> should we colonize it and birth children there? hell no! not permanently anyhow. all those problems with mars which you listed can be engineered away. the primary value of mars is the fact that it is close and terrestrial, so it could be used as an agricultural world. if we bombard it with comets and asteroid belt objects, we could get an ocean. if we technologically address the solar radiation and poor soil, and fill it with cfcs to trap heat, we could begin growing crops over every inch. with a designated agriculture planet, we could allow all agricultural land on earth to rewild. america's prairie ecosystems are near extinction because the land is ideal for agriculture. we could have a wild planet again, with nothing but newly untamed wilderness between settlements. and if you want fresh vegetables, you can always grow them at subsistence scale on your property.
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