I feel it's improbable, but not impossible.

I always worry that we're gonna accidentally fuck around with life. I don't mean Martian Manhunter-style beings (they'd be easy to spot), but microscopic or oceanic life.

I had that thought when we sent a probe into the waters of - what was it, one of Saturn's moons? - and wondered of the possible damage.

I do realise space exploration has benefits, of course.

Has the proof of concept been established yet? Once we establish how many people could be skylifted to Mars, has a similar sized group been subjected to the conditions? Total isolation for two or three years travel time, no exposure to the outside atmosphere or conditions save for inside the residential facility, self-reliance for food, water, air, medical, etc., and determine if survival (and sanity) are possible?

Can the expense be accounted for? Can they afford it? Are there any returns to expect? A base on Mars might be a start for mining the asteroids (although I suspect that for such inter-satellite operations, Ceres or Deimos or Phobos might be suitable.)

And as always... SHOULD we? Mars will not be a backup for Earth in case of disaster... it can't be. We have no way to move a hundredth of a percent of Earth's population to Mars... and movement is the LEAST problematic of all the factors.

It'll happen some day, if Man survives - but that won't be soon, I fear. Perhaps an automated mission might be more viable soon... perhaps.