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In fact, this is something I've read up on a fair bit: the bulk of the alleged innovations the space race produced were already in place, and just retooled for new purposes, so claiming that it produced vast breakthroughs is stretching the point a little.

But again, why would colonising a planet with gravity low enough to render any native born colonists incapable of living anywhere else, a climate that can freeze mercury, and little or no evidence of exploitable resources be a more worthwhile undertaking than goldmines* on the moon, or robot prospectors in the asteroid belt?

*(Hi, pahunkboy!)

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ORIGINAL: Marc2b
Because it's there.

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ORIGINAL: Moonhead

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ORIGINAL: Marc2b
Because it's there.

So let somebody climb up there with a backpack full of Kendal mint cake, then.

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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

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ORIGINAL: Moonhead

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ORIGINAL: Marc2b
Because it's there.

So let somebody climb up there with a backpack full of Kendal mint cake, then.

ok now I have a hankering for some kendals, sigh

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So let somebody climb up there with a backpack full of Kendal mint cake, then.

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I bet poor people make great fuel

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You're aware that there are very few species that bugger off somewhere else rather dying of a population crash after wrecking their environment, I hope?

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You're also aware that the vast expenditure of non renewal resources and money it'd take to get a colony set up on Mars are a lot more likely to hasten than prevent our demise as a species.

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A colony that's dependent on supply runs from home isn't going to be much of an ark when things go tits up here, is it?

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(As for existing problems: poverty, overpopulation, ecological vandalism and political authorities with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement are in the "Because it's there" category as well.)

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ORIGINAL: Marc2b

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You're aware that there are very few species that bugger off somewhere else rather dying of a population crash after wrecking their environment, I hope?

So? I know of no rule book that say we have to emulate other species. We are our own species and one uniquely situated to control its own destiny.

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You're also aware that the vast expenditure of non renewal resources and money it'd take to get a colony set up on Mars are a lot more likely to hasten than prevent our demise as a species.

That's debateable. As a percentage of the overall resources we use on a daily basis... would it really be that much?
Yep, it would. If we're talking about establishing a self sufficient colony, that'd take the sort of investment that'd make even Saint Ronnie shit himself.

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A colony that's dependent on supply runs from home isn't going to be much of an ark when things go tits up here, is it?

If we do it right, the colony would only be dependent for a few years. The goal would be to make it independent.
That'd take rather longer than a few years. Even if raw materials could be sourced there, being able to manage even basic manufacturing with them would require an enormous expenditure and investment, which you don't seem to have considered in your prior point.

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(As for existing problems: poverty, overpopulation, ecological vandalism and political authorities with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement are in the "Because it's there" category as well.)

Why can't we do both? Are we really that limited as a species?
We can't manage either, never mind doing both. Chauvinism aside, we are not half as flexible a species as we like to imagine.