Man on Mars

You think we'll see in our lifetime?

...maybe...

I don't think so

I grew up wanting to be the Man on Mars. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if this didn't happen in my lifetime. I am 35 years old.

--Peter

Isn't Dubya supposed to jump on the Man on Mars bandwagon during his SOTU speech???

The Russians are more optimistic:

Refusing to be deterred by a string of failures in exploring Mars, Russian space officials have proposed an ambitious international project to send a six-person team to the Red Planet around 2015.

Russia's space programme hopes to work closely with the American agency NASA and the European Space Agency to build two spaceships that would be capable of transporting the crew to Mars, supporting them on the planet for up to two months and then safely bringing them home, said Nikolai Anfimov, head of the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building.

The roughly 440-day trip — which would mark a milestone in space travel and international space cooperation — is expected to cost about $20 billion, with Russia suggesting it would contribute 30 per cent.

``It must be an international project,'' said Vitaly Semyonov, head of the Mars project at the M.V. Keldysha Space Research Centre. ``No one country could cope alone with this task.''

Russian space officials said they are receiving encouraging signs of interest from NASA and European counterparts.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/07/07/stories/2002070702581400.htm

As a matter of fact.. if there was a voluntary tax for the space program, sign me up, I'd gladly pay for that, and I'm not a big fan of high taxes.... THAT would be worth it.

I think alot of people would agree with me on that one.

I am 28, and I think man would have set foot on the Martian soil in my lifetime. (fingers crossed)

I think it would be mankind's greatest ever scientific acheivement.

-Heyo