Just curious though -- I'd always assumed domes were just a fun sci-fi illustration/trope because they look cool -- not that they were necessarily taken seriously by engineers.

Is the author just responding to that sci-fi concept (same thing as, spaceships don't make a whoosh sound in space), or are there more serious Mars plans that have genuinely proposed domes? I feel like the author isn't quite clear who he's responding to.

Still interesting either way.