[dinosammy]

Humans on mars would inspire future generations with dreams of space travel, which will make them more likely to support higher levels of NASA funding?

[jcranmer]

You mean like how landing on the moon did wonders for NASA's budget?

[eric_h]

More like how the landing on the moon spawned SpaceX, Scaled Composites, etc. - It made people keep shooting for the moon.

[TeMPOraL]

Sadly, the more useful something is, the more it is underfunded.