The human race is taking on a new endeavor for the upcoming years: sending humans to Mars. By the 2030’s, people are stating that it may be very likely to send humans to Mars for the first time. In order to do so, it would cost a decent sum of money, and we would have to be sure that NASA can be funded enough to support this endeavor. Aside from monetary issues, we would also need to be sure that we are cooperating with one another on an international level. Under the current budget that NASA has, it would not be possible to lead this manned mission to Mars as it is simply not enough money. Officials are saying that sending humans to Mars is what should be focused on in the world of space travel these next few years.
Astronauts and scientists have been working closely in the International Space Station (ISS) to help better understand technology that could assist in the manned missions to Mars. In the ISS, individuals have been able to make huge advances in how humans can stay healthy/survive in space, which is ideal to learn when planning on sending humans to Mars and very far away from the Earth. Living and working in space an pose some serious risks for astronauts, but many of them believe the journey to Mars would be worth those risks. NASA must create a new, more powerful, space craft that could withstand the long journey to Mars; in this space craft, reliance to Earth would be less.
NASA is doing something bis these days that will help their initiatives in hoping to send humans to Mars: their Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). ARM is a program where NASA is attempting to capture, redirect, and study an asteroid. This asteroid will get placed into a stable orbit around the Earths moon, where astronauts can take pieces of it to study back on Earth. ARM will help NASA map out the human path to Mars by testing the capabilities needed to do so. NASA wants to have the journey to Mars be a non-Earth reliant mission, which it has to be since Mars is so far away (48,678,219 miles away from Earth…). The ARM mission will help NASA develop more ways to have non-Earth reliant missions in the near future.
Another method of space exploration that NASA hopes to use in order to help with the possible mission to Mars is Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP). In my third reference about the ARM mission, NASA states that “SEP uses electricity from solar arrays to create electromagnetic fields to accelerate and expel charged atoms (ions) to create a very low thrust with a very efficient use of propellant. When compared to conventional chemical propellant sources, the ARM mission uses five to 10 times less propellant as a result of the SEP technology.” In capturing an asteroid, NASA will test the limits of SEP like it never has been tested before, which could be a huge breakthrough in the science of space. SEP technology could help send cargo and humans to Mars a lot more efficiently, and a lot faster. In testing pieces of the asteroid captured by the AM, astronauts and scientists will be able to study ways that could help them bring matter back from Mars too.