Ool wrote:

"Bill Bonde ( the oblique allusion in lieu of the frontal attack )" wrote in message
...

Andy Rooney doesn't seem to care that the Moon is spartan compared to
Mars in things like actually having an atmosphere with water and CO2.
Why doesn't Andy care? Send him an e-mail.

And just why would we want another almost-Earth? The "spartan" nature
is exactly what makes the Moon so attractive. No corrosion.

Tell them to only use stainless steel on Mars.


Plenty
of solar power to export.

Why do I want to be so far away from the Earth, the presumed ultimate
destination of this exportable electrical power?


Plenty of materials for solar panels and
plenty of oxygen, if you can find technology for getting to it. Low
gravity and no atmosphere, so mass driver launches are possible one
day, requiring no retro-mass at all, just power.

The Moon has a huge dust problem and that even exists if you don't tramp
around in it.



On Mars you'd be in a cold desert with unbreathable air and dust
storms. The murky sky would be unsuitable for telescopes, as opposed
to the Moon.

Unless you are talking about radio telescopes which would use the Moon
to block interference, why not build the telescope's in space?



And getting anywhere else in the solar system by rocket
is comparable in difficulty to Earth launches. At any rate it's hard-
er than Moon-launches, and it's much, much farther away.

Asteroids aren't at the bottom of a gravity well and have a wide range
of materials available. Why not go there?



So what's the deal about Mars? It has all the disadvantages of the
Moon with none of the advantages, except for water ice. And if people
were so keen to move places and live there because of just *that,* how
come there are no giant domed cities in the Arctic and Antarctica?

Now that's just silly.