Krusty,
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We've understood the basic science to do the engineering to put an ISS-style facility on Mars for a while now. Give enough engineers enough resources and they'll figure it out.
Well, maybe... still, getting humans to survive on Mars for any length of time over a four-year trip there and back will take piles of money out of government funds, when robots and whatever high tech is up to the job could be doing it much cheaper.
IIRC, George Bush back in 2004 initiated the funding to put humans back on the moon by 2020 and start the humans-on-Mars program, both of which were cancelled because of high costs and other priorities appearing. Right now there's a lot of political enthusiasm for a Mars mission but that could change as time goes on, as it has in the past.
Musk and the others may be able to do it in the private sector, with or without NASA's partnership, but again dependent on money coming in from business profits, like Starlink. Still not a sure thing, risky.
Lots of known problems with getting there, staying there, and returning...
- the current four year's there and back travel time is far longer than any astronauts have had yet due to inadequate rocket technology unable to get astronauts there faster, and along the way, there will be radiation exposure, health issues with zero gravity, isolation, unforeseen diseases from weakened immune systems, all adding up.
- on Mars, there's more low gravity causing more health problems, more radiation exposure due to thin atmosphere and no magnetic field deflecting radiation away like here on earth, low air pressure outside the lander making things difficult, toxic chlorine compounds in the soil and dust getting into everything... and very cold.
And once humans actually set foot on Mars, it's likely that that planet is contaminated forever if human micro-organisms are able to survive... which is avoided by using sterile non-human high tech. So there are going to be scientific objections slowing things down, or adding more cost. Or eliminating humans entirely.
IIRC right now, the humans on Mars target is about the mid-2030s... maybe the problems will disappear as technology develops, it'll at least be interesting to see how progress moves ahead.
I have my doubts it'll be that fast as there isn't a lot of money to be made in space travel to move it forward at any great speed... but things could change.