“I really think Elon Musk will have a Moon colony set up and running before NASA gets its act together.”
Agreed—but Musk will have to totally decouple himself from NASA.
Right now he is still depending on them for some elements of the mission—example:
https://qz.com/2046840/a-1-billion-space-suit-is-holding-up-nasas-2024-moon-landing/
NASA should just revert to what’s worked in the past- the Apollo Moon Suits.
They must still have the plans for them, I would think. Maybe modern materials, more advanced manufacturing techniques, and they could come in ahead of the game.
Unless someone’s skimming a little cream off the top…