STEM Breakthrough Contest: Manned Space flights out of Earth orbit

This is an entry for the STEM contest being run by stemgeeks and @themarkymark. You can join the STEM contest fun here!

50 years after the first Apollo Moon landing... sadly, we have turned our backs on Space Travel and inwards towards less stellar goals. The intervening years have seen the rise of Money Making as the most noble venture that Man can dream of... and the will of banding a nation (and a world) together for a large and nearly impossible undertaking has dissipated as the ideas of individual gain and profit has captured the world's best and brightest.

Of course, there has long been the argument that we should fix the problems on Earth before venturing out into space again... however, I have two points against this. First, it isn't a binary one or the other... yes, we should do space exploration... and yes we should fix the problems on the Earth.... this leads to the second point (and slightly more depressing point...), we have the resources to do BOTH if we wanted to as a society... however, the fact that we HAVEN'T is due to the communal lack of desire to fix the problems on Earth. We all want it fixed... yes, poverty is bad, inequality is bad, environmental destruction is bad... but only as long as we just don't want to change our habits or be financially affected. Sad, but true (please keep in mind that I'm speaking as a general block of humanity... individually, we can do what we can... which is often less than what is enough... and to be clear, I'm in that camp... I do what I can, but I could do and sacrifice much much much more...).

Anyway... getting off topic. The idea of getting out of Earth orbit (or even just to the Moon again...) with technology that is half a century evolved from the primitive forms of computing and engineering that were employed at the end of the 1960's would be a culmination of the best efforts across all industries and research. So, in many ways... it would be the crowning glory of many many breakthroughs in many disciplines!

From Engineering disciplines (how to efficiently launch and build a spacecraft?), Food Sciences (how do you feed Astronauts for nearly a year without support?) through to Behavioural Studies (how do you build a team that can work efficiently in isolation and close confines?).... there are many questions that would need to be researched and answered. The last time we sent people to a different location (the Moon), we started essentially with NO information... and after countless disasters, and hanging by the skin of teeth for most of the way whilst relying on cutting edge technology that would be unreliable... They did it! Now, we start from a higher base of knowledge... but a much lower sense of communal willpower and drive.

Why would this be important for humanity?

Aside from the countless leaps and bounds in understanding and knowledge across a wide range of disciplines both Social and Useful (okay... Physic/Engineering... some bias showing...).... the idea of sending people across the vast emptiness of space is INSIPRATIONAL!.

We bemoan the lack of interest in Science and Engineering among our young and across society in general. To be honest, part of that stems (haha...) from the lack of a crowning goal or achievement that is tangible to the population at large. Yes, the discovery of the Higgs Boson or the imaging of a Black Hole is pretty damn awesome for a small proportion of the population... but the excitement and wow factor does pass after a few days for the majority of the population.

However, the idea of a long term (years long...) preparation and ongoing risk, danger, romance and excitement of multiple trips out of Earth orbit... or even the prospect of a research establishment on a different planet (or moon), is something that would capture the attention of young children and adults all through the world. In the same way that people who were involved in some way with the Moon landing (from fabric manufacturers through to the engineers and NASA personnel) still proudly mention their part in such an epic adventure, this would be the same inspiration for countless people to aspire to be part of a grand human venture.

So, the idea of a manned mission to Mars (or the Moon) would be in part the culmination of many breakthroughs in many otherwise unrelated fields... but it would also simultaneously be the spark that would inspire many young people to abandon mundane money making pursuits and participate in a project that would benefit and inspire all of humanity! This would have the additional benefit of laying the basic STEM groundwork that would form the basis for future breakthroughs in Science and Technology.