Great article. I wish it would answer this question though. If we don't someone else will. How do we prevent that. Getting to Mars seems to be a political goal not a scientific one (for most). If the USA doesn't then China will.
>If we don't someone else will. How do we prevent that.
This thought process alone shows me that we probably aren't even mature enough as a species to go to Mars. A mission like that will likely need global cooperation, effectively dooming it.
If China somehow went to Mars on their own they deserve whatever benefit they were to get from and we shouldn't aim to prevent space exploration because of who does it.
Nobody is going to Mars. Not now, not in 100 years. Unless we invent some kind of teleportation or other sci-fi way of traveling there, it's just never going to take place.
Mars has essentially no energy sources. Everything people need to survive, and return, will have to be pre-stationed there.
If the Chinese all want to move to Mars, fine by me. I don't think it's a solid plan, but they're welcome to try.
