Space Policy: Why Mars should be our top priority.

Jorge R. Frank wrote:

The moon has one enormous advantage: three day return trajectory from
Earth.

That means you can learn long-duration planetary surface operations on
the moon without it killing you like on Mars.

You get a major leak in your spacesuit and either place will be just as
fatal inside of ten minutes.
You seem to be suggesting that the majority of the major health problems
encountered will be serious enough to demand evacuation to Earth, but
not serious enough to kill you inside of three days.
You also have solar storms to contend with on either world, so you had
better bring shovels to bury your habitat if you are intending to spend
much time there.
Then there's spacesuit design... on the Moon, assuming you only go
exploring for the two-week Lunar day, the big problem is not getting
cooked by the heat of the sunlight; if you want to go out at night also,
now you need a suit that has a major ability to keep you warm. That
could well be two entirely different suit designs.
On Mars you will need a suit to keep you warm, not cool you down, but at
least you can probably get away with a single suit design for day and night.

Pat