I don’t think you have thought this through. Think of the people you would like sent there and it all makes sense.

I wonder if Greyhound will have a Mars route

We can take water with us. Not knowing anything about the place was also a hurdle for landing on the moon...and the Americas.

But we didn’t have any plans to colonize the moon. Also, it was only a few hours trip. Not months.

It really surprises me when people talk about things as if technology will never change. I made a prediction for the future (i said 20-30 years from now) about cars with roof top solar panels and batteries with enough storage capacity to make them totally off the grid. No need to plug them in. Sun hitting those panels during the day is enough energy to run the car all night. The first 5 responses are "its not possible to collect that much energy with the panels that would fit on a cars roof".

The answer to that is "you mean its not possible TODAY". Todays panels and todays batteries cant make that happen. Technology for those two things will change and some day we wont need to plug cars in anymore. At some point a few hour trip to the moon was just "crazy talk". The crazy talk today is when someone says we cant go to the moon. That will happen with mars in the next few decades and some day we will be able to travel to the edge of this solar system...and beyond.

I didn’t say technology can’t change. I only was saying there is a big difference between Mars and the moon.

You can’t see the forest for the trees! Of course they manufacture cars but they are not making the same kind of cars. They are not Ford. Nothing like them.

The people that can’t see the forest are the ones that are buying Tesla because it’s the trendy hipster elite car to own right now. Compare the company to any company you want if you want to pretend it’s not a car company. If you look at their earnings and compare that to the earnings and stock prices of proven successful companies, Tesla is over valued. That’s why successful hedge fund managers are shorting it.

The people I would like to launch into space don't need to go to Mars, I would just like them launched into space. Whether they wear a space suit is up to them and whomever launches them. :)

Really? Take water with us? The problem with space travel is payload capacity at launch and water is not only heavy, it would take the place of other critical items. The only way that might be feasible is if a space station was used as a supply depot with regular shipments- I think the cost would be prohibitive.

Going to the Americas was daunting, but at least it was on the same planet.

They are not building the same kind of cars!!! They don’t compare. It’s like apples and oranges. They are both fruit but........

If you read the article I posted, I think I posted where VWs CEO stared they are drastically changing the way they do business and using Tesla as inspiration.

When the CEO of the largest auto maker in the world says that they are gearing up to be more like Tesla and that they need to make drastic changes........ that tells me Tesla isn’t in the same realm as other ceviche manufacturers.

Oh, you mean like how Ford changed the way car companies built cars with the assembly line? It doesn’t matter that they are doing things differently, they are still a car company. And even aside from that, earnings reports to stock prices can be compared to companies across all genres. They are overrated.

I read recently those "successful" hedge fund managers have lost approx $11B shorting Tesla since 2016.

Yes, Tesla is a car company. It is just run radically different than other car companies. Other car companies keep announcing they're coming out with electrics while Tesla keeps increasing efficiency and thus range.

My next door neighbor is definitely not a hipster and he bought a Model 3. I think it was because it was a overall a lower cost that other options.

To clarify, I have made no mention as to whether I think they are over or under valued. I am telling you why people have valued them differently than other vehicle manufacturers, of which I am correct!!

People have valued them differently because they are caught up in the hype and romance of a high tech car company that’s going to save the world. It’s emotional not logical. It’s similar to the dot com bubble when people were buying yahoo and aol. Musk is the current PT Barnum.