Before I explain, I'd just like to point out that during Obama's administration, he said he'd put humans on Mars and everyone loved him...but now that Trump said he wants to put humans on Mars, everyone hates him for it.
I think it's not as necessary as other accomplishments, but that being said, putting a human being on Mars would be an incredible scientific and technological accomplishment, and would philosophically continue to push humanity to its limits and force us to confront some of the greatest unknowns in the universe. Personally I just couldn't think of anything more exciting or cool and it's definitely a project worth funding.
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From my recent survey of modern scientific fields, I would say that investing in nanotechnology and artificial intelligence are the two most promising venues in science. Both are incredibly sophisticated fields and both are at a very early stage of their development - but their potential is incredible. As soon as a breakthrough in either field is made and we obtain the first functional practically useful prototype, our quality of life will skyrocket quickly.
I would leave Mars for private companies and authoritarian governments, and focus on funding more practically promising fields.
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