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{{Short description|Proposed concepts}}{{Redirect|Man on Mars|the song|Man on Mars (song)}}File:Mars Ice Home concept.jpg|thumb|Concept for a Mars base, with ice home, pressurized rover, and upright=1.4The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars.NEWS, Rich, Nathaniel, 25 February 2024, Can Humans Endure the Psychological Torment of Mars? – NASA is conducting tests on what might be the greatest challenge of a Mars mission: the trauma of isolation.,weblink live,weblink 25 February 2024, 25 February 2024, The New York Times, Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the planet. Currently, only robotic landers and rovers have been on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the Moon, under the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA's) Apollo program which ended in 1972.Conceptual proposals for missions that would involve human explorers started in the early 1950s, with planned missions typically being stated as taking place between 10 and 30 years from the time they are drafted. The list of crewed Mars mission plans shows the various mission proposals that have been put forth by multiple organizations and space agencies in this field of space exploration. The plans for these crews have varied—from scientific expeditions, in which a small group (between two and eight astronauts) would visit Mars for a period of a few weeks or more, to a continuous presence (e.g. through research stations, colonization, or other continuous habitation).{{citation_needed|date=April 2019}} Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos.WEB, JAXA, 2021-09-20, Japan Space Agency: Why We're Exploring the Moons of Mars,weblink 2021-09-25, SciTechDaily, en-US, By 2020, virtual visits to Mars, using haptic technologies, had also been proposed.NEWS, Von Drehle, David, Humans don't have to set foot on Mars to visit it,weblink 15 December 2020, The Washington Post, 16 December 2020, Meanwhile, the uncrewed exploration of Mars has been a goal of national space programs for decades, and was first achieved in 1965 with the Mariner 4 flyby. Human missions to Mars have been part of science fiction since the 1880s, and more broadly, in fiction, Mars is a frequent target of exploration and settlement in books, graphic novels, and films. The concept of a Martian as something living on Mars is part of the fiction. Proposals for human missions to Mars have come from agencies such as NASA, CNSA, the European Space Agency, Boeing, SpaceX, and space advocacy groups such as the Mars Society and The Planetary Society.

Travel to Mars

File:Mars close appr.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The minimum distance between the orbits of Mars and Earth from 2014 to 2061, measured in astronomical unitsastronomical unitsThe energy needed for transfer between planetary orbits, or delta-v, is lowest at intervals fixed by the synodic period. For Earth–Mars trips, the period is every 26 months (2 years, 2 months), so missions are typically planned to coincide with one of these launch periods. Due to the eccentricity of Mars's orbit, the energy needed in the low-energy periods varies on roughly a 15-year cycleDavid S. F. Portree, Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000, NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, Number 21, February 2001. NASA SP-2001-4521. with the easiest periods needing only half the energy of the peaks.David S. F. Portree. Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000, NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, Number 21, February 2001. Chapter 3, pp. 18–19. NASA SP-2001-4521. In the 20th century, a minimum existed in the 1969 and 1971 launch periods and another low in 1986 and 1988, then the cycle repeated. The last low-energy launch period occurred in 2023.JOURNAL, Mission design options for human Mars missions, free, free, Paul D., Wooster, International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration, 2007, 3, 12, 10.1555/mars.2007.0002, 2007IJMSE...3...12W, etal, 10.1.1.524.7644, Several types of mission plans have been proposed, including opposition class and conjunction class, or the Crocco flyby.David S. F. Portree. Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000, NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, Number 21, February 2001. Chapter 3, pp. 15–16. NASA SP-2001-4521. The lowest energy transfer to Mars is a Hohmann transfer orbit, which would involve a roughly 9-month travel time from Earth to Mars, about {{Convert|500|days|months}}{{Citation needed|reason=Neither of the provided sources mention these "500 days"|date=February 2024}} at Mars to wait for the transfer window to Earth, and a travel time of about 9 months to return to Earth.WEB,weblink Hohmann transfer orbit diagram, The Planetary Society, en, 2018-03-27, WEB,weblink Homann Transfers, Jim Wilson's Home Page, 2018-03-27, This would be a 34-month trip.Shorter Mars mission plans have round-trip flight times of 400 to 450 days,Wernher von Braun, WEB, March 1964, Popular Science,weblink 12 June 2015, google.com, Bonnier Corporation, or under 15 months, but would require significantly higher energy. A fast Mars mission of {{Convert|245|day|month}} round trip could be possible with on-orbit staging.WEB, Folta, etal, 2012, FAST MARS TRANSFERS THROUGH ON-ORBIT STAGING,weblink Usra.edu, In 2014, ballistic capture was proposed, which may reduce fuel cost and provide more flexible launch windows compared to the Hohmann.WEB, Williams, Matt, 28 December 2014, Making A Trip To Mars Cheaper & Easier: The Case For Ballistic Capture,weblink 12 June 2015, io9, Universe Today, en, File:Hubble Globes of Mars.jpg|thumb|Three views of Mars, leftIn the Crocco grand tour, a crewed spacecraft would get a flyby of Mars and Venus in under a year in space.WEB,weblink Crocco, Tdf.it, 2015-11-03, 2017-12-01,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171201034318weblink">weblink dead, Some flyby mission architectures can also be extended to include a style of Mars landing with a flyby excursion lander spacecraft.MAGAZINE,weblink To Mars by Flyby-Landing Excursion Mode (FLEM) (1966), Wired, Proposed by R. Titus in 1966, it involved a short-stay lander-ascent vehicle that would separate from a "parent" Earth-Mars transfer craft prior to its flyby of Mars. The Ascent-Descent lander would arrive sooner and either go into orbit around Mars or land, and, depending on the design, offer perhaps 10–30 days before it needed to launch itself back to the main transfer vehicle. (See also Mars flyby.)In the 1980s, it was suggested that aerobraking at Mars could reduce the mass required for a human Mars mission lifting off from Earth by as much as half.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070802140932weblink">weblink dead, 2007-08-02, Photo-s88_35629, Spaceflight.nasa.gov, As a result, Mars missions have designed interplanetary spacecraft and landers capable of aerobraking.{{clear}}

