> Another flaw: why do we even need to colonize a planet? It actually doesn't make much sense if you really think about it. I'm firmly in the camp that thinks humanity's future is in a cloud of orbitals aka an eventual Dyson Swarm.

It seems odd to quibble about which rock we should colonize when you think this far ahead.

Any species that lives in a "cloud of orbitals" or a "Dyson Swarm" is going to have colonized other planets in its solar system, if only as a temporary experiment. The thing to do now is push farther out and explore. Any rock will do but Mars has more romance to it and, for better or worse, that's a requirement.