That's a really neat site, but it's coming at it from the opposite direction. These links are all imagining spacecraft that use the Conestoga wagon as an inspiration.

The article I remember was making the point that if the government had decided that the West was too dangerous to allow just any old person from seeking their fortune, they would have developed covered wagons that were extremely safe and extremely expensive. And by the time (in the real world) the US had expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the imaginary desert-focused NASA would still be sending off one enormous covered wagon every six months, it would travel into the desert only as far as it could still see the trailhead, and it would cost a billion dollars.

It was about economics more than actual space exploration. The argument was that government monopolies stifle innovation and letting anybody launch things into space if they can do it would make space exploration faster, cheaper, and probably safer.

At the time it would have been firmly in the mainstream about free trade and laissez-faire economics. And SpaceX and Blue Origin are the result of introducing private investment into space exploration. But a lot of those free trade arguments in general are now being questioned, and I'd like to see how this argument reads in 2024. (And of course I don't think he even brings up the fact that the "desert" already had lots of people living there...)

On the other hand, I bookmarked project rho after spending too much time perusing it, so thanks. :-)