@webby1964 You have to get through Arctic, oceanic, and virtual future maps, then you can explore Mars and get Mars ore from some of the provinces on the Mars map. You get access to your mars colony right away from the city via the space shuttle, but that's not the Mars map.
If you're behind in your continent map, it's going to be a long haul for you to scout up to Mars. It happened to more than one of my guild mates that they aged up in research while neglecting to advance ages on the map and had a lot of catching up to do. Months of scouting in fact. The developers could have easily put a check on the first Mars research to make sure you're ready to scout in Mars before you age up, since Mars is the first time that its critical you be up to date on the map.
In the meantime, build some houses on your Mars colony because it will cost Mars credits to mine for Mars ore once you get there.