Landing on Mars

(File:S91 25383marslanding.jpg|thumb|Inserts depict observation and analysis to find a safe landing site.)A number of uncrewed spacecraft have landed on the surface of Mars, while some, such as Beagle2 (2003) and the Schiaparelli EDM (2016), have failed what is considered a difficult landing. Among the successes:

• Mars 3 – 1971
• Viking 1 and Viking 2 – 1976
• Mars Pathfinder and its Sojourner rover – 1997
• Spirit and Opportunity rovers – 2004
• Phoenix lander – 2008
• Curiosity rover – 2012
• InSight lander – 2018
• Tianwen-1 lander and Zhurong rover – 2021
• Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter – 2021

Orbital capture

When an expedition reaches Mars, braking is required to enter orbit. Two options are available: rockets or aerocapture. Aerocapture at Mars for human missions was studied in the 20th century.JOURNAL,weblink A Comparative Study of Aerocapture Missions with a Mars Destination, Diane, Vaughan, Bonnie F., James, Michelle M., Murk, Ntrs.nasa.gov, 26 April 2005, 16 March 2019,

Survey work

Conducting a safe landing requires knowledge of the properties of the atmosphere, first observed by Mariner 4, and a survey of the planet to identify suitable landing sites. Major global surveys were conducted by Mariner 9, Viking 1 and two orbiters, which supported the Viking landers. Later orbiters, such as Mars Global Surveyor, 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, have mapped Mars in higher resolution with improved instruments. These later surveys have identified the probable locations of water, a critical resource.WEB, Anderson, Gina, 2015-09-28, NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today's Mars,weblink 2020-09-28, NASA,

