Found this great op-ed piece about human travel to the Mars. I must say that I totally agree with his conclusions (I have for a long time believed that we should consider one way space travel.) The problem is that there are so many soft-hearted people in this country who have very little desired to do anything that might involves loss of human life (i.e. Iraq war) even it is obviously in the best interest of our country/world.
People willing to sacrifice progress, knowledge, and freedom in the name of safety or security are doomed to loose all of them. Such people would let the last great space achievement of the U.S. be the trip to the moon; and watch while other countries leave us behind.