Are we colonising Mars or what?

When Matt Damon became stranded on the Red Planet in Ridley Scott’s 2015 sci-fi The Martian, his survival became dependent on a multitude of complex factors, least of all his ability to grow potatoes in his own shit. When the rest of us, finally go to Mars we’ll hopefully found a solution to the Potato Problem (vast bags of frozen McCains, maybe). Then again, researchers may have more pressing issues to attend to, especially given Elon Musk’s recent predictions that he could start landing passengers on Mars in the next three to four years. Yes, not decades, but years.