Perhaps sending a crew to Mars will be trivial by the time we have the technology and know-how to keep people alive, sustainably, on Mars in the first place. W

Perhaps sending a crew to Mars will be trivial by the time we have the technology and know-how to keep people alive, sustainably, on Mars in the first place. We could maybe put a team on Mars in a few years, perhaps, but they'd have to find a way to turn around and come back almost immediately. And we wouldn't be able to follow up on that mission for decades. It would be a symbolic effort at best, and a PR nightmare at worst if anything went wrong. The risk/reward just seems so badly skewed in favor of risk right now. Shame on us for the wishy-washy way we have handled our space program over the last few decades, sure. But we are not suddenly ready just because everything has been on an apparent pause for awhile. In the meantime, we should continue sending robots up there and perhaps launching supplies and equipment.