Comment by bee_rider

>> In orbit, you are halfway to anywhere. On Mars, you’ve gone back down the well

> In orbit you’re perpetually nowhere. On a surface you have in situ resources.

It’s the bottom of a dried-out well in the middle of nowhere, that’s not an improvement over just being in the middle of nowhere with a full tank of gas.

>> practical next step for space colonies would be large investments in additional space stations

> Practical next steps are lots of experiments in centrifuges and micro and low gravity. To fund and focus that you need a goal.

The at least semi-plausible goal is the asteroid belt.