Yeah. Uh huh. Thank you very much, Associated Press, for demonstrating once again your level of reliability.
Certainly these uncomfortable questions must be considered when planning a mission to Mars, but the "recent discovery" has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with manned spaceflight. While 581c is a mere stone's throw away in astronomical terms, at a distance of roughly 0.1% of the galactic diameter, it's still twenty light years away. We won't be sending manned expeditions on distances a millionth of that in our lifetime. (20 light years is about three million times the distance of Mars at opposition.)
I'd ask why the AP is sending idiots to cover science stories... but I suppose these idiots are probably the smartest guys they've got.
On the NOSIE!