I feel you are doing the original phrase a disservice. "Why did you want to climb Mount Everest? Because it's there" is the famous quote from George Mallory be

I feel you are doing the original phrase a disservice. "Why did you want to climb Mount Everest? Because it's there" is the famous quote from George Mallory before his third and final attempt to reach the summit - he had lost men in both previous occasions, and he famously died during the third. And as his friend reported, "He said to me that what he would have to face would be more like war than adventure, and that he did not believe he would return alive"[1]. Mallory knew full well that the chances of coming back were low, and not returning from Mount Everest and not returning from Mars are not that different for those who stay behind. It also occurs to me that someone alive in Mars would be better connected to their family than literally anyone who settled in America in the 1800s. I wouldn't do it, but it's not that impossible to imagine. [1] https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/george-mallory-mount-everest-mystery https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/george-mallory-mount-evere...