The Next Giant Leap starts right here on Earth

Traveling to Mars is so amazing. If I ever had a chance to travel to Mars, I would gladly go. The average distance between Earth and Mars is about 225 Million kilometers. The atmosphere in Mars is mostly carbon dioxide, some water vapor, and is 100 times thinner than Earth’s atmosphere, with also very little oxygen. Carbon dioxide is a gas that is vital to all life forms on Earth, which is why, you have to wear a space suit to breathe. The moon, unlike Earth who has only 1 moon, Mars in fact has 2 moons. The mass on Mars is much less than that of Earth’s, meaning the gravity of Mars is less than Earth’s, roughly about 0.375 that of Earth’s. For example, If you weigh 165 pounds on Earth, you will only weigh 62 pounds on Mars.

Traveling to Mars, exploring the galaxy as you travel. Engineers and scientists around the country, working hard and designing new technologies that astronauts will use, one day in the future, and return home safely. With NASA developing the necessary needs to send Humans to Mars, and is said to be finished by 2030s. While rovers, and other robotic explorers have studied Mars for more than 40 years, NASA’s plans for Human exploration of Mars in low-Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. For National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s next big step, where they will be sending a robotic mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon. The Astronauts will aboard an Orion ship, and will explore the asteroid in the 2020s, returning with some samples to examine. This will help NASA to test new techs and capabilities, like something called Solar Electric Propulsion. Other spacecraft and robots have already on Mars for a long time, fairly increasing our knowledge about, the sometimes called The Red Planet, Mars.

In 2011, Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders set the foundation to begin the Mars One mission plan. In 2020, a mission will set to demonstrate the concepts for some of the technologies, and making sure that it’s safe to lunch for humans to aboard. There will also be a communication satellite that will be lunched with it that will allow the 2 planets to communicate, send picture, videos, and other data from Mars. In 2026, A transit habitat and a Mars lander with an assembly crew on it will be launched into the orbit around Earth. Then the first fully trained Mars crew will be lunched into the same Earth orbit and will switch places in the orbit, then the assembly crew will descend back to Earth. After a final check on the systems of the transit vehicle, engines of the propellant stages will be fired and then the Transit Vehicle will be launched on a transit trajectory. Roughly 24 hours before they land in 2027, the crew will move from the transit to the landing module because the transit habitat is too large to land on Mars, then will be detached, and left discarded in orbit around the sun. After landing, it will take about 48 hours to get used to the gravity of Mars. A rover will then pick up the astronauts and guide them to the already set settlement and enter through the airlock in one of the living units, spending a few more days to get used to the new environment. After a couple more weeks, the cargo for the second crew arrives. In 2028, the second crew will depart and will then land on Mars in 2029, the cargo for the third crew lunched with them. And thi will continue to repeat as more crew land every 2 years.

The most dangerously, and risky part about the journey to Mars is, the return trip. For the travel to be safe, bigger rockets, and stronger materials. Mars One has already started making preparations to developed these things. For one to go to Mars, the candidate will have to learn skills, knowledge, and the courage to handle all the responsibilities in taking this great mission. The whole world will watch the great moment when the time comes.

‘Space.com’ has confirmed that it is possible sending humans to Mars by 2030, and is affordable. If it’s going to happen, some key changes are needed. According to them, “a workshop group of more than 60 individuals representing more than 30 government, industry, academic and other organizations has found that a NASA-led manned mission to Mars is feasible if the space agency’s budget is restored to pre-sequestration levels.” It will also require some international aid. Among the space community, lunching humans to Mars should have a priority worth working on. The Inspiration Mars mission will lunch a couple on a flyby of Mars. This is a private mission, and might be a good precursor mission before a full Martian landing, according to Chris Carberry, an influential director in the space community.

The new movie ‘The Martian’, the story of a crew of astronauts that will go to Mars, and have to stay there for 2 months, then depart back to Earth in their Orbital probe. However, 6 days after their landing, a massive martian storm hits them and they are then forced to come back to Earth. Leaving their friend who they presumed dead, but with the lives of the commander’s crew at risk, she was forced to leave him behind without having the chance to look for their lost friend. The idea that a manned mission to Mars is very near in the future. I hope all these calculations, possibilities, and judgments are accurate and becomes real in the future. To be able to see how human kind grows to be able to travel to Mars, or maybe even other planets, If possible, is a really breathtaking thing.

Resources:-

1. https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars/
2. http://www.mars-one.com/
3. http://www.space.com/24268-manned-mars-mission-nasa-feasibility.html
4. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/