The two major players are NASA and SpaceX, which work together intimately on missions to the International Space Station but have competing ideas of what a crewed Mars mission would look like.
The biggest challenge (or constraint) is the mass of the payload (spacecraft, people, fuel, supplies, etc) needed to make the journey.
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But it could launch only 140 tonnes (5% of its initial launch mass) to low Earth orbit, and 50 tonnes (less than 2% of its initial launch mass) to the Moon.
In case you are keeping track:
Sols 2989-2991: Wrapping up 2020 at the 'Sands of Forvie' – NASA's Mars Exploration Program
We made it. After a quick jaunt across the “rubbly” unit, Curiosity has reached the “Sands of Forvie” in time for the holidays. This sand sheet is approximately 400 meters across and a kilometer wide, and the views looking out over it are spectacularly scenic.
On Monday we made a mega, 10-sol plan to cover the holiday period, and the drive that took Curiosity to the edge of the sand sheet was in the first sol of that plan. Today, we planned 3 more sols that will happen at the end of that mega-plan. In other words, the activities we planned today won’t execute on Mars until next Earth calendar year!
SpaceX Starship prototype exploded, but it's still a giant leap toward Mars | Space
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights .
Private company SpaceX launched SN8, a prototype of its Starship spacecraft , designed to go to the Moon and Mars, on December 10. Its short flight attracted a great deal of attention for it's final few seconds before landing – when it exploded.
But consider the near perfect totality of its six-and-a-half-minute flight. Look at the groundbreaking technology and manoeuvres involved. It is reasonable to view this as a hugely successful test.
NASA Discoveries, R&D, Moon to Mars Exploration Persevere in 2020 | NASA
This may worth something:
UNLV Geoscientist Arya Udry Tapped by NASA for Mars Mission | News Center | University of Nevada,
Powerful electrical events quickly alter surface chemistry on Mars and other planetary bodies |
Thinking like Earthlings may have caused scientists to overlook the electrochemical effects of Martian dust storms.
On Earth, dust particles are viewed mainly in terms of their physical effects, like erosion. But, in exotic locales from Mars to Venus to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, electrical effects can affect the chemical composition of a planetary body's surface and atmosphere in a relatively short time, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
NASA honing plans for its Mars Ice Mapper mission | Space
When President Donald Trump's administration submitted its NASA budget request for this fiscal year in February, the documents contained a surprise for planetary scientists: the announcement of a new mission dubbed Mars Ice Mapper .
But budget request documents aren't brimming with mission details and NASA has kept quiet about the new project, so understanding the story of Mars Ice Mapper has been difficult. Details remain scarce, but NASA officials offered a little more insight into the mission's origins and goals during a meeting held last month, calling Mars Ice Mapper an attempt to take advantage of a specific and unexpected opportunity with implications for a host of NASA priorities.
2020 Moon to Mars eXploration Systems and Habitation Challenge | NASA
Happening on Twitter
Any comments from @realDonaldTrump's prominent Black defenders, including hip-hop artists and media commentators on… https://t.co/rvpSjMu5d0 JoyAnnReid (from USA) Sun Dec 27 05:20:11 +0000 2020
The bill was literally flown to Mar-A-Lago. @realDonaldTrump, whatever it is you're doing, you can spare a minute t… https://t.co/AgIOYFqa26 PattyMurray (from WA & DC) Sat Dec 26 22:52:28 +0000 2020
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