 'cheaper unmanned probes', but that doesn't mean I think we should spend less money on space exploration.

picked "large earthorbit space station", though I dunno about large. I suspect there's more readily-applicable data to be gathered from zero-g research than either manned planetary missions or unmanned probes given the current state of the art. The earthly/space dichotomy is an illusion, although I can accept (but do not share) the opinion that solving immediate problems takes precendence over basic research.
later:I like daver's moonbased industry idea, too.

There's something inspirational about sending human beings into outer space; I wouldn't even want to give that up.