Serious question.

I don't think colonies on the Moon are in the cards. Permanent bases of some kind? Yes. The Moon has some things to offer.

Maybe I'm being too much of a pessimist, as I tend to be with things relating to space. I don't think solar power satellites will ever happen, but not because they won't ever be technically feasible. They should be possible at some stage. I just think our civilization will go with something whose supply is easier to control, like nuclear power.

Same thing with the Moon and other dreams we have for space. I can see the Moon becoming a tourist stop in the distant future. I even believe humans will reach Mars in a century or so, and leave the Solar System a few thousand two years after that.

But if you can create a colony on the Moon, isn't it just as easy - even easier - to start one on Mars? And isn't Mars more attractive in terms of colonization than is the Moon?