Which is one of the (good) reasons for the effort to return. The Moon is a good environment to put colonization technology to the test, before entrusting a Mars base with it. At least if there is a catastrophe on the Moon, the trip home is only a few days. If there is a catastrophe on Mars, very bad scenario.

I tend to think that the perils of a long voyage are underrated, however. Too much glib thinking. It's more like a trip to Antarctica by sailing ship in terms of isolation and beyond human reach.