See? You've gone and proven my assertion! The majority of testing and development for those things will most probably occur via Mars colonization. Now, is that worthless?
Not saying the Mars plans are worthless, nor that Mars itself is worthless. Earthly monasteries need a place to go since earth has become inhospitable to certain subtle forms of life. Of curse, in the short term the moon and Mars are to be the main foci of action. However, the big tech is beyond that. Moving planetary bodies is so advanced that there are few clues as to how to proceed. It will be Mars and the moon for the rest of our lives anyway. After that Mercury and Venus. And after that something else, but I'll not worry about it. Venus sure looks nice sitting out there in the morning sky, which is not where it is at the moment. When you look at Venus, think real estate.