There are some costs to doing buisness

There is a problem with ventures that run in the millions and billions of dollars. That would be the source of the financing. They want to see a return on their investment. It is not unusual for industries to take years and sink seemingly unlimited amounts of money to achieve a return. Sometimes they fail. The cost of failed attempts mount up and eventually if there is no pay off it all gets scrapped or sold to the next investor hoping to learn from past efforts.
Traveling into space has been a for profit deal when satellites are placed into orbit. Everything else is exploration and experimentation. So far any talk of further trips to the moon or to Mars are as scientific ventures. To make that happen the financial incentive and reward need to be there. The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge represents one effort to inspire competition to develop a system to deliver a vehicle for further lunar exploration.
Traveling into space is much like the expeditions that go up Mount Everest. The trip is long and faces extreme conditions. It requires a lot of equipment and support. Some of the people do not make it back. Also consider the few moon landings that have been made. Everest is littered with cast offs that the expeditions choose not to pack out. Things like oxygen tanks, camping equipment, bodies of fallen party members. On the moon are the bottom stages of the landing crafts, a lunar rover and other items.







http://spacegrant.nmsu.edu/lunarlegacies/artifactlist.html has a list of Apollo 11’s contributions to the lunar landfill. When all is said and done the efforts of high achievement will invariably leave its mark. Unfortunately we may find Mars suffering the same fate as Mount Everest, and the moon. It’s always cheaper and more feasible to leave the spent material behind. The Martians might want to consider going into the scrap business. With the Mars Lander they already have a start.

And who would be the problem for whom?

There is a different example that may point to how we would approach contact with Martians. The Inuit (Eskimos) tribes of the North have not been shoved out of the way en masse as some of the tribes in the lower 48 states. The land they inhabited was generally not suitable for agriculture but what it did have was gold. The amount of land that gold was discovered on was small and did not impact these northern tribes. Living on land that is for the most part undesirable allowed these people to not be force out. Even with gold discoveries the Inuit continued to live their normal lives. Many of them became a part of the growing “white” society and adjusted normally. The biggest impact was the Europeans and their collection of diseases they shared with each group of people they discovered.
In more modern times matters like oil discovery and native property rights have handled to their benefit. Their problems have been in assimilating into society, taking on traditional roles in the factories and offices. Much of it relates to the change from rural to an urban setting. Alcoholism seems to be one of the most common problems that the Eskimo and Indian populations have been susceptible to.
The Martians may welcome us on their planet; we could even cooperate on many levels. Sharing technology, histories, philosophies, and values would lead to a greater understanding of how other beings exist. We are very likely to be cautious about diseases being passed. We would easily be the ones decimated by their polymorphichauntavirus (disease from Martian mouse droppings). They may have no knowledge of alcohol, and if they take to binge drinking could have dire consequences. There are more vices than drinking, Sir Walter Raleigh learned about tobacco from the Indians. The Martians could turn us on to something strong that would put a lot of people on a nasty jag.

It starts somewhere, the reason is often the same...

The constant cycle of exploration, discovery and occupation is the fundamental means societies use to accommodate their growing numbers. Countries and groups of people through some advantage, often military force, and proceed to exploit it for commercial gain. When opposition impedes their progress the results can be dire. Genghis Khan, for example, was a power hungry opportunist that exploited his military abilities to claim lands and riches for himself. His was a series of ruthless campaigns, some of these pitting his forces against the Roman Empire when their rule was starting to fade. This clash of the titans demonstrates how even a renowned power can be assailed by a skilled tactician.

More to the point is how a vastly out-gunned population will invariably be stripped of their property rights or be coerced to trade them away. The American Indians are an excellent example of this. The discovery of America was for the sole intent of finding a shorter trade route to the east. It became a commercial venture which lead to immigration and settlers staking claim to land that, at the time, was not otherwise considered to be owned. The common belief being there was land enough for every one. Then cities grew and people spread out, causing the Native Americans squeezed in or pushed out. The Cherokees had found a way to fit in and still be their own nation. But when gold was discovered on their lands, the push to move the Indian populations that was already in motion gained new momentum and out they went.



Martians are likely not to exist. But if they do they may find themselves on the wrong end of the deal when we come to call. What is likely to happen when man lands on Mars? Most likely the landing party will plant a flag and claim it in the name of Virgin Atlantic (mabye they would go under the name of Virgin Galactic) or who ever paid for the trip. Then there is Martin the Martian to deal with. Would we end up the conquered people if they retaliated to our invasion?