There are a few obvious things that need to be stated in order for the public to prepare for a manned Mars mission. The fact that we're going to have to use so

There are a few obvious things that need to be stated in order for the public to prepare for a manned Mars mission. The fact that we're going to have to use some sort of atomic batteries is one of them. Another is that we can't search the entire planet for life before we go visit. It's impossible to disprove a negative. My preference would be to see every piece of gear have an integrated solid-state nuclear battery and O2/H2O generator. That way we design one cheap, rugged, relatively low-weight and low-volume piece of gear and then just mass-manufacture it. Also no astronaut would ever be far from water or air, and there becomes a zero chance of death by asphyxiation or dehydration.