The tetrahedron of settlement includes three aspects entirely within the scope of people to develop (technology, techniques, and culture) and one without: the environment. Naturally, one of the biggest questions, and perhaps the biggest, is where to go, with some arguing for the Moon, or for Mars, or for some other location. For the Homesteader's Guide, the answer is "all of the above."
A national space program may have to make a decision between pursuing the goal of the Moon and the goal of Mars, but if the frontier is opened, then different groups of people will of course make different decisions about where to go, and the solar system offers many options, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
The many worlds of the solar system may be classified into certain groups, some with a sole example and some with a great multitude. And while all are challenging, some are more challenging than others.
One classification of the solar system would be as follows: Mercury & the Moon (the hard-rock worlds), Venus (the terrestrial world with the hellish atmosphere), Mars (the terrestrial world with the cold, thin atmosphere), the minor bodies (asteroids & comets), the icy dwarf planets (including the icy moons), the gas giants (or at least the three without the crushing gravity of Jupiter), and Io (for those who want an especial challenge).
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