>>11931116Well, if SpaceX gets its Starship working at anywhere near its estimated cost, setting up both a Moon & Mars base at the same time is perfectly doable.
Mars does have a number advantages, especially for the longer term, over the Moon. Mars has ample amounts of carbon available, which is needed both for the methane fuel Starship will use, and of course in making all sorts of other stuff. Meanwhile, carbon seems to be in short supply on the Moon. The Moon has a very harsh day/night cycle with each lasting two weeks; Mars has a nice 25 hour day. Moon dust is also an abrasive bitch to work around, while Mars has enough weathering to just have normal dust. Mars has more gravity, which is probably better for human health, but not too much - Starship is still SSTO on Mars. Mars has two small moons that are perfect for testing asteroid mining. The main advantage of the Moon is that it is closer, and no unpredictable dust storms.
What I think we will happen is that once Starship is flying regularly is that Moonbases will initially grow faster, with smaller expeditions to Mars going on, but after 10-15 years most focus will go to Mars, what with its greater resources.
