Do you think it a good idea for the US to be going to mars to look for life for 8 billion - or use it towards the people we know exist here?

I thoroughly agree. It would be a criminal waste of taxpayer money to spend billions of dollars on some fantasy: "looking for life in space". I mean, what exactly are we supposed to do, in the unlikely event it was actually found? Nobody seems to have thought that through. Are we supposed to all do cartwheels up the street? Does it make our hair grow back? Does it fix the US $26trillion debt?

But fortunately the Mars Perseverence rover is not some flying swab shop. Take a careful look at the suite of instruments it carries. This machine is going to Mars to do some serious science. That science will lead to numerous research papers being published, which in turn boosts the reputation of numerous scientists and the prestige of numerous institutions.

The "looking for ancient life", habitability, yada yada, line is just the tired old outreach story that nasa throws to the public, who nasa believes can't contemplate anything more cerebral than boogiemen and germs. You can safely ignore it.

But even ignoring the nasa outreach BS and instead contemplating the serious science, the question of whether the money would be better directed to projects here on Earth is a long and difficult one that falls into the category of sociology and politics  rather than the physical sciences.

Personally, although I am glad the Percy Rover launched successfully, and I hope the mission successfully adds to our knowledge of the physical and chemical sciences of Mars, as it was designed to do, I really think we have seen enough red dust and rocks, and it would be better for science and nasa if we moved on and started looking at other objects in the solar system and beyond. Spectacular images of distant moons, planets, galaxies and nebula are able to impress the public in their own right without needing any deceit or spin from nasa or anyone else. Weren't the images, science, and new understanding of the universe gained from the Hubble telescope worth the cost?

mars means what lil tykes do when about a year old untie mamas borrowed tie from pappy  used to fasten the kids ankle to the crib rung,,untie the knot after a hundred tries 

 to figger out howta get me outa this place so I can explore whats down the stairs where ma makes all that noise

we have first to land 4 or  5 2 leggers on mars sandy & rocky terrain,then explore,dig,travel in the buggy,take gas samples,look for water,see if life as we understand it was ever there,plant animal,fish,4 leg animals,car, airplane  skeletons

old buildings

Man's destiny is to get away from all the crowded conditions on earth created by over population. Even if we were to use that money for the desperately needy, it wouldn't solve the long term problem and would just generate more needy people. 

8 Billion is nothing to the National Budget

Besides, are we really worth it ?

It would buy us a Toothbrush each

But the reality is the US wouldn't spend it on helping people, they would invade another country or build an aircraft carrier.

If man does not try to move forward : if he does not try to push the boundaries of our knowledge and capabilities --- and simply decides to "consolidate" what he already has --  then the human race will begin its rapid decline and become just another animal species .  

All human advances came from people willing to push the boundaries -- all civilisations died when their people became complacent and satisfied with the status quo. 

Yes, going to Mars is a good idea. It is exploration. It is science. What if Columbus and all others stayed in Europe and said Why explore to ocean and North America??

The money spent on Mars exploration is one tenth of one percent of the money we spend on the military to kill people. Think of it that way. 

I think space exploration is good... As for people that need help, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.... give that man a fish and feed him for a day... If people need help teach them how to fish, or hold a job

The future long term existence of humankind depends on our ability to leave Earth.  Being able to travel to the Moon and the Mars is a short but necessary first step in insuring our future existence.  Yes it's a good idea.

There are a lot of things a lot of country's governments do that only very few people within that government even know about, there are tons of secrets and they are secrets for a plethora of reasons. There have been several known missions to mars over the past 30 years and all of them might have found signs of life. If they did find signs of life only very little was disclosed about that information. 

They've already done it. And they probably already know whether there are signs of life there or not. So far the information they have shared from the research all says that living things on Mars is possible, but not possible for humans without protection and breatheable air being there for us. We would have to live in a controlled environment bubble if what you're asking pertains to whether it's possible for humans to live there or not.