Many space agencies, as well as private companies, dream of sending manned missions to Mars within a decade or two. People instead of spacecraft on the red planet, yes, but for what purpose? NASA has gathered scientists to think about it.

We chose to go to the moon. […] Because this goal will organize and bring to bear the best of our energy and experience. When President John F. Kennedy in Houston in 1962 defended his decision to send an American to the Moon before the end of the sixties, his main argument was not about science. It was a show of political and industrial power, a challenge that the United States had “the firm intention of winning, just like everyone else.” If Mars is the object of desire today, NASA is trying to come up with other reasons for sending a manned mission there. In this sense, the agency has just formed a special team, the “Tiger Team.”