:: What does mars, or the moon, have that you can't get on earth easier?

: "
: Land. According to reputable authorities, it isn't being made around
: here any more. (Give or take sea reclamation projects. I think the
: Star Trek movie novelisation established they drained the
: Mediterranean.)
:
: However, it mostly can be bought more cheaply than a space rocket. And
: there isn't much terrific farming land elsewhere in the solar system.

Right; don't compare prices for land in manhattan, or even prime
farming land. Compare prices for land in the gobi desert, or antarctica,
or death valley, or subsea habs, or whatever.

The notion that you can obtain land by terraforming mars much more easily
than you can by terraforming the moon is fine... but it's much easier
to terraform earth.

One might say, "a second basket to put some of the species' eggs in".
But that's so long term, it's much like "we should stop burning fossil
fuels". Plus, what has the species done for me *lately*? Sure, yeah,
we should. But eh, shrug. (Mind you, the "eh, shrug" is not how *I*
feel about these issues; it's how they are going to be treated by most.)

I used to think that I was cool, driving around on fossil fuel.
Then I found what I was doin' was driving down the road to ruin.

--- James Taylor (no longer as persuasive as in the 70s,
but still a nifty lyric IMO)


Wayne Throop http://sheol.org/throopw