I've read Martin Rees' book, "Our Final Hour" - and he is very much in favor of people colonizing space. He just thinks it can be done more effectively by rich adventurers than by somebody like NASA.

Here's my take. If NASA astronauts die in a flight to Mars - tragedy, and national controversy, and the end of the program. If a rich snob adventurer dies, funded by private money...so what! Other "upper class twits of the year" and reckless daredevils will follow.

NASA has proven its total incompetence to manage manned spaceflight - I'd rather someone like Steve Fosset or Burt Rutan did it. The first government sponsored manned ship to reach Mars...will be launched by the Chinese government. NASA is hopeless.