Who would you pick for a crew to Mars and why?

[Paa_Paw]

It has been estimated that we will be sending a manned exploratory mission to Mars in approximately 25 years. Pretend that you have been given the task of setting the criteria for the crew. What kind of people would you send and why?

My choices are complex and perhaps a bit odd but hear me out and then put in your 2 cents.

In the past, most astronauts have been engineers though a geologist was among those who went to the moon and other sciences are also represented. Even so, Aeronautical engineers with military pilot service seem to dominate. Would you continue along this line, or would you change the lineup?

The long term health and safe return are matters of great importance in planning at this time. Is it a mistake to think in these terms?

I think my ideal crew would all be people of the technician level rather than engineers. In testing, I would give each something mechanical that they had never seen before that is inoperative and simpy say: "When this was working, this is what it did. Your job is to figure out how it worked and make it work again." With nothing but a kit of tools and no actual repair parts they need to improvise. The person for the job will need to successfully solve many such puzzles.
Their interests should be broad rather than specialized. Garneding and growing food will be important as soon as possible but having a gardener along would be a mistake. A mechanic who likes to putter in the garden would be better.
Upper level education might be good, but only if not too narrowly specialized. A liberal art degree would be favored above a specialist. A Nurse would be nice, but only if secondary interests and hobbies of that person were also useful.
Returning the crew to Earth means that they will have to maintain their wieght and muscle tone enroute both ways for about 6 months and while on mars which only has about 1/3 Earth gravity. I would select my crew from retired people in good health but of such age that they only had about two or three years of life expectancy remaining. They would leave with no intention of returning. This would make maintaining muscle tone to deal with earths gravity needless. Supply vessels could bring additional crew, but returning vessels could be simpler as they would bring only specimens for analysis on earth.

What are your thoughts?

[xelnaga13]

I would send the Kardashians with a one way ticket.

[Paa_Paw]

I cannot think of any way that might help in the exploration of Mars; But it would certainly improve the quality of life here on Earth.