The Future of Mars

Currently with the US government in huge debt and the cut backs to NASA, it is very unlikely that anything new will happen in the coming years as far as Mars is concerned. I do feel that eventually we will set foot on Mars. Most likely in another 40 - 50 years from now. Anything attempted sooner is surely bound to fail since I feel we have not invested in deep space research to attempt a manned trip to mars or any other spacial body beyond the moon. A manned mission to Mars should involve landing and establishing some form of base for future manned missions to continue on a regular basis. Unless we visit Mars regularly, I cannot see the point in ever attempting to set foot on Mars in the first place. Is terraforming Mars a possibility? Is this even something remotely being considered by the Nasa experts? I do feel that we will reach a breaking point on Earth and we will have to move beyond our own planet for mankind to survive, about 50+ years from now. The resources alone on...

Well there has not been much activity on the NASA website since February 24th. Seems like Spirit is currently still in its last position. Stuck in the sandy soil. The solar panel is still collecting the suns rays and generating some needed power. Nasa has found an innovative use of Spirit while it is in its motionless state. The stationary radio signal is used to measure the Mars rotation and movements around the sun. This is certainly one creative use of Spirit that stilltrying to survive the Martian winter. It does not seem likely that the issues associated with the damaged wheel will allow Spirit to ever move beyond its current location. Once summer arrives on Mars and Spirit is still operational, it  will be interesting to see if Nasa has some tricks up its sleeve to get Spirit moving again. Source: Nasa