Liglats, ye warm me soul! I agree that mankind as a whole should venture to Mars. NASA is not enough.

Robots can very well perform first-look analyses, and there should be several more robotic missions to Mars. But if we are really interested in planetary studies then nothing will replace human eyes on Mars. A geologist recognizes strata, concretions, fossils, bedding planes--that's hard stuff, subtle pattern-recognition algorithms, for a robot. A soil chemist will tailor experiments to match his evolving understanding of Martian soil, and by the end of a mission I would guarrantee he would surpass the possible findings of a robotic soil analyst. I wanna go! Can you imagine picking your way along one of the layered canyon walls, looking at...sandstone? tuff? wind-laid sediments? conglomerate? alien seashells?