NASA Adminsitrator Charles Bolden announced that Mars is not just a pipe dream anymore as this was his confident opening during the Humans to Mars Summit last May 5 in Washington D.C.

U.S. President Barack Obama's goal in 2010 was to send and land a human on Mars by the 2030s where Bolden is adamant that the space agency is on the right track to meet this goal. He adds that this is attainable; Mars matters enough to humanity in the pursuit of human progress.

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Next year, NASA's ExoMars orbiter will be launched on the Red Planet just in time for another Mars rover to be launched in 2018. However, Bolden says that it's not enough to just send robots to inspect the Martian terrain. Robots are always ideal for gathering preliminary data and ground work, but humans on the surface are essential begin a real colony on Mars.

Now, the space agency are solidifying plans to make this into reality which are already taking shape. Bolden says that there are already a myriad ways of getting to Mars however an outline and a timeline for a mission is pivotal to carry out tasks to determine how feasible the mission will be, given the information and technology at hand about space travel and spaceflight. 

Fortunately, NASA's plans are already accelerating starting with the space agency's Space Launch System Rocket and the Orion spacecraft that is specifically designed to ferry human to Mars where test flights have beeen underway since last year. 

By the year 2020, NASA plans to to test the Orion spacecraft using new propellant technology with solar electric propulsion. This new propellant will be tested in preparation for the first manned Mars mission by bringing back an asteroid near the moon where tests will be done on site; this will be a pivotal part of Orion's six month journey to Mars.

Apart from testing spacecraft and technology, lab tests on the International Space Station are being conducted to test the physiological and psychological wellbeing of astronauts aboard to further prepare humans in long term space travel and colonizing the alien world. 

However, like all space launches and missions, financing this endeavor will be a tough challenge. NASA has already made contracts between private space companies such as SpaceX and Boeing in order to develop new space travel technology and expand with NASA that will also slash down costs of expensive space launches.

According to Scott Hubbard who is the former director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, the reasons to go to Mars are clear but NASA needs government and public support to make this successful. He adds that right now, there is a window of opportunity to make a consensus for a long term yet feasible mission to Mars.

TagsHumans to Mars Summit, NASA, Mars, Mars space mission, mars exploration, NASA mars mission