America has sent five rovers to Mars -- when will humans follow?

[Peter1469]

NASA is planning for a manned Mars mission around mid to late 2030s, although funding could push that back. Musk intends to be there by 2026.



America has sent five rovers to Mars -- when will humans follow?

With its impeccable landing on Thursday, NASA's Perseverance became the fifth rover to reach Mars -- so when can we finally expect the long-held goal of a crewed expedition to materialize?

NASA's current Artemis program is billed as a "Moon to Mars" mission, and acting administrator Steve Jurczyk has reiterated his aspiration of "the mid-to-end of the 2030s" for American boots on the Red Planet.


But while the trip is technologically almost within grasp, experts say it's probably still decades out because of funding uncertainties.

- Mars is hard -


Wernher von Braun, the architect of the Apollo program, started work on a Mars mission right after the Moon landing in 1969, but the plan, like many after it, never got off the drawing board.



What makes it so hard? For a start, the sheer distance.

Read the rest at the link.

[MMC]

How long did it take for us to build the Space Station? NASA should be focusing on getting that Base built on the moon. Baby Steps.....lets see if they can handle that first.

[Peter1469]

How long did it take for us to build the Space Station? NASA should be focusing on getting that Base built on the moon. Baby Steps.....lets see if they can handle that first.

Right. The technology developed for that will be applied to a Mars mission.

NASA is focusing on the Gateway- a space station orbiting the moon. I wonder if it would be better just to build a base on the moon. You have to figure out how to handle the moon dust though.