Mission to Mars Seems Closer Than Ever Before [poll]

For decades, astronomers have been obsessed with the idea of sending a manned mission to Mars. While un-manned missions to the big red planet have become almost routine,  sending men to Mars has been left to Hollywood. Now, researchers have set their sights on getting a crew in the vicinity of Mars by the 2030s.

Essentially, the biggest  problem with getting man to Mars is the extreme length of time it takes to make the trip - about 500 days using traditional methods. This much time in space presents huge health risks and issues for astronauts. According to space.com, using nuclear fusion, the length of the trip could be slashed by over half - 83 days out, 30 days on the planet's surface, and 97 days to get back. Researchers are currently doing tests and experiments in working toward that end.

It certainly sounds intriguing, but can you imagine spending 83 days cooped up in a space capsule? Spending 4 hours in a car for the drive to Denver is bad enough.

And what about the cost of a mission to Mars? It's been estimated that a mission to Mars would cost about $6 billion. Who has that kind of money? And if they have that kind of money, is that the absolute best way to spend it? Is there some incredible benefit to putting man on the surface of Mars that is worth the enormous cost and risk, or are we simply driven by curiosity and the drive to be the first to say "we did it?"

Will we actually see a manned mission to Mars in our lifetime? There have been studies and proposals on the subject for over half a century, but so far none of the ideas have proved feasible or affordable. I know at this point in my life I've got fewer days ahead of me than I do behind me and I am fairly skeptical that I will ever see a human being walking on the red planet - and I'm okay with that. I would be much more pleased if the next 20  years of my life brought peace on earth and an end to starvation in the world.