Latest images of the BFR:

https://mashable.com/article/spacex-bfr-pictures-elon-musk/#hmfLuYGnrZqd

Please tell me “BFR” stands for what I think it stands for.

what else could it be but Big Farking Rocket

Officially "Big Falcon Rocket", unofficially is a bit more risque.

Also the first stage and/or the complete vehicle (ie first and second stage in launch configuration) is actually considered the BFR, the second stage that goes to the moon, or Mars or wherever (it's designed to go and land just about anywhere in the solar system) is the "BFS" or "Big Falcon Spaceship"

By your logic, we would have never visited the moon in the first place. After all, there was nothing practical about visiting the rock in the 60s, beyond proving we could do it and were better than the Russians.

Man can and should push the limits. The clock is ticking. Eventually we will blow ourselves up.

No by my logic we got there and back alive.

We have to go anyway to space. Our resources are not infinite.

I just object to the "cool" factor being the reason.

That wasn't merely a matter of doing something "cool". Proving we could respond to Russian achievements and surpass them was much more important than just doing something cool. When Sputnik started orbiting overhead, millions of Americans understood the potential threat that capability represented.



Well, it's easy to set goals with somebody else's money.

I would like to see mankind become a multi-planetary species. I hope that somebody can find a way to make that practical.

As for safeguarding the human species, for virtually any scenario short of splitting the planet into smaller pieces, anything that could be done on Mars could have an equivalent done on earth much more easily and less costly. Nonetheless, I would like to see humans get to Mars, colonize and exploit it.

I think going to Europa or Titan is cooler than going to Mars. Does that prove we should go to those places and not Mars?
No, of course not. We need to start establishing viable long term off Earth bases. The moon is the logical place to start. Infrastructure can be sent and constructed much more quickly and frequently. Many more expeditions can be sent there much more easily than to Mars. I think a lunar base would be way cool and doesn't require putting a huge amount of resources into a single long term mission that, if it fails, puts the entire endeavor in jeopardy.
Of course I would love to see settlements established on Mars eventually as well, but see that as a much longer term project.

If we can't make a go at a Moon Base, there's no way in hell we can make a go of it on Mars. They are equally inhospitable to life. The thin atmosphere of Mars is no better than the vacuum of the Moon.