Going to Mars has been one of the biggest dreams of mankind. For centuries, mankind has looked upon the Red Planet with envy, while thinking that it contains a civilization of living beings much like Earth. In fact, until the Pathfinder mission, many people were convinced that Mars contained a much more advanced civilization as compared to Earth. In fact, there were many exposes and scientific papers written on the political structure of the Martian society. However, now we know for sure that no civilization lives on Mars and even the possibility of bacteria or any other non-sentient organism living on Mars is slim if not nonexistent.

Even so, this does not change the fact that sending men to Mars is a viable mission for the future of Earth and for the advancement of space exploration. Mars is the only planet in the solar system that has a viable atmosphere that is susceptible to Terraforming techniques within the reach of our technology. It is a planet that is nearby the general location of Earth and unlike Venus, its atmosphere as well as its surface temperature is more tolerable. Hence, due to this, going to Mars would be a viable and doable mission. Since the Space Exploration Initiative in 1981, Mars has continued to be an attractive mission and as a result both Americans as well as Russians have made plans to go to Mars with a manned flight. However, while this was a matter of prestige for both sides during the Cold war, it has become somewhat of a less important objective after the Cold war has ended.
» Read more: How to Plan for the Perfect Mars Mission?