If SpaceX wants to put people on Mars, and get them back, then the moon seems a pretty good proving ground for things like a lander and ascent module, orbiter,

If SpaceX wants to put people on Mars, and get them back, then the moon seems a pretty good proving ground for things like a lander and ascent module, orbiter, etc, not to mention for any kind of habitat/etc they're planning for Mars. SpaceX planing to land Starship on the moon (and take off again) seems like a complete non-starter. I expect NASA can get the rest of their useless program built given enough money, but if Starship needs arms to catch it even when landing on a smooth concrete surface, then how the hell does it expect to land on an uneven pile of soft lunar regolith, much less take off again?