Wholly agreed. I'm certain the ISS will be of great use in a future manned Mars project (supposing we don't wait until the ISS goes the way of Mir), but repurposing it as a vehicle to Mars is, quite frankly, fucking moronic and as stupid as trying to break the land speed record in a modified backhoe. Simply put: That shit ain't happening.<p>The ISS would be best used as a permanent base for the crew constructing the manned vehicle to Mars. The ISS would also be capable of acting as a tether for the vehicle, enabling its own habitation modules to be created first. Then once the Mars vehicles habitation module is made, it can be the base for the construction effort.<p>Using the ISS as a habitation module for the construction effort will significantly speed up the process. Instead of taking years to assemble the structure, like with the ISS, the entire project could be assembled in months with a permanent crew in space. The ISS struggled with getting enough launches, a multinational manned Mars mission would enable launches to be made from <i>at least</i> 3 locations. NASA, ESA and Russia are all capable of launching large components into space, and a ISS based crew would be capable of the assembly process. The ISS will be capable of housing 6 astronauts at one time (I'm unsure if life support can handle 6 astronauts for months at a time, but that's easy to resolve if needed), which means projects could easily continue on the ISS while a Mars project is underway.<p>I believe everyone wants the manned Mars mission to last longer than the construction effort, or it's going to be a serious anti-climax. Also I hope NASA plans ahead and that the Mars craft is highly reusable and highly adaptable for later missions.