The effort to get to Mars with people is going to be a very expensive venture. The Newtonian reality is the energy needed to get peeps and supplies is never going away. And getting them back needs more energy.

Solving the problems of bone loss and muscle atrophy are not small projects. Once you get peeps to Mars could they stand up/walk and do anything useful? If the answer was yes it implies yet more bulk (and energy) to get it all there.

The profligacy here on Earth and global warming may make the will to expend that energy be very politically incorrect. Times and fashions will change when we can't feed the rise in population here.

I suspect that in our lifetime and that of our children, we will be sending machines only.

But if we did try to get people to Mars soon, can I nominate someone who will have little else to conquer when reality bites in 4 years time?