Elon Musk has a lot to prove at today’s Mars colonization announcement

Elon Musk will present the world with SpaceX’s plans for Mars colonization today in Guadalajara, Mexico — what should be the victorious presentation of a dream project. But he doesn’t have the money to get to Mars alone. So today he must either announce a substantial financial partner or woo one, in the face of a very recent SpaceX rocket explosion.

There's one agency Musk needs to win over, and it already has its own Mars plans Ambitious space projects are glamorous, but this event isn’t really for you and me. (We are useful only insofar as we provide politicians with evidence of public enthusiasm.) This isn’t a phone, or a new app, or new headphones — it’s not a consumer product at all. Rockets are far too expensive; space colonies...