Funding

A primary limiting factor for sending humans to Mars is funding. In 2010, the estimated cost was roughly US$500 billion. Although the actual costs are likely to be more,BOOK, Taylor, Fredric, The Scientific Exploration of Mars, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 978-0-521-82956-4, Cambridge, England, 306, en-uk, this is less than half the cost of the Iraq War in the previous decade. Starting in the late 1950s, the early phase of space exploration was conducted as much to make a political statement as to make observations of the solar system. However, this proved to be both wasteful and unsustainable, and the current climate is one of international cooperation, with large projects such as the International Space Station and the proposed Lunar Gateway being built and launched by multiple countries.{{citation_needed|date=June 2019}}Critics argue that the immediate benefits of establishing a human presence on Mars are outweighed by the immense cost, and that funds could be better redirected towards other programs, such as robotic exploration. Proponents of human space exploration contend that the symbolism of establishing a presence in space may garner public interest to join the cause and spark global cooperation. There are also claims that a long-term investment in space travel is necessary for humanity's survival.One factor reducing the funding needed to place a human presence on Mars may be space tourism. As the space tourism market grows and technological developments are made, the cost of sending humans to other planets will likely decrease accordingly. A similar concept can be examined in the history of personal computers: when computers were used only for scientific research, with minor use in big industry, they were big, rare, heavy, and costly. When the potential market increased and they started to become common in businesses and later in many homes (in Western and developed countries) for the purpose of entertainment such as computer games, and booking travel/leisure tickets, the computing power of home devices skyrocketed and prices plummeted.WEB,weblink How SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and others compete in the growing space tourism market, Michael, Sheetz, September 26, 2020, CNBC,

Medical

File:PIA17601-Comparisons-RadiationExposure-MarsTrip-20131209.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Comparison of radiation doses – includes the amount detected on a trip from Earth to Mars by the RAD inside the MSL (2011–2013).JOURNAL, Kerr, Richard Several key physical challenges exist for human missions to Mars:NEWS, Regis, Ed, Let's Not Move To Mars,weblink September 21, 2015, New York Times, September 22, 2015,

• Health threat from cosmic rays and other ionizing radiation.WEB, Scharf, Calib A., 20 January 2020, Death on Mars – The martian radiation environment is a problem for human explorers that cannot be overstated,weblink 20 January 2020, Scientific American, JOURNAL, Saganti, Premkumar B., Cucinotta, Francis A., Wilson, John W., Cleghorn, Timothy F., Zeitlin, Cary J., Model calculations of the particle spectrum of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) environment: Assessment with ACE/CRIS and MARIE measurements, Radiation Measurements, October 2006, 41, 9–10, 1152–1157, 10.1016/j.radmeas.2005.12.008, 2006RadM...41.1152S, JOURNAL, Shiga, David, Too much radiation for astronauts to make it to Mars, New Scientist, 2726, 2009-09-16,weblink MAGAZINE, Fong, MD, Kevin

File:Nasa mars artificial gravity 1989.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Artistic vision of spacecraft providing artificial gravity by spinning (see also Centrifugal forceCentrifugal force

• Adverse health effects of prolonged weightlessness, including bone mineral density lossJOURNAL, 10.1371/journal.pone.0226434, A human mission to Mars: Predicting the bone mineral density loss of astronauts, 2020, Axpe, Eneko, Chan, Doreen, Abegaz, Metadel F., Schreurs, Ann-Sofie, Alwood, Joshua S., Globus, Ruth K., Appel, Eric A., PLOS ONE, 15, 1, e0226434, 31967993, 6975633, 2020PLoSO..1526434A, free, and eyesight impairment.JOURNAL, Mader, Thomas H., Gibson, C. Robert, Pass, Anastas F., Kramer, Larry A., Lee, Andrew G., Fogarty, Jennifer, Tarver, William J., Dervay, Joseph P., Hamilton, Douglas R., Sargsyan, Ashot, Phillips, John L., Tran, Duc, Lipsky, William, Choi, Jung, Stern, Claudia, Kuyumjian, Raffi, Polk, James D., Optic Disc Edema, Globe Flattening, Choroidal Folds, and Hyperopic Shifts Observed in Astronauts after Long-duration Space Flight, Ophthalmology, October 2011, 118, 10, 2058–2069, 10.1016/j.ophtha.2011.06.021, 21849212, 13965518,weblink WEB, Puiu, Tibi

• Psychological effects of isolation from Earth and, by extension, the lack of community due to lack of a real-time connection with Earth (Compare Hermit)
• Social effects of several humans living under cramped conditions for more than one Earth year, and possibly two or three years, depending on spacecraft and mission design
• Lack of medical facilities
• Potential failure of propulsion or life-support equipment

