There's a large, very well funded company building the path for Mars (and back). So there's 5000 or so SpaceX candidates already who have bought into the idea.

There's a large, very well funded company building the path for Mars (and back). So there's 5000 or so SpaceX candidates already who have bought into the idea. I'd guess NASA would have a few people willing as well. To be honest I think it will likely happen before 2050, but it also might also come and go before then as well. Getting to self sufficiency is a very, very long shot, and up until then something has to foot the bill which is where the endeavour is most likely to fall over. In any case, we get to watch some cool looking hardware go up in the mean time - https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54984.msg2309043#msg2309043 https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54984.msg2...