Is it just me, or is it incredibly cool that we have two-TWO!-vehicles driving around on Mars? The pictures are astonishing.

(I'm not sure which is cooler, these pictures from Mars or the pictures from the asteroid a few years ago--these movies still give me chills:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mission/near/near_eros_anim.html)

I think that it's a little optimistic to talk about a manned mission to Mars, though. It's just too hard. We may get there incrementally, but it's too big a leap. First we ought to build a (permanent) base on the moon.