Mars Mars is a very interesting place. Even more interesting is the evidence that there was once running water on the surface.
Much more study is needed understand where the water comes from and when it last flowed.
NASA has many missions planned, including orbiters, landers, rovers and maybe even balloons, airplanes and maybe a mission that will return samples to Earth. All of these missions may lay the groundwork for eventual human exploration. Its not easy getting to Mars, there is a lot of risk and missions can only be launched every 26 months. It will typically take about 6 months to travel to Mars. You can learn more about what it takes to mount a mission to Mars from the Destination - Mars manual and software.