In the summer of 1996, in one of the most exciting announcements in history, NASA scientists revealed a rock ejected from Mars by meteoric impact that showed evidence of life on the Red Planet in the distant past.  
If this discovery could be confirmed by finding actual fossils on the Martian surface, it would, by implication, suggest that our universe is filled with life and probably intelligence as well. From the point of view on humanity learning its true place in the universe, this would be the most important enlightenment since Copernicus. Although unmanned rovers can conduct a certain amount of the search for life on Mars, the best fieldwork requires the ability to travel long distances across very rough terrain, climb steep slopes, and do both heavy lifting and delicate sorting, as well as exercise on-the-spot intuition. All these skills are far beyond the abilities of robotic rovers. Field paleontology requires human explorers, live rockhounds on the scene.   

The first manned landing on Mars would serve as an invitation to adventure for children around the world. There will be some 100 million kids in the U.S. schools over the next 10 years. If a Mars program were to inspire just an additional 1 percent of them to pursue scientific educations, the net result would be one million more scientists, engineers, inventors, medical researchers and doctors.  
Mars is the New World. Someday millions of people will live there. What language will they speak? What values and traditions will they cherish as they move from there to the solar system and beyond? When they look back on our time, will any of our other actions compare in value with what we do now to bring their society into being? Today we have the opportunity to be the parents, the founders, the shapers of a new branch of the human family. By so doing, we will put our stamp on the future. It is a privilege not to be disdained lightly.   

There are additional reasons to send humans to Mars. Nations, like people, thrive on challenge; they languish without it. The space program needs a challenge. Consider these statistics: Between 1961 and 1973, with the impetus of the moon race, NASA produced technological innovations at a rate several orders of magnitude greater than that it has shown since. Even so, NASA's average budget in real dollars then was only about 20 percent more than today ($16 billion 1998 dollars compared with $13 billion). Why the enhanced productivity? Because NASA had a goal that forced its reach to exceed its grasp. Far from being a waste of money, having NASA take on the challenge of a manned mission to Mars is the key to giving the nation a real return for its space dollars.