An 8 month round trip with a 70 day stay on Mars!

I think you may have been wrong mk. Robots have not closed the window on space exploration

You wrote:

I have long expected that I would see people step foot on the red planet during my lifetime. As I am in my mid-thirties, I never considered that this was unlikely. However, while following the exploits Spirit and Opportunity, this question came to me: Have robots permanently become the most attractive option for space exploration?

Have your views on this changed? Pretty exciting stuff!!