Europe delays ExoMars mission, again

London (UPI) Oct 18, 2008 - The European Space Agency says it's delaying its
unmanned mission to Mars until 2016 and may seek help from Russia and the
United States. It is the second big delay for the ExoMars Rover -- Europe's
flagship space mission, the BBC reported Saturday, noting the launch already
had been pushed back from 2011 to 2013 because of difficulties with the
early stages of the mission's...

More here:

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Europe_delays_ExoMars_mission_again_999.html

Maybe we should wait until human missions to Mars to make sure we get back
enough samples of the planet, or any at all the way things are going. Certainly
the human crew and accompanying rocket power will be able to return many
pounds - sorry, kilograms - of Mars regolith from numerous as opposed to just
a pound or two from one place with a robot sample return mission.

I also think our first manned mission to Mars should immediately start
establishing a permanent colony on the Red Planet, not wait for future
missions.