Some of these issues were estimated statistically in the HUMEX study.JOURNAL, 10.1016/j.asr.2005.06.077, 37, General human health issues for Moon and Mars missions: Results from the HUMEX study, 2006, Advances in Space Research, 100–108, Horneck, Gerda, 1, 2006AdSpR..37..100H, Ehlmann and others have reviewed political and economic concerns, as well as technological and biological feasibility aspects.JOURNAL, 10.1016/j.actaastro.2005.01.010, 56, Humans to Mars: A feasibility and cost–benefit analysis, 2005, Acta Astronautica, 851–858, Ehlmann, Bethany L., 9–12, 15835029, 2005AcAau..56..851E, While fuel for roundtrip travel could be a challenge, methane and oxygen can be produced using Martian H2O (preferably as water ice instead of liquid water) and atmospheric CO2 with sufficiently mature technology.BOOK, 10.1109/AERO.2005.1559325, Preliminary system analysis of in situ resource utilization for Mars human exploration, 2005 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2005, Rapp, D., Andringa, J., Easter, R., Smith, J.H., Wilson, T.J., Clark, D.L., Payne, K., 319–338, 0-7803-8870-4, 25429680,

Planetary protection

{{See also|Planetary protection}}Robotic spacecraft to Mars are required to be sterilized. The allowable limit is 300,000 spores on the exterior of general craft, with stricter requirements for spacecraft bound for "special regions" containing water.WEB,weblink Queens University Belfast scientist helps NASA Mars project, "No-one has yet proved that there is deep groundwater on Mars, but it is plausible as there is certainly surface ice and atmospheric water vapour, so we wouldn't want to contaminate it and make it unusable by the introduction of micro-organisms.", BBC News, 23 May 2014, live,weblink Nov 5, 2023, WEB, dead,weblink COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy,weblink 2013-03-06, 20 October 2002, 24 March 2011, Otherwise there is a risk of contaminating not only the life-detection experiments but possibly the planet itself.BOOK,weblink 7 Planetary Protection for Mars Missions, free, An Astrobiology Strategy for the Exploration of Mars, The National Academies Press, 2007, 10.17226/11937, 978-0-309-10851-5, 12 June 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150911082501weblink">weblink Sep 11, 2015, Sterilizing human missions to this level is impossible, as humans are host to typically a hundred trillion (1014) microorganisms of thousands of species of the human microbiota, and these cannot be removed. Containment seems the only option, but it is a major challenge in the event of a hard landing (i.e. crash).WEB,weblink When Biospheres Collide – a history of NASA's Planetary Protection Programs, Michael, Meltzer, May 31, 2012, Chapter 7, "Return to Mars" – final section: "Should we do away with human missions to sensitive targets", NASA, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20221017114212weblink">weblink Oct 17, 2022, There have been several planetary workshops on this issue, but with no final guidelines for a way forward yet.WEB, Rummel, J. D., Race, M. S., Kminek, G., 2015, Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions,weblink live,weblink Nov 8, 2023, Human explorers would also be vulnerable to back contamination to Earth if they become carriers of microorganisms.BOOK,weblink 37, free, 10.17226/10360, 5. Potential Hazards of the Biological Environment, Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface, 2002-05-29, National Academies Press, 978-0-309-08426-0, Washington, D.C., Martian biological contamination may occur if astronauts breathe contaminated dust or if they contact material that is introduced into their habitat. If an astronaut becomes contaminated or infected, it is conceivable that he or she could transmit Martian biological entities or even disease to fellow astronauts, or introduce such entities into the biosphere upon returning to Earth. A contaminated vehicle or item of equipment returned to Earth could also be a source of contamination., live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150911125821weblink">weblink Sep 11, 2015,

Mission proposals

Over the past seven decades, a wide variety of mission architectures have been proposed or studied for human spaceflights to Mars. These have included chemical, nuclear, and electric propulsion, as well as a wide variety of landing, living, and return methodologies.(File:ISS-Derived Deep Space Habitat with CPS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Artist's rendering of the planned Orion/DSH/Cryogenic Propulsion Module assembly)A number of nations and organizations have long-term intentions to send humans to Mars.

