https://www.wsj.com/us-news/elon-musk-populate-mars-lifetime...

I wonder what it would be like to live in a Martian settlement controlled by Musk.

It just reminded me this song of Faith No More : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8b88US-6ts

At best Musk suffers from adolescent delusions. At worst the Mars plan amounts to a stock pump and a way to stay in the headlines. The main takeaway from the media coverage of the imaginary Mars colony: the press seems too gullible and too ignorant to ask questions.

If we could send millions of kilograms into orbit and then to Mars we could deflect an incoming asteroid.

If we could “terraform” Mars — a planet with no magnetosphere and therefore incapable of holding on to an atmosphere — we could fix the damage done to Earth.

If we could keep people alive for the journey and then long-term on Mars, fit enough to reproduce, we could fix a lot of medical/health problems here.

We don’t have human colonies in the ocean, a much less hostile environment than Mars. We don’t have colonies on the moon either. We struggle to maintain the planet we evolved on in a livable state.

Starship so far has not achieved low-earth orbit, carrying any cargo, much less humans, refueling in orbit, etc. We do have some new debris fields making this planet a little less habitable.

If we want to talk seriously about saving our species we might start with identifying sociopaths and not mistaking their lies and self-serving schemes for anything to do with the common good.