I wonder if this is meant to replace the ARES project which seems to have gone nowhere. http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/ http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/

I wonder if this is meant to replace the ARES project which seems to have gone nowhere. http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/ http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/ I'm not familiar with the details of either project or why a drone might be advantageous over a plane, although they have different applications. The ARES project has been around for a while though so its a mystery to me why it hasn't been implemented yet (the answer must be $$$).