re: and they'll care even lessafter MER-A, MER-B, Mars Express, and Nozomi
I think the poll's finding that 38 percent of the public would favor a human mission to Mars is actually very encouraging under the current circumstances. After all, that number comes in the absence of any type of political leadership on the subject or any great promotional campaign to push the idea. If and when they do have those factors on their side, does anyone really doubt that they could get those poll numbers over fifty percent very quickly.