New Mars Forums

Hi all.

I'm new to this forum, was great to find it - looks like I'll have a lot of reading to do over the next week, so much good stuff here.

I have recently co-authored a simple educational book on space exploration that looks at the key pros and cons of manned missions to Mars, and thought it would be great to hear some thoughts from the community here on the topic.

Some of the key arguments mentioned in the book are:

PROS:
1) Scientific value
-Finding life
-Development of cutting edge technology
-Increasing efficiency 
-A Step Towards commoditized interplanetary travel and deep space exploration
2) Economic value 
-Developing cutting edge Technology
-Mining for valuable natural resources 
-Boost for global cooperation
3) Inspirational value
-Inspiring children   
-Restoring the 'Can Do' spirit in society
4) Growing as a species
-'Safety' planet 
-Drive to expand beyond the solar system

CONS:
1) Unsustainable costs 
-There are bigger problems that we need to solve 
-Creation of huge budget deficit
2) Limited scientific value 
-Poor value for money (could send many more unmanned missions for the same cost)
-Planetary Protection issues
3) Health and safety risks
-Risks on the way 
-Risks after landing 
-Limited possibility of a rescue mission 
4) Incentive to carelessness on Earth

Would be really eager to know where most of you stand.

Oh and in case any of you are interested in the book itself, you can find it on Amazon by searching:
"The Two Sides of a Manned Mission to Mars"