Under pressure from an impatient U.S. Congress, NASA is fleshing out its final plan for Mars missions that will eventually see NASA's first astronauts land on the Red Planet by 2035. SpaceX, however, intends to accomplish this feat by 2015, or 10 years earlier.

NASA reported it continues to work towards a 2018 debut for the Space Launch System (SLS) launch with the Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1) Orion spacecraft. SLS will eventually take NASA astronauts to Mars by 2035.

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The next Orion mission, this time with a crew, is set for "no later than" 2023. NASA, however, hopes to attain this target earlier to avoid a five year gap between its first two SLS missions.

NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) was briefed on the status of the agency's Mars planning by Bill Hill, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development (ESD) in NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

ASAP evaluates NