I would love to see a human colony on Mars. My concern about a direct mission to Mars is that if something goes wrong, will that kill the Mars program? We are talking about a 2 to 3 year mission. Do we have the experience and tested technology for this. We better get it right the first time.

I see the Moon as place to develop technology and gain experience we can use elsewhere in the Solar System. Being so close to the Earth may prevent tragedy (Might not, either) but being close also means we can get things done on a quicker scale. In the time it takes to send one mission to Mars, we can send many more to the Moon.

As for using the Moon’s resources, that would be great. The more resources we use in space the cheaper space exploration and settlement become. Learning to mine and process the Moons, asteroids, Mars and other worlds resources should be a main goal of NASA. It will take time and money to set up an infrastructure, but eventually, it would open up the Solar System. It will take time, and while we are learning how to do it, we should continue our exploration and settlement of the Solar System.

I want to see humans on Mars, but I hope we make sure we are ready for it. And when we do go, I want it to be to stay. No flags and footprints. The human race needs to go there for keeps.