> We're really not close to being a "multiplanetary species", and the major bottlenecks have nothing to do with the rockets to get us out there. They're not?

> We're really not close to being a "multiplanetary species", and the major bottlenecks have nothing to do with the rockets to get us out there. They're not? If getting stuff from Earth's surface to low earth orbit and beyond weren't prohibitively expensive, we'd be doing a lot more of it. Sure, there are many other technical (and some social and political) challenges inherent in sending people to Mars but if we don't solve the launch cost problem it'll be difficult to make rapid progress on the other problems that would suddenly become more pressing if launch costs weren't an issue.