• The United States has several robotic missions currently exploring Mars, with a sample-return planned for the future. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is intended to serve as the launch/splashdown crew delivery vehicle, with a Deep Space Habitat module providing additional living-space for the 16-month-long journey. The first crewed Mars Mission, which would include sending astronauts to Mars, orbiting Mars, and a return to Earth, is proposed for the 2030s.NEWS, Wall, Mike, 27 August 2019, Astronauts Will Face Many Hazards on a Journey to Mars – NASA is trying to bring the various risks down before launching astronauts to Mars in the 2030s.,weblink 27 August 2019, Space.com, NEWS,weblink The Guardian, 1 Dec 2014, Nasa's Orion spacecraft prepares for launch in first step towards crewed Mars mission, The Associated Press, 2014-12-03, WEB,weblink We're sending humans to Mars! Watch our JourneytoMars briefing live today at 12pm ET: Orion, Dec 2, 2014, NASA, Twitter, 2014-12-02, WEB,weblink NASA's Orion Flight Test and the Journey to Mars, 2014-12-01, NASA website, 2014-12-02,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141202072856weblink">weblink dead, Technology development for US government missions to Mars is underway, but there is no well-funded approach to bring the conceptual project to completion with human landings on Mars by the mid-2030s, the stated objective.NEWS, Berger, Eric

• The ESA has a long-term goal to send humans, but has not yet built a crewed spacecraft. It has sent robotic probes such as ExoMars in 2016 and planned to send the next probe in 2022, but the project was suspended due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.WEB, ExoMars rover,weblink 2023-04-10, The Planetary Society, en, It is now looking to send the probe in 2028 with assistance from NASA.WEB, Foust, Jeff, 2022-11-29, ESA's ExoMars plans depend on NASA contributions,weblink 2023-04-10, SpaceNews, en-US,

Technological innovations and hurdles

File:Mars Food Production - Bisected.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Depiction of plants growing in a Mars base. NASA plans to grow plants for space foodspace food(File:Robonaut 2.jpg|thumb|NASA has stated that robots will prepare an underground base for a human surface mission.WEB, NASA Chief: We're Closer to Sending Humans on Mars Than Ever Before,weblink Marsdaily.com, )Significant technological hurdles need to be overcome for human spaceflight to Mars.Entry into the thin and shallow Martian atmosphere will pose significant difficulties with re-entry; compared to Earth's much denser atmosphere, any spacecraft will descend very rapidly to the surface and must be slowed.WEB, Coates, Andrew, Decades of attempts show how hard it is to land on Mars – here's how we plan to succeed in 2021,weblink The Conversation, 2 December 2016, 24 April 2021, A heat shield has to be used.WEB, Spinning heat shield for future spacecraft,weblink University of Manchester, August 9, 2018, ScienceDaily, 24 April 2021, NASA is carrying out research on retropropulsive deceleration technologies to develop new approaches to Mars atmospheric entry. A key problem with propulsive techniques is handling the fluid flow problems and attitude control of the descent vehicle during the supersonic retropropulsion phase of the entry and deceleration.NEWS, Morring, Frank Jr., NASA, SpaceX Share Data On Supersonic Retropropulsion : Data-sharing deal will help SpaceX land Falcon 9 on Earth and NASA put humans on Mars,weblink subscription, 2014-10-18, Aviation Week, 2014-10-16, the requirements for returning a first stage here on the Earth propulsively, and then ... the requirements for landing heavy payloads on Mars, there's a region where the two overlap—are right on top of each other ... If you start with a launch vehicle, and you want to bring it down in a controlled manner, you're going to end up operating that propulsion system in the supersonic regime at the right altitudes to give you Mars-relevant conditions., A return mission from Mars will need to land a rocket to carry crew off the surface. Launch requirements mean that this rocket could be significantly smaller than an Earth-to-orbit rocket. Mars-to-orbit launch can also be achieved in single stage. Despite this, landing an ascent rocket back on Mars will be difficult.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}In 2014, NASA proposed the Mars Ecopoiesis Test Bed.NEWS,weblink Mars Ecopoiesis Test Bed, Hall, Loura, 2017-03-24, NASA, 2018-03-05, en, live,weblink Aug 9, 2020,

Intravenous fluid

One of the medical supplies that might be needed is a considerable mass of intravenous fluid, which is mainly water, but contains other substances so it can be added directly to the human blood stream. If it could be created on the spot from existing water, this would reduce mass requirements. A prototype for this capability was tested on the International Space Station in 2010.WEB,weblink A Solution for Medical Needs and Cramped Quarters in Space IVGEN Undergoes Lifetime Testing in Preparation For Future Missions, NASA, May 10, 2012, Mike, Giannone, 12 June 2015, 12 April 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160412152906weblink">weblink dead,

Advanced resistive exercise device

A person who is inactive for an extended period of time loses strength, muscle and bone mass. Spaceflight conditions are known to cause loss of bone mineral density in astronauts, increasing bone fracture risk. The most recent mathematical models predict 33% of astronauts will be at risk for osteoporosis during a human mission to Mars. A resistive exercise device similar to an Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) would be needed in the spaceship.

