It is irrelevant because it won't work on their own they simply don't have the resources. That being said the people that volunteered know the risks and someone had to be first. Even now just going into space is a risky venture and there is no guarantee of coming back.

Going back to my first statement though they are simply not capable of doing it. Few people really consider how far away from Mars we actually are, even if right now all humanity could get their act together it would be probably 2 decades in ideal situations. Currently we are probably looking at a century.

Here is a short list of the major things that need to be done before Mars.

• Self Sufficient lunar base. Not only to know a base on Mars is functional but simply because it will significantly reduce long term staging costs.

• orbital platform around the moon. A ship is not leaving earth on a trip to Mars again it is just not economical.

• base(s) on Mars' moons. They are basically glorified asteroids but they will function as a go between from space to surface. That ship that did not leave from Earth is also not landing on Mars.

• finally the establishment of a base on Mars.

• in between all this there would need to be the development of the ships that can go from earth/moon/Mars and land again. As well as the ships that are traveling from earth's orbit to Mars' orbit.

The irony that people that have volunteered for Mars one know it is unlikely to occur when they are physically capable of going is the same motivation for signing up. It feels like humanity is at least making progress, maybe we have finally at aside petty differences that really do not matter. There is the motivation that even if our generations never over come these petty difference, maybe a foundation will be laid for the next generation. A lot of people are willing to die to push humans further into space, and a lot of people have died to reach the point we are at currently.

Legally people are free to participate in whatever risky venture they see fit they just need to accept the consequences if something goes wrong. And sorry this was done on a phone the writing is probably pretty bad.