Ever see the 1968 film Countdown?
That was based on a real plan to get the first man on the Moon
by the USA. A shelter would have been waiting for him, where
he could stay until another mission showed up to bring him back
to Earth.
Who is to say that some space entreprenuer might not do this
some day? In fact I can see a billionaire type sending himself
off the Mars and waiting for the next ride home. Or maybe he
wouldn't want to come home and instead start setting up on
some brand new real estate.
If corporations can ever get their acts together, it may be them
and not governments that colonize the Sol system and beyond.