I think that if we get there at all it will be around 2030. The HLS/SLS/Lunar Gateway concept is such a Rube Goldberg affair that I can’t imagine how it could be utilized effectively. We say that we want to beat China to the moon. I say “and then what?” We have no coherent plan to maintain a permanent presence there, let alone do something productive. One of the few advantages of a totalitarian system is that it can apply unwavering focus and funding to whatever the leader wants. In this case, Xu wants a permanent moon base. I’d bet he gets it long before we do.

why wouldn't they go to the moon first.... as a dry run?

Me personally, I would rather we just take care of our little blue marble in space than Elon’s plans to “Occupy Mars.”

His money and his circus but the numbers are just mind boggling for those who think we are just going to pack up and move to someplace else once we have burned up the little third rock from the sun called “Earth.”

Our nearest star is just a mere four light years away but with current technology it would take you over 75,000 years to reach it.

There is a good chance your great great great great grandchildren will develop a space ship that will over take your cryogenically frozen body as they venture out into space.

Yours and my ancestors could have never crossed the atlantic, if their ancestors hadn't first learned to paddle across a river

Last week I was in the Corpus Christi area and I had planned on going down to see the launch of Flight 9 but it scrubbed until this week.

So while I was already in the area I decide to go on down to Boca Chica, Texas which is just a mere 3+00 drive from Corpus Christi to see where they are building and launching the Starship.

For the full on Space X experance it is going to take two days:

Day 1 - Drive from Brownsville out to Boca Chica Beach where you can get your feet wet in the Gulf of America before Elon convinces the State of Texas to close Highway 4 and put a guard shack six miles away to stop people from driving so close to his rockets.

WARNING - Once you leave Brownsville there is nothing on Highway 4 to support you, no gas stations, no bathrooms, no mini-mart, no water, no nothing.

Day 2 - Go to the Isla Blanca Park in Port Isabel, Texas to see the launch. To enter the park they take NO credit cards so bring $12 CASH.

Isla Blanca Park is about as close as you are going to get to see a Starship launch.

I never got off of Highway 4 which is currently a public road so there are no issues driving right by the launch sight.

Perhaps the best video out there on how to view a Starship launch and the SpaceX facilities at Boca Chica, Texas -

Yours and my ancestors could have never crossed the atlantic, if their ancestors hadn't first learned to paddle across a river[/quote]

I have some bad news for you, after you have been cryogenically frozen and have traveled for the last 75,000 - 225,000 years (a mere 4 to 12 light years) and have found another “Goldilocks planet” that has a breathable atmosphere, liquid water, and a habitable temperature that's not too hot or cold there might be something waiting on you to pop the hatch that thinks warm squishy primates from the planet earth are tasty little morsels.

Now for even grimmer news there is no FBO on the planet that can service your Star Hopper 4700 and you are stuck with the locals looking for their next meal.

Once again I don’t mind Elon spending his money advancing technology but I do wish he would spend his vast wealth into improving the little Blue Marble we call home instead of his “Occupy Mars” endeavor.

I am pretty sure when Starship becomes operational, it will be able to do the lunar round trip directly, with none of that SLS rigmarole. After all, it’s designed to do just that with Mars, so lunar missions should be a child’s play.

I just listened to a pod cast that says "the" reason to have an outpost on the moon is to mine He3 needed to cool computer chips for the AI race and everything quantum.

We can't possibly foresee how that will play out. In comparison to the people who will face those challenges, we are cavemen trying to learn how to start a fire.

I have faith that future generations will indeed live on Mars and elsewhere, and who knows what they will find when they start digging holes and exploring? Do you think the Russians would have sold us Alaska (at the time viewed as a worthless wasteland by the populace of both countries) if anyone could have foreseen what would come out of the ground there ?

Living on Mars wouldn't be much different from being in a prison in that you can't go outside without a space suit. Radiation may kill or cause all sorts of cancers. There's no "quick" way there and back because it's on the other side of the solar system for half the year. I'm personally happy I'll never go.

I'd still like to see Elon go though, and stay there.

There is absolutely nothing on Mars we want or need. Living there will be hell and critically dependent on supplies from Earth. If there is nobody on Earth, then there will be nobody on Mars very shortly after.

Setting up a colony on the moon would be vastly easier and provide the same "benefits" as Mars. The moon is closer, shallower gravity well, no atmosphere to ruin your rockets, better sunlight, and you can go any time of the year. It is also just as dry and dusty as Mars. The chance the moon has water is actually higher than Mars, and that's the critical resource any colony needs.

Musk is the Howard Hughes of our time. Smart, rich, and delusional.

Mike C.

don't kid yourself, the environment of the moon is extreme. Very low temps on the back side and hot thermal loads on the sunny side.

But we need to be on the moon. Maybe not with humans but definitely operating remotely.