Computers, Gaming, & Technology Here you can talk about anything with circuit boards, or dilithium crystals, or flux capacitors. Show off your technology, computing, and gaming knowledge.

Human mission to Mars may be planned for 2018

Old Feb 22, 2013 | 11:27 AM
  #1  
Visionz's Avatar
Thread Starter
Administrator
 
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 23,226
Likes: 9
From: Upstate NY
Vehicle: 2010 Genesis 2.0T
Default Human mission to Mars may be planned for 2018

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2013...018/?hpt=hp_t4



Will the Mars rover Curiosity catch a glimpse of a manned spaceship in this decade? That could be even more exciting than the gray powder it found by drilling.



A nonprofit organization called the Inspiration Mars Foundation is hosting a press conference next week in which plans for a trip to Mars and back will be revealed. The proposed launch date is January 2018, and the venture is called "Mission for America."



The press release doesn't explicitly state that the mission is manned, but it does say that the organization "is committed to accelerating America's human exploration of space as a critical catalyst for future growth, national prosperity, new knowledge and global leadership."



The leader of this effort is millionaire Dennis Tito, who's no stranger to space travel. He spent $20 million to jaunt up to the International Space Station in 2001, making him the first private space traveler.



Tito wasn't an especially young space voyager then; he was 60 when he visited the space station. The entrepreneur used to work for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the early 1960s, charting flight paths for Mariner probes built to orbit Mars.



His organization's new idea is to get to Mars and back in 501 days. The official description is as follows:


This "Mission for America" will generate new knowledge, experience and momentum for the next great era of space exploration. It is intended to encourage all Americans to believe again in doing the hard things that make our nation great, while inspiring youth through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and motivation.


There's no word yet on where the money will come from, or how the potential space traveler(s) would survive the journey.



We will learn more about this plan at a press conference planned for Wednesday at the National Press Club.


Pretty sweet! Hope they achieve the goal. To be able to say a human being landed on Mars and flew back in my life time would be amazing!
Reply
Old Feb 22, 2013 | 06:07 PM
  #2  
187sks's Avatar
Administrator
 
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 12,515
Likes: 2
From: Lacey, WA
Vehicle: Two Accents, Mini, Miata, Van, Outback, and a ZX-6
Default

That's around the same time that they plan on sending a one-way colonization mission.
Reply
Old Feb 22, 2013 | 07:31 PM
  #3  
HyundaiKitCoupe's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 11,992
Likes: 0
From: Washington D.C.
Vehicle: Hyundai Tiburon FX
Default

I call BS. It would be amazing but I highly doubt it. Obama cut NASA's budget and laid off a lot of its employees. NASA exists in its current state on part-timers and furloughs (a deceiving little formal word for unpaid work). Former astronauts and researchers come to Washington to argue the importance of space exploration while Obama's government claims it is better left in the hands of private enterprise.
Reply
Old Feb 25, 2013 | 04:59 PM
  #4  
187sks's Avatar
Administrator
 
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 12,515
Likes: 2
From: Lacey, WA
Vehicle: Two Accents, Mini, Miata, Van, Outback, and a ZX-6
Default

None of the current plans are publicly funded. NASA won't be going anywhere.
Reply



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:41 PM.