So how are we gonna get there?

Here's a good expose from Physorg.com detailing NASA's philosophy for getting us back to the moon:

Building on the best of Apollo and shuttle technology, NASA's creating a 21st
century exploration system that will be affordable, reliable, versatile, and
safe.

Personally, I think it is a great idea to 'use what we've got' as it were, instead of trying to build heavylift and exploration vehicles from scratch--especially in these times of economic insanity...

Either way, with all the recent hooplah about advances in nanotube production, I'm wondering why I'm not hearing more about space elevators.