We were there already! In 1969. Haven't you heard?
Neil Armstrong, first man on MARS (according to democrat rep Sheila Jackass Lee)...
On a visit to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2005, Jackson Lee made embarrassing news by asking if the Mars Pathfinder had taken an image of the flag planted there in 1969 by Neil Armstrong.[2]
Prior to the 110th Congress, Jackson Lee served on the House Science Committee and on the Subcommittee that oversees space policy and NASA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jackson_Lee#Political_career