“Yes but the moon is so far away for all of that.”
So was the New World in 1492.
“I suggest that if you start to consider all of the logistics involved for either one of those ventures with our current technologies (especially propulsion) it becomes not doable in the next 30/40 years or so.”
And the propulsion tech does exist - a la NERVA, or Orion - it is simpily we do not choose to use it. Other countries may not be so short sighted.
Poor analogy, sailing/oceanic navigation and boat construction were well known science and arts in 1492.
Nerva is the propulsion system and Orion is the vehicle IIRC, neither are ready to scale up for a trip to Mars and back IMO.
As far as mining on the Moon, that’s an awfully expensive proposition for what gain right now? What did we find there last time that makes the project imperative?
I am not against inter-planetary exploration per se, I just dont think we’re there yet.