Russia plans missions to Mars and the Moon

[Rodent]

Why should we be spending money for something impractical? Because it makes space-flight geeks excited?

Eh, no one doubts that if we put in the effort to master intra-system space travel, the returns will be quite awesome...

It just takes a lot of initial investment, and by lot, I mean a lot. One country alone probably cannot shoulder the load. A trans-national space service with joint funding might do the trick, then you can start putting people on Mars and the Moon and stuff....