What If We Landed on Mars Instead of the Moon?

Imagine you're playing a game where you get to pick a planet to visit. The moon is like your neighbor's house, it's close, easy to reach, and you can go there quickly. But Mars is like visiting another town, it’s farther away and takes more time to get there, but the adventure is bigger. If we had picked Mars instead of the moon, we might have learned more about life on other planets earlier.