[SuziQ]

Why not go to the moon first, and set up bases, and operations there? Exploration for minerals, and substances for creating fuel could be done. Then from there, rockets could be sent to Mars, without the need for such heavy lifting vehicles as we need now.

There's no need to rush to get to Mars. It isn't going anywhere.

[buccaneer81]

That was GWB’s vision for the Constellation/Orion program before Muslim Outreach became NASA’s primary objective.

[Ravenstar]

Space X wont even have a manrated vehicle before 2020 much less something capable of going to the moon, Mars is totally outside their capabilities. They had pad failures that they have to fix before they can even haul cargo. I know, you haven’t heard anything about it because they are as transparent as the Obama Administration about what they are doing. If you watch a full video you will see some of the pad failures but not all that ocurred.

Ravenstar