Sending a Person to Mars Is the Last Thing You Would Want to Do

  • NASA's had a robotic presence on Mars since 2003. Spirit operated from 2003-2010, Opportunity from 2003-present, Curiosity from 2012-present. All of these have been fairly widely reported in pop culture, and NASA continues to actively make & publicize discoveries from them:

    http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/home/