I am mystified at how stupid the public is. At how NASA misrepresents so many issues. Elon and his cult followers. The return of the fascism. It is all so disturbing.
Mars is never going to be a second home for humankind. It would be far easier to shoot lunar alloy from the surface and then melt it into miles-in-diameter spheres at a Lagrange (it is zero G with plenty of solar energy after all), partially fill with water, spin, and you have a city. A habitat with Earth Gravity, in the same orbit as Earth with plenty of energy. These constructs can be farms, or whatever is needed. And you can mass produce them. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands over the next few centuries. Eventually hundreds of thousands of them leading and trailing Earth around the sun, supporting tens of billions of people. As a western standard of living is enabled with Space Solar Power for a population of 10 billion and genetic technology extends lifespans indefinitely, the birthrate will drop and most of humankind will live in space. Earth….depopulated and a pristine camping destination. With enough surplus solar energy available beam propulsion can accelerate these spheres on centuries long journeys to other stars.
The false prophet of space colonization has a plan to hijack cyberspace and is using the fantasy of Mars as cover. It is the lowest goal imaginable and we as a species are wasting our most fortunate century on narcissist grifters.
Ice on the Moon 