SPACE - Dennis Tito: It will take “less than $1 billion” to make Mars mission happen

Billionaire (or at the very least, multimillionaire) Dennis Tito unveiled his official plans for a manned mission to Mars. As early as December 2017, Tito testified Wednesday at a hearing of the House subcommittee on space, America could be the first nation to send an astronaut couple to Mars...almost.Tito's calling the mission "Inspiration Mars," though a more technically precise name should perhaps be, "501 Days in a Spaceship." That's because ...

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/20/dennis_tito_it_will_take_less_than_1_b