It is a moronic argument. Try building a self-sufficient city on earth first. I think space colonialists will be surprised just how difficult it is.
Solving interplanetary space travel is the most expensive form of procrastination I have ever seen.
Solving interplanetary space travel is the most expensive form of procrastination I have ever seen.
(Myself I think we'll go when it's easy. The best way to make it easy is to work on relevant technology like nuclear fusion, automated manufacturing, CRISPR, and so on.)
There would have been indications in wave pattern. And they knew how to read these, as well as meteorological hints and knowledge of tides.
Nevertheless, in the context of this discussion, landing up on an inhabited island thousands of kilometres from here is a huge shot in the dark, and most hopeful colonists would have missed.
But on Mars, you don't have proper air and you don't have wild life for food. And you cannot easily leave for other better places.
Good point. It would make sense to send robots in advance to manufacture huge stockpiles of air and food. Which is of course beyond present technology.
Once the location is established, regular trade becomes much more feasible.