Not that they never had the idea, however, this was not mentioned in the article. The point was by getting there quickly enough, they wouldn't need to worry about hibernation for trips to Mars.
Hibernation for humans was never going to be an easy feat, as animals that do it, have all kinds of genetic level adaptions. For Mars, arguably not worth it, unless a scientist makes a lucky discovery and it's relatively easy to implement.
when your body gets used to gravity on Mars which is less than earth and you return, your body will be weaker (in addition to the risks of space radiation)
