Will man ever walk on Mars?

Been thinking about the space program a lot lately after the death of Neil Armstrong and the recent spacecraft landing on Mars.

I know very little about the particular challenges of such a manned mission, but I bet some in our diverse group of posters could really enlighten us.

 

Can we add to the poll what country the person will be from?

 

Some kind of huge discovery on Mars would speed up the timetable, like abundant liquid water or signs of life.

I think we have the technology now. The barriers are more logistical and financial.

 

I said in my lifetime, but I'm 28, so that's about four decades plus to get the job done.

 

No real reason to have a man go up if we do not intend to live up there. Drones and robots can do most of the research for us.

The biggest problem would be getting the person we send up there home. You have to punch through an atmosphere to come home.

 

It would be easier to go to Mars if the goal was to settle and not return astronauts.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_One
Mars One plans to establish the first human settlement on Mars. According to their schedule, the first crew of four astronauts would arrive on Mars in 2023

 

We've done it before.

 

To Mars? Unless things change, only if there's money in it - or if we run out of something here, like water or air.

(Tom Wolfe had a smart OpEd a few years ago in which he argued that the only reason we got to the moon was that the trip was one front in the Cold War. It's interesting this week to note the number of small government types praising Neil Armstrong for having ridden one of the most expensive public works projects in human history to the moon and back.)

 

We'll land there.
Another question comes to mind, when will beings from another planet visit us?

 

Several posters on this site are proof positive of that.

 

10-4 to that!