Colonization of the moon or Mars would be pointless and ruinously expensive — unless you’re an aerospace contractor, of course. Human life does not prosper over long periods in zero-G. There are no resources out there that can be economically harvested. Science can be conducted far more economically and extensively if life support for human flag-wavers is not required.
These adventures are very exciting, especially for those who stand to make a buck from them, but in large measure they’re a distraction from real and pressing business at home that needs taking care of.
Better than a new war is about all I can say for it.
We have a permanent manned space station in space (thanks to Reagan and those who followed in his footsteps). We could have the same thing, except it would be on the moon.
The surface of the moon or mars is not zero-G. The resources to be exploited are astronomical both in quantity and value.
You wrote, “Human life does not prosper over long periods in zero-G. There are no resources out there that can be economically harvested.”
From http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Incorrect_predictions
Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible...Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires as may be done with dots and dashes of Morse code, and that, were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value...The ordinary ‘horseless carriage’ is at present a luxury for the wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, it will never, of course, come into as common use as the bicycle.
Very entertaining page, numerous hilarious predictions. Recommend a visit.
I suspect there were those who said the same thing of the New World in 1500 or so. There are plenty of resources that could be economically viable, with some technology development in the private sector.
That said, the Moon and Mars are sexy but not the best steps. We need orbital habitats. Lots of them, and big ones. O'Neill colonies would give us the step into space we need. Girard O'Neill wrote the book on it back in the 80s. It was feasible for private industry then. It could be feasible now.
Mars isn’t 0 G, it has gravity at 38% of Earth’s, in fact. We don’t know one way or another how humans handle partial gravity.