The Moon or Mars

[k_squared]

Let's face it: it would be a lot cheaper to go to the moon.

How does the value of going there compare to the value of going to mars?

Anyone pitch in....

[G01]

Of course the moon is cheaper this time of year, but Mars is the better vacation spot, hands down!

(Honestly: red sand beaches, vs. grey sand beaches. Is there even a debate)

[Danger]

That's a tough question for me. Although I'm a Trekker, and love the idea of that impossible future, I have to go along with Ivan's and Turbo's assertion that robotic exploration is the logical way to go.
As an immediately attainable goal, it would be fairly easy to set up a lunar colony. For the long-term, though, Mars would be better suited to the matter of human population expansion. With the exception of scientific knowledge, which is easily obtainable by robots, the only reason for establishing off-world habitats is that Earth can no longer sustain the billions of people who inhabit it.
I love my cozy little house in my little town, but if there was a chance for me to move to a lunar or L5 colony, or to Mars, I would be gone like a bullet.

[FlexGunship]

Although I'm a Trekker, and love the idea of that impossible future, I have to go along with Ivan's and Turbo's assertion that robotic exploration is the logical way to go.

DISAGREE! One of the purposes of exploration is to experience the unexperienced in a way that only a human can understand and appreciate. I feel very strongly about that. Robots are so good for so many things, but to put a person on the Moon or Mars is much more meaningful to the species as a whole. A robot will never know to turn it's head to see a sunrise, or to be curious about a particular mote of dust.

Anyway! Back to the OP!!

Moon. Let's do it. We're not done there. Cernan wanted us back there, and we owe him. NASA needs to play "follow-the-leader" again. They showed us how to make orbital launches look like bicycle riding. Now they hand off orbital operations to the private sector and show us how to make Moon landings look simple. When the private sector is opening hotels on the Moon, then let's hit up Mars.

[Danger]

DISAGREE! One of the purposes of exploration is to experience the unexperienced in a way that only a human can understand and appreciate.

As strange as this might sound, I agree with your disagreement. That is why I specified that the Trek future is an impossible one, since it relies upon faster than light travel and even faster communications. (And aliens who look more human than I do, but that's beside the point.)
The reasons that I suggested Mars as a better long-term situation are based upon a close-to-Earth gravity and the possibility of living outdoors without serious environmental suits. An L5 colony can simulate gravity by spinning, but a lunar one can't.

[NobodySpecial]

One of the purposes of exploration is to experience the unexperienced in a way that only a human can understand and appreciate.
My bet is though that the first men on mars are going to be test pilots rather than poets though

[FlexGunship]

My bet is though that the first men on mars are going to be test pilots rather than poets though

You deny the qualities of introspection and reflection to test pilots? I think Cernan, Young, Armstrong, Shepard, Collins and Lovell (to name a few) would disagree.

[DaveC426913]

You deny the qualities of introspection and reflection to test pilots? I think Cernan, Young, Armstrong, Shepard, Collins and Lovell (to name a few) would disagree.

But Jodie Foster agrees (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/quotes).

"They should have sent a poet..."

[Danger]

You deny the qualities of introspection and reflection to test pilots? I think Cernan, Young, Armstrong, Shepard, Collins and Lovell (to name a few) would disagree.

And leave us not forget Chuck Yeager. He was a bullet-head whose political stance I mostly disagreed with, but he was also a dreamer and one of the best pilots who ever lived. His autobiography is one of my most prized possessions.