Perhaps the best motivation for going to Mars is political. It is obvious that no single nation currently has either the will or the resources to do it alone but a consortium of nations and space agencies could achieve it within 20 years.
The way life manages information involves a logical structure that differs fundamentally from mere complex chemistry. Therefore chemistry alone will not explain life's origin any more than a study of silicon copper and plastic will explain how a computer can execute a program.
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Should we find a second form of life right here on our doorstep we could be confident that life is a truly cosmic phenomenon. If so there may well be sentient beings somewhere in the galaxy wondering as do we if they are not alone in the universe.
