[cess11]

The Jezero crater where the Perseverance rover has been roaming looks a lot like it was a lake and was expected to tell us whether Mars has held life. It was a good guess because the rover has found clay and organic molecules.

Human habitation on Mars is a pipe dream for oligarchs, most serious space people are more interested in extraterrestrial life and the history of the solar system.

[IAmBroom]

You say that, but I once suggested that humans weren't going to colonize Mars in this century, and got downvoted - here on HN.

A lot of people seem to think, hmm, we've been watching fictional people go to Mars since Buck Rogers; it must be pretty achievable. (Hint: it's not.)

[antonvs]

> Human habitation on Mars is a pipe dream for oligarchs

It’s just the one oligarch in particular, isn’t it?

[ralfd]

It is noteworthy though that the causality goes the other way: the crazy one pipe dreaming about a city on Mars had this dream first and then became an oligarch to make it reality.

[antonvs]

It seems doubtful to me that that was his main motivation. Afaict he didn’t express interest in Mars publicly until around the time of his PayPal exit.

That said, it’s true that belief in fantasies can motivate people in powerful ways. All the old cathedrals in Europe are a testament to that.

[nephihaha]

And those cathedrals will outlast a lot of buildings from twenty years ago.