Its very common for people who are unfamiliar with the arguments for space colonisation to suggest that its ridiculous on the face of it that humans can move to Mars and live there. They typically cite the fact that there are no permanent residents in Antarctica as proof of this.
Here is a good recent example of the argument, from an international affairs columnist.
The CEO in question is obviously Elon Musk and this refers to his intention to establish a city on Mars. This tweet is presented as if its an irrefutable knock-down argument. The rather condescending tone of it, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world and space advocates were simply dumb for not having thought of it, is a hazard when you don't bother to check if there is already a response to your argument before you publicise it. I don't mean to pick on this one person - but his argument is so very common it is worth having a rebuttal to hand.
There are many good personal reasons to go to Mars - exploration, adve…
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