>> All of this is such a distant problem, it seems way too soon to even speculate on. We're hundreds of years away from the logistics of transporting thousands of humans to Mars being a practical consideration. As such, the mere mention of Starship feels utterly anachronistic.

This is not hundreds of years away, it is the goal of SpaceX. They are not just building Starship, they are building a factory with a target production rate of one ship per day. The goal is not to send a few ships to Mars, but an armada. With so many ships around, and a window to Mars about every 2 years it makes sense to start building infrastructure like this with them while they're waiting.

Yes, Elon is a bit... ambitious. And I question whether he is actually serious about it all. But if he is, this is happening over the next 50 years.