It seems we are in an age when we need real good reasons why we should be doing anything. For Mars, no country has as yet found a reason for going there that can be supported politically or economically. I do not think we ever will. Plus, there are some very serious technological and medical problems. No one has figured out how to insure that the astronauts will be strong enough to make it to mars and back without severely destroying their bones and other physiological factors. Prolonged space travel under weightlessness causes bones to become brittle. In just 80 - 100 days, the effects are serious enough that Russian astronauts from the Mir space station are barely able to return to Earth without breaking their bones upon landing. They return in very rough physical and mental condition. To get to Mars requires a trip of over 500 days round trip. Currently, no human could survive this trip.