Originally Posted by
Less Hair
I think it is super impressive how fast they make progress and how far they have come. Reusable rockets, cheapo satellites and private space flight.
However I am not sure about the Mars euphoria it must be about money, mining and bringing back heavy stuff to earth not so much about science, discovery and mankind.
I completely disagree (with respect, of course!) and think the complete opposite is true. Landing humans on Mars is our next big step and it follows up on the explorers from centuries ago that explored the world. It's human nature to want to discover new things although we can do it with robots these days, there is nothing like having a person visit a new unexplored place and explain what it is really like. Don't forget that there is still a possibility that some form of life exists on Mars albeit microorganisms at best, but the possibility exists. If the human race gave up on exploration in the Middle Ages think what it would mean to us now if we even survived to this point. I doubt this forum would exist for a start.