Traveling to Mars-- How Much is Still Science Fiction?
Ever since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to explore. Sometimes my adventures were close-- my neighborhood, the woods behind my school, a friend's backyard. When I wanted to travel further, I'd read books. Through the eyes of other characters I saw worlds of magic, of other times, of a distant future. Despite these adventures, I always wanted to go further.
When I read The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, the dates seemed so close-- 2008, landing on Mars, 2025, people living on Mars, etc. But Bradbury wrote his stories in a time much further away from the new millennium than I lived. It was when I was in high school that I realized that traveling to space for the general populace was probably something that I wouldn't get to do in my lifetime. This doesn't mean, however, that someone wont reach Mars in time for me to see it.
According to NASA's Journey to Mars website, humans could be on Mars by the 2030s! That's only 14ish years from now, but there are a lot of things that need to happen before humans begin to explore the big red planet in person.
Despite how close 14 years may feel, there are still many things that NASA needs to accomplish before astronauts are able to step foot on Mars. The next step-- after the recent launching of many Mars rovers and other robotic explorers, is to launch a spacecraft, the Orion, that will redirect an asteroid to orbit one of Mars' moons, so people can land on it and study it-- how cool is that?! Human scientists will live on the asteroid while collecting samples and NASA practice for further manned missions. This mission is hoped to begin in the 2020s.
It is in this step that NASA will develop further plans for landing on Mars and conducting further research. It's hard to plan ahead with so many unknowns. The flight with the Orion will test the spacecraft's heat shields, launching capabilities, and computer functions before the embark on a longer and more dangerous mission to the Red Planet.
How amazing is all this? Expect more on my blog about the Journey to Mars in the future-- it's all too much for just one post!
Information taken from the Journey to Mars Website.
When I read The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, the dates seemed so close-- 2008, landing on Mars, 2025, people living on Mars, etc. But Bradbury wrote his stories in a time much further away from the new millennium than I lived. It was when I was in high school that I realized that traveling to space for the general populace was probably something that I wouldn't get to do in my lifetime. This doesn't mean, however, that someone wont reach Mars in time for me to see it.
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| A larger version of this map is on the Journey to Mars Website |
According to NASA's Journey to Mars website, humans could be on Mars by the 2030s! That's only 14ish years from now, but there are a lot of things that need to happen before humans begin to explore the big red planet in person.
Despite how close 14 years may feel, there are still many things that NASA needs to accomplish before astronauts are able to step foot on Mars. The next step-- after the recent launching of many Mars rovers and other robotic explorers, is to launch a spacecraft, the Orion, that will redirect an asteroid to orbit one of Mars' moons, so people can land on it and study it-- how cool is that?! Human scientists will live on the asteroid while collecting samples and NASA practice for further manned missions. This mission is hoped to begin in the 2020s.
It is in this step that NASA will develop further plans for landing on Mars and conducting further research. It's hard to plan ahead with so many unknowns. The flight with the Orion will test the spacecraft's heat shields, launching capabilities, and computer functions before the embark on a longer and more dangerous mission to the Red Planet.
How amazing is all this? Expect more on my blog about the Journey to Mars in the future-- it's all too much for just one post!
Information taken from the Journey to Mars Website.
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