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Money on the space program in general is scientific and technological advancements. We gain a lot from the moon program

I think exploring Mars is better done with robots, not humans.  Then perhaps we build housing for humans with power etc. and send humans one way.  Maybe if we really want to colonize.

Stuff can be built robotically first.

From what I understand, it's still very much an open question whether human bodies can thrive long-term in that low of gravity.  The results of staying there for even just a little while are pretty severe, and one would have virtually no hope of returning to Earth gravity after any kind of extended stay.  It's a one-way trip, at the moment.  Maybe for always. 

And again, even a one-way trip is no guarantee of avoiding serious pain and medical consequences. 

Martian gravity is about 38% of ours.  Probably with routine physical conditioning it would be ok.

So, anyone have an idea why this is a crewed mission?

So, anyone have an idea why this is a crewed mission?

Crew probably figures they'll get chicks.  

It's not just about physical conditioning.  That low of gravity does stuff to a body that muscular and cardiovascular exercise doesn't address.

Thus any long term Mars colony would rapidly evolve into another species. 

There’s a certain amount of people that believe that even with very slow rotation to mimic gravity that you can stay in deep space for a long time and be mostly fine when you get back to earth gravity. 

It’s one of those things that there is very little research on because nobody has yet to put a simulated gravity station into space. 

When they first started putting humans into space they had no idea if we could even survive for anything other than very short periods. They didn’t know if our heart would be able to pump blood through the body normally, if our lungs would be able to function normally, if we could eat and swallow.