Breathing gases

While humans can breathe pure oxygen, usually additional gases such as nitrogen are included in the breathing mix. One possibility is to take in situ nitrogen and argon from the atmosphere of Mars, but they are hard to separate from each other. As a result, a Mars habitat may use 40% argon, 40% nitrogen, and 20% oxygen.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070724100724weblink">weblink The Caves of Mars – Martian Air Breathing Mice, 24 July 2007, High Mars, Denise, Murphy, 12 June 2015, An idea for keeping carbon dioxide out of the breathing air is to use reusable amine-bead carbon dioxide scrubbers.WEB,weblink Suiting Up for the Red Planet, IEEE Spectrum, Rachel, Courtland, 30 September 2015, live,weblink Jul 2, 2017, While one carbon dioxide scrubber filters the astronaut's air, the other is vented to the Mars atmosphere.

Growing food

If humans are to live on Mars, growing food on Mars may be necessary – with numerous related challenges.NEWS, Scoles, Sarah, 27 November 2023, Mars Needs Insects – If humans are ever going to live on the red planet, they're going to have to bring bugs with them.,weblink subscription, live,weblink 28 November 2023, 28 November 2023, The New York Times,

Related missions

Some missions may be considered a "Mission to Mars" in their own right, or they may only be one step in a more in-depth program. An example of this is missions to Mars's moons, or flyby missions.

Missions to Deimos or Phobos

Many Mars mission concepts propose precursor missions to the moons of Mars, for example a sample return mission to the Mars moon PhobosBOOK, Bosanac, Natasha,weblink Manned sample return mission to Phobos: A technology demonstration for human exploration of Mars, Diaz, Ana, Dang, Victor, Ebersohn, Frans, Gonzalez, Stefanie, Qi, Jay, Sweet, Nicholas, Tie, Norris, Valentino, Gianluca, 1 March 2014, CaltechAUTHORS, 9781479955824, California, 1–20, en-us, 10.1109/AERO.2014.6836251, 3 November 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151022201956weblink">weblink 22 October 2015, dead, Fraeman, Abigail, Gibbings, Alison, Maddox, Tyler, Nie, Chris, Rankin, Jamie, Rebelo, Tiago, Taylor, Graeme, – not quite Mars, but perhaps a convenient stepping stone to an eventual Martian surface mission. Lockheed Martin, as part of their "Stepping stones to Mars" project, called the "Red Rocks Project", proposed to explore Mars robotically from Deimos.Geoffrey A. Landis, "Footsteps to Mars: an Incremental Approach to Mars Exploration", Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 48, pp. 367–342 (1995); presented at Case for Mars V, Boulder Colorado, 26–29 May 1993; appears in From Imagination to Reality: Mars Exploration Studies, R. Zubrin, ed., AAS Science and Technology Series Volume 91, pp. 339–350 (1997).Larry Page. Deep Space Exploration – Stepping Stones {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207044810weblink|date=2022-02-07}} builds up to "Red Rocks : Explore Mars from Deimos".WEB,weblink One Possible Small Step Toward Mars Landing: A Martian Moon, Space.com, 20 April 2011, 12 June 2015, Use of fuel produced from water resources on Phobos or Deimos has also been proposed.

