My gosh, I actually made a mistake
With the intention of making you eat crow, I went and checked von Braun's Mars plans... and he actually did plan to have only one ship land at the pole, and then set up a landing site for the other two...
But then let's take a look at von Braun's Mars. Note the "pressure suits". Note the landscape where there are no rocks, only a water eroded desert, and check out the plants along the bottom of the cliff...
http://www.novaspace.com/LTD/BONESTELL/Mars.html
EP
