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Well, didn't the ESA just have a bunch of astronauts locked away, to simulate a flight to Mars?
It has to be on their minds to be doing something like that. Whether NASA joins the party or not is another thing. I can easily see at least 3 different bases on the moon, all flying their own flags ...
Can economic rationalisation really come into play here? If these space-faring superpowers really wanted to be serious about this, they would be in feet first, creating some serious jobs in the process. After all, they would be gearing up to conquer another planet! Surely that would stimulate their local/national economies.
They would first need to pillage more resources from this one, in order to make infrastructure that they can take with them. I doubt there is too much on the moon, and I couldn't see them lifting a haulpak and some excavators (and a processing plant for that matter) up there in a hurry.
Personally, I would love to see humanity on Mars in my lifetime. Heck, I would even put my hand up, if offered the chance.
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