A splash of cold water for the Mars futurists

I think for an average Martian Joe any type of outdoor recreation would be a rare thing. Rip your suit in this rugged rocky landscape and almost immediately you start to develop serious injuries, pass out and die. And what if you vomit? How do you pee? Cheaply protecting someone from radiation, near-vacuum, and below freezing temperatures while keeping them comfortable is way beyond our current level of tech.

Most likely if we actually built a city of people on Mars, life would be similar to living on an earth city but with low-G and you never go outdoors. We’d replicate typical earth city attractions and add a low-G spin where it was appropriate. Access to nature would be a problem (expensive fake Earth hab dome, dangerous outdoor games, no unfiltered sunlight on your skin, etc.)

Elon’s ravings notwithstanding, what makes sense to me is extensive robotic exploration of Mars, perhaps operated by a skeleton crew of people who don’t need quite the extensive training and qualifications of an astronaut. With enough exploring, experimenting and digging and we’re likely to find something very exciting.