[robotastronaut]

I personally don’t think many people are banking on colonizing another planet, but rather the technologies created as byproducts of that effort. Between energy creation, energy storage, thermal regulation, extraction and refinement of products necessary for life (oxygen, water, etc), and transformation of atmospheric gases, there’s plenty that can help keep our current planet healthy and suitable for human life.

[ModernMech]

But why do we have to go to Mars to invent all those things? Aren't there enough incentives to invent them in the context of helping our own planet?

[Karsteski]

Would the internet have been invented if not for military interests? Innovation, especially massive leaps, is born from necessity and drive, not "let's improve our technology".

[dahfizz]

Clearly not.