Not a manned mission, it seems. They want to get there unmanned, and land a rover. The article said that the USA's 70's era Viking spacecraft was a rover, but it was not.
The article went on to say that it is "breakthrough" type of rocket. Only a breakthrough for the Chinese. It is a simple design that has been around for decades.
When somebody makes a nuclear thermal upper stage with a high ISP, it may be time to be impressed. The US did this during the Apollo era, but never launched it.
The advantage of a higher ISP is that more payload to be placed into orbit per launch. You're going to need a lot of stuff to sustain the astronauts for such a long journey.
We can get to Mars, but it will take a sustained effort to do so. Obama canceled the USA effort early in his presidency.
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