Mars sample return missions

(File:Mars sample returnjpl.jpg|thumb|Sample return mission concept)An uncrewed Mars sample return mission (MSR) has sometimes been considered as a precursor to crewed missions to Mars's surface.WEB, European Space Agency, Mars Sample Return: bridging robotic and human exploration,weblink Esa.int, In 2008, the ESA called a sample return "essential" and said it could bridge the gap between robotic and human missions to Mars. An example of a Mars sample return mission is Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars.WEB, Jones, S. M., etal, 2008, Ground Truth From Mars (2008) – Mars Sample Return at 6 Kilometers per Second: Practical, Low Cost, Low Risk, and Ready,weblink September 30, 2012, Universities Space Research Association, USRA, Mars sample return was the highest priority Flagship Mission proposed for NASA by the Planetary Decadal Survey 2013–2022: The Future of Planetary Science.WEB Sample return plans raise the concern, however remote, that an infectious agent could be brought to Earth. Regardless, a basic set of guidelines for extraterrestrial sample return has been laid out depending on the source of sample (e.g. asteroid, Moon, Mars surface, etc.)WEB,weblink Archived copy, 2015-11-05,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151117020758weblink">weblink 2015-11-17, dead, At the dawn of the 21st century, NASA crafted four potential pathways to Mars human missions,WEB,weblink Next On Mars, Spacedaily.com, of which three included a Mars sample return as a prerequisite to human landing.The rover Perseverance, which landed on Mars in 2021, is equipped with a device that allows it to collect rock samples to be returned at a later date by another mission.WEB, Touchdown! NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover Safely Lands on Red Planet,weblink 2021-02-19, NASA's Mars Exploration Program, en-us, Perseverance as part of the Mars 2020 mission was launched on an Atlas V rocket on 30 July 2020.WEB, Launch Windows,weblink 2021-02-19, mars.nasa.gov, en-us,

Crewed orbital missions

File:Mars orbital command module.webp|thumb|Mars orbital command module; Manned module to control robots and Mars aircraft without the latency of controlling it from Earth.]]Starting in 2004, NASA scientists have proposed to explore Mars via telepresence from human astronauts in orbit.JOURNAL, Landis, G. A., 2008, Teleoperation from Mars Orbit: A Proposal for Human Exploration, Acta Astronautica, 62, 1, 59–65, 2008AcAau..62...59L, 10.1016/j.actaastro.2006.12.049, ; presented as paper IAC-04-IAA.3.7.2.05, 55th International Astronautical Federation Congress, Vancouver, British Columbia, Oct. 4–8, 2004.M. L. Lupisella, "Human Mars Mission Contamination Issues", Science and the Human Exploration of Mars, January 11–12, 2001, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. LPI Contribution No. 1089. Accessed 11/15/2012.A similar idea was the proposed "Human Exploration using Real-time Robotic Operations" mission.George R. Schmidt, Geoffrey A. Landis, and Steven R. Oleson NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, 44135 HERRO Missions to Mars and Venus using Telerobotic Surface Exploration from Orbit {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513005633weblink|date=2013-05-13}} 48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. 4–7 January 2010, Orlando, Florida.AV MEDIA,weblink 1 of 4 Geoffrey Landis – HERRO TeleRobotic Exploration of Mars – Mars Society 2010, en, 2024-05-13, www.youtube.com, In order to reduce communications latency, which ranges from 4 to 24 minutes,WEB, Time delay between Mars and Earth – Mars Express,weblink 2024-05-13, en-US, a manned Mars orbital station has been proposed to control robots and Mars aircraft without long latency.WEB, Marpost,weblink 2024-05-13, www.astronautix.com,

See also

{{div col|colwidth=30}}

• {{annotated link|Delta-v budget}}
• {{annotated link|Life on Mars}}
• List of missions to Mars
• {{annotated link|Mars analog habitat}}
• {{annotated link|Mars Desert Research Station}}
• {{annotated link|Mars Design Reference Mission}}
• {{annotated link|Mars Society}}
• {{annotated link|Space weather}}

{{div col end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• MAGAZINE, Mission to Mars, Michael, Collins, National Geographic (magazine), National Geographic, 732–764, 174, 5, November 1988, 0027-9358, 643483454,

External links

{{Commons category|Human missions to Mars}}

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070626154441weblink">Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission Design Reference Mission 1.0
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070714134008weblink">Reference Mission Version 3.0, Addedum to Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Mission 3.0
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100903144152weblink">Mars expeditions, flybys, and weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120618074919weblink">selected flybys. List of most crewed mission projects to Mars
• A longer bibliography can be found in the bibliography of Portree's book, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071025181718weblink">available in pdf format from NASA.

{{Mars}}{{Human missions to Mars}}