"(I'd probably prefer equatorial Mars over Antarctica)" Antarctica has the extremely important benefit of having earth gravity, whereas Mars is 1/3 the gravity

"(I'd probably prefer equatorial Mars over Antarctica)" Antarctica has the extremely important benefit of having earth gravity, whereas Mars is 1/3 the gravity of Earth. Your health would rapidly decline on mars - everything from your bones becoming brittle to your muscle mass wasting to your teeth decaying. Your body would just fall apart.