Anyone else excited that we are finally seriously working on going to Mars?

[SvennoJ]

20 billion isn't much compared to the military budget (582.7 billion plus another overseas contingency operations budget of 58.8 billion)

The moon landing did wonders for morale and also for new technologies. Imagine what a Mars mission can do today with modern media coverage. Much better than focusing on the next terror attack to 'unite' the country.