[alexander_busek]

Without landing? What’s the point?

By the same token, one could ask why NASA sent Apollo VIII and Apollo X to orbit the Moon - without landing.

I guess you just know more about space travel than NASA.

Regards,

[onedoug]

If they can’t land, then they are nothing but just another orbiter.

Those early missions to the Moon were in the early days of space exploration when capabilities were being tested. These are now known.

A manned mission to Mars is a huge investment in time and money.

But post-soetoro or bust, what is really needed on Mars are geologists with rock hammers.

[cripplecreek]

To land on Mars requires sending an unmanned fuel depot and/or launch vehicle first. The gravity of the moon is low enough that we could take our own fuel when we did land.