Why Mars and not the Moon?

It has been 30 years since Man was last, physically, on the Moon. We still have the technology and have no plans to go there.The Moon is close and would obviously make a good stepping stone for planetary exploration, especially to Mars. The Moon is postulated to have water and minerals that would be beneficial to traveler that is outward bound from Earth. So, why not go to the Moon first and then to Mars?

For several years, NASA has had rovers crawling over Mars looking for life. So far, life has not been found. Possibly, NASA sent the rovers to an area the believed to be barren. This would through the public off by issuing statements that they have not found any life. It is a possibility.

If you have seen the photos of Mars, you might have seen the Pyramid. A photo taken by NASA that shows an actual structure on the Red Planet. Proof of the existence of life on Mars. Not so. NASA has re-photographed the area with the Mars Global Surveyor. The new photos show that the Pyramid is just a geologic formation that looks like a pyramid when seen from a certain angle.

Other photos that have been circulating around the internet, some obviously hoaxes, show other features. There is an alleged base on Mars visible on NASA photos. Again, these are obviously hoaxes. Not enough photos exist in the public domain to say one way or another.

However, there is another possibility...NASA has recognized that there are structures on Mars. This could be what prompted the sudden interest in Mars. This could be reason enough to skip the Moon and go to Mars to find out what is really there.