Going to the moon again is important, going to mars is important.
The moon mission will pave the way for the mars mission and the mars mission will pave the way for missions beyond.
The goal is to be back at the moon by 2020 and on mars by 2030. I've read various reports that they may have found an extrasolar planet that is much like earth. Personally I'm betting that by the year 2100 we'll be able to go to other solar systems if need be.
We know that there's evidence of recent water ice on Mars, milllions of years ago Venus was much like earth. So if water can exist three times in our solar system? Why not anywhere else. It'll also give life beyond our world a greater chance if we can prove that life started more than once in our own backyard.
This stuff all really excites me... I have a dashboard widget that shows the number of extrasolar planets confirmed and what type the newest one is.
