Re: Ha, Mars...
"If you want to go to Mars, the easiest way is to go to Mars.
You don't NEED to build an orbital shipyard or habitats on
the moon."
If all you want to do is one or two trips to Mars, then this is true.
But if you are looking at colonizing or putting a research station on Mars (kinda like an Antarctic research station); you are going to have to find a means of lowering the cost of traveling to Mars and providing the support supplies.