Why does Mars get so much more press than the moon? I guess it has a bit more gravity, 37% of Earth vs 17% for the moon. We can’t survive in either atmosphere. Temperature differentials on mars are less extreme? That seems like the least of the engineering problems however.

Mars has more Earth-like gravity (should be significantly better for humans). It has a lot more water. It has a 25-ish hour day instead of 4-week day. (The latter may not matter to humans since we'd have to be inside most of the time anyway, but it matters for things like solar power.) Mars temperature is much better.

I'm still not saying we should settle Mars first, but it does have some real advantages.

Why wouldn't space based solar power work for the moon, when the concept is discussed for earth?

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power

Only thing i can think of are decaying orbits because of irregular mass distribution.

But when thinking of such concepts, why not plan for some station keeping expendables? It's not like were talking about some feeble pebbles thrown into orbit there like we have done up until now...

That 9 month trip is a real killer, though. No dust storms on the moon, and solar power is way more efficient than on Mars. See, e.g. how weak rovers are overall, despite having the best engineered solar panels that money could buy. Solar energy is only about 600Wm^-2 there versus more than double that on Earth. The Moon also has no atmosphere to scatter blue and UV light.

Mars is a terrible idea for a long-term colony, IMHO.

Why does the moon get so much more press then Venus? Cloud cities. Basically Earth gravity. What's not to love there?

The rain of [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid