Kudos, Musk is willing to embarrass himself if necessary in a good cause. Thanks. But I'm not overly fond of the paper. No mention of asteroids when discussing

Kudos, Musk is willing to embarrass himself if necessary in a good cause. Thanks. But I'm not overly fond of the paper. No mention of asteroids when discussing other destinations, or re refueling. No mention of refueling from lunar sources (oxygen - you could haul hydrogen from Mars or Earth. Plus structural matter, solar cells, soil or even food.) Transporters that actually land on Mars - a la the first lunar return trip plans which landing everything on the moon that would return. It's surely more likely that there will be dedicated Earth-Mars transporters for that distance that don't land at either end. Way more economical. But others have covered this in more detail: http://www.science20.com/robert_inventor/case_for_moon_open_ended_positive_future_for_humans_based_on_planetary_protection_executive_summary-170088 http://www.science20.com/robert_inventor/case_for_moon_open_...