When Will Humans Go To Mars?

When it comes to our solar system, there aren’t a lot of great options for humans to live . Currently, humans can only live on Earth because no other planet in the solar system can support life as people know it on Earth. The other planets, including Venus, Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter, are either too hot or too cold and are mostly made up of toxic gases that would kill any human that may land there.

Will humans ever set foot on Mars?

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and it appears faintly reddish when viewed in the night sky. It is for this reason that it is referred to as the Red Planet. There are many similarities between Earth and Mars. Scientists think that Mars would be the easiest planet outside Earth for humans to live on, when compared to the other planets. The question then is: If Earth and Mars are similar, why haven’t humans set foot on Mars yet?

The Moon is the farthest place that humans have gone beyond the Earth. NASA has, however, been able to deliver a spacecraft , called New Horizons, to explore as far as Pluto. Many spacecrafts have landed on the surface of Mars, but no person has ever landed there. Instead, the topic of humans visiting Mars has been part of science fiction since the 1880s.

The possibility of humans setting foot on Mars has been a fascinating subject. Private and public space exploration companies have long wanted to launch their own missions to Mars. Various nations and organizations, including NASA, Russia, Boeing, and SpaceX, have intentions to send humans to Mars.

When can the first humans land on Mars?

Several timelines for when the first humans will land on Mars have been planned. NASA is planning to land humans on Mars by the late 2030s or early 2040s, but Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, proposed that humanity could reach the Red Planet before the end of the 2020s. Responding to one twitter user who asked him when humans will be able to go to the Red Planet, Elon Musk said, “I must admit to being congenitally optimistic (SpaceX & Tesla wouldn’t exist otherwise), but I think 5 years is possible and 10 years is highly likely.”

Some challenges need to be overcome before humans can set foot on Mars

While the possibility of humans landing on Mars is exciting for many space enthusiasts, making this vision a reality will be challenging. Many obstacles would need to be overcome before sending humans to Mars, or before humans could start living on Mars and call it home.

The first challenge that astronauts need to bear in mind is that the trip to Mars cannot be accomplished in just a few days. NASA has calculated that it can take about nine months to reach Mars with the current technology, and a round-trip, including the time spent on Mars, might take astronauts between two to three years.

The second challenge is that there are a lot of supplies that astronauts will need to survive on their journey and stay on Mars. They will need enough food, water, and oxygen, and also protection from radiation. Currently, there is no technology that astronauts can use to harvest resources for water, fuel, and building materials from Mars. They will have to take everything they need from Earth. But if they have to carry too much supplies, the weight of the supplies could slow down their spacecraft.

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Glossary

Astronaut: a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft.

NASA: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research

Spacecraft: is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space.

References

Botkin-Kowacki, E. Published February 21, 2023. Want to travel to Mars? Here’s how long the trip could take. https://www.popsci.com/science/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-to-mars/

Kundu, K. When Are Humans Going To Mars? Here’s Everything We Know. Published March 18, 2022. https://screenrant.com/when-are-humans-going-to-mars-nasa-spacex/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mission_to_Mars#:~:text=NASA%20is%20under%20presidential%20orders,bricks%20from%20pressurized%20Martian%20soil

Staedter, T. Published November 8, 2020. Mars Exploration? 3 Problems Science Needs to Solve First. https://now.northropgrumman.com/mars-exploration-3-problems-science-needs-to-solve-first/#:~:text=Accessing%20water%2C%20dealing%20with%20a,the%20biggest%20hurdles%20to%20overcome.