Feb. 22, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET
Editor’s Note: The Question of the Week will return next Sunday.
Last week I asked what you thought about Elon Musk’s pivot away from Mars to concentrate more on establishibng a city on the moon.
I had to chuckle when I read the results. More than 60% of readers responded by checking the “Don’t care” box. I’m going to choose to believe those readers are suffering from Elon Musk-fatigue and don’t give a hoot about anything he says or does these days.
As someone who lives on the Space Coast and whose windows rattle every time there is a launch, these are certainly exciting times as the Space Race kicks back into full gear after a 35-year lull. And the modern-day Space Race is something we should all care about.
While the Russians are still a player, their seat at the table has been taken over by China and, in part, India. Who will be the first to build a base near the moon’s south pole in order to mine resources and establish a military presence in space?
Time will tell. For us here in Florida, the next big test comes no earlier than March when NASA’s Artemis II is expected to send four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back home.
As always, thanks for taking part in the Question of the Week.
Last week I asked: What you thought of Elon Musk’s plan to build a city on the moon before attempting one on Mars?
Results:
Don’t care: 62.34%
Great idea: 33.77%
Mars or bust: 3.90%
Here’s what you had to say:
Musk’s science fiction dream of human life on Mars finally met his pocketbook. The accountants burst his bubble by explaining that the moon is a cheaper option. And he gets US Gov. taxpayer funds so he doesn’t have to foot the bill as for a Mars expedition. Too bad the US can’t work with the Chinese instead of against them.
–Steve Morris
Elon Musk’s emphasis on Mars has always drawn out two different reactions. On the one hand, he has kept people engaged in and excited about space exploration, Mars exploration, and sending humans to Mars. On the other hand, his timelines for SpaceX sending people to Mars have never been realistic, and they are widely ignored within the space community.
For space scientists, exploring space has always been about going to BOTH the Moon and Mars. The nation’s goals of space exploration and of sending humans into space can be met only be exploring both objects. NASA recognizes this in the development of its “Moon to Mars” program, which was recently described by a senior NASA official as “Moon AND Mars”.
The bottom line is that we are very far away from being able to have cities on either the Moon or Mars. Before even thinking about this, we need to send people back to the Moon and have a first human mission to Mars, and then to establish exploration bases on each. In all of this discussion, large-scale bases or cities on either object are very far into the future ― we don’t even know what we don’t know about how to do it. Musk’s exhortations about cities on either object have made him irrelevant to having a substantive discussion.
—Bruce Jakosky, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado and an affiliate professor at the University of Washington
If Elon wants it, I don’t.
–Marcie Sizemore Ramirez
Elon Musk’s change of mind now assigning a lunar colony higher priority than a Martian colony is welcome to me regardless of his personal motivation. Mars is still too distant, too difficult, and too expensive for our current technology, and resources devoted to it would be resources that could be applied instead to the lunar effort.
The Moon is reachable now with existing technology and resources and it has immediate, practical uses for research, technology development, and surveillance of the Earth, and possibly even tourism. If we are ever to become a truly space-faring species, the time to stake out an initial permanent presence on this small stepping stone beyond our planet has arrived. In addition to providing an outstanding platform for current exploration in cis-lunar space, it also permits an essential ingredient for eventual Martian exploration, namely development of the effective in-situ resource utilization techniques on which any serious Martian exploration will be dependent.
He has finally gotten his priorities in the right order.
–Frank Merceret, retired atmospheric physicist
In my opinion a far better use of time, money and brain power would be investing in ways to protect the one planet we know sustains life as we know it. Instead of supporting the demise of the EPA regulations and offering hope of life on Mars as an alternative, why not use all that brain power and financing to clean our own air and water? Sure a trip to Mars sounds exotic and exciting but realistically only a few chosen ones will get to go while the rest of us choke on polluted air and fight over the last drops of clean pure water.
–Linda Galleta
Anybody see the really bad sci-fi film “Elysium”starring Matt Damon? It’s about how the billionaire class lives on a pristine planet while the rest of the people are left on the polluted and overcrowded earth. Could there be a different location for Elon to inhabit?
–Jeannine Flynn
Closer is better. Get things going and keep the build up going. One is not enough, so build ten, then see what new is needed.
–Ted Hartselle
Who owns the moon? I guess it would be interesting to have an international space post there if it is done correctly and doesn’t turn into more space junk/debree. Personally , I believe we need to put more energy into saving the planet so we don’t need to live in space.
–Holly Jewell
Both of Musk’s goals are wastes of attention and resources. Both should be directed toward maintaining a livable environment here on Earth.
–Phillip Brown
I don’t really care which way they go. To me, we have enough issues on our own planet that need fixing before we screw up another planet or moon.
–Dan Schwartz
Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres Florida video editor Rob Landers contributed to this report.Support local journalism and become a subscriber. Visit floridatoday.com/subscribe
