That’s a legit question, but I don’t really have the expertise to give a clear answer. If there was a concrete proposal, maybe I could say something.

There probably isn't a straight answer. But I'm curious what people think would be necessary for a chain following Bitcoin consensus rules to be a viable scaling solution. 

Scoresby

Same enough to still have roughly similar consensus rules. 

I think the premise here is that the Mars chain does have the same properties as the original Earth chain.

CheezeGrater

bitcoin

Should Mars have its own Bitcoin chain?

> It also makes me wonder, is there a world where a new chain is a more reasonable scaling solution than a soft fork?

Bitcoin is worth what it is because of its simplicity and, most importantly, because no government controls it. If this new chain doesn’t have the same properties, I think it’ll flop. Can’t give you a straight answer to your question, but that’s how I see it.