If we are on Mars before 2050 ill be amazed...
We have to go back to the moon first. We still dont really know what will happen to humans after 18 month in constant zero g. We should get a better idea of that when Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko fly to the iSS for a year long mission in 2015.
That is going to be quite a thing, I look forward to that flight with great anticipation. That will really give us some insight into what a Mars flight will look like in terms of the toll on the human passengers.
Also give us a clue into what can be done about it.
I don't tend to get that excited about the day to day of the ISS, mainly because it is always there and always going on, it is easy to loose track of it and get caught up in the launches that go on in the meantime. Especially back in the Shuttle days. But that will get my attention for a bit I should think.