Here's the thing: we're not going to Mars. Not anytime soon, at least, and not for very long.
The possibility of building long-term settlements remains distant at best, and if you're reading this within a few years of publication, you probably won't live to see it happen.
Venus, on the other hand...
An interesting blog post has sparked conversation this week about an old, but still compelling (if also purely theoretical) plan to build floating cities above the surface of Venus.
This idea was outlined as early as the 1970s in Russia. And according to many futurists, building such a colony would be easier than surviving long-term on Mars.
Why? Here are 5 fairly decent reasons.