Quote:We do know enough about the moon to know that it doesn't satisfy our needs for long term space exploration. It's akin to staging a Mt. Everest expedition from the end of your street. In order to tackle the challenges of manned inter-planetary space flight we have to do it. Traveling to the moon and Mars simultaneously is cost prohibitive.

 

I think both are necessary.

 

We don't have experience colonizing other planets, satellites, bla bla bla... shouldn't we practice that on the closest one to earth? What purpose does Mars serve on expanding our ability to travel space? I'm not saying you're wrong, only that I don't know. Isn't it virtually just different calculations on a computer to assist in the landing and all that jazz. Sure, there's probably the potential for life and that's swell, but if there isn't life on Mars, what have we gained from it?

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