Going to be very interesting, what happens if they do find traces of life? the yanks should have taken some caltrop seeds with them and planted them on Mars that $hit grows anywhere and could green the planet in no time
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html
They will find half an amino acid that can make 1/4 of a part of a chromosome that maybe can make 1/26th of a bit of human DNA, and proclaim it as a discovery that postulates life may exist on other planets.
In other news, millions will die of starvation in the mean time and the seabreeze community will complain about La Nina and right of way rules.
I think they may find some rocks and maybe some dust ! 2.5 billion American dollars well spent again!
Millions will die of starvation regardless of whether we go have a look at Mars or not. Even if the money that it cost to go to Mars was spent on food for the starving millions instead, they'll still die of starvation, just a little later perhaps. Until developing countries embrace sustainable agriculture and economic stability, rather than corruption and agression, poor people will continue to starve.
If US did spend the money on space missions instead of recent wars, they would have permanent human village on every planet in our solar system by now.
Then possibly they don't need to carry any wars at all as they would earn admiration of whole world not a hatred ( as Apollo mission did in cold war era) .
As for starving people in Africa if they swap their guns ( that cost money and constant bullets supply)for tractors and seeds they will have more food that could eat.
Try googlemoon. They never went. That's why you can only zoom in so far, then aren't allowed to get closer to look at the stuff left behind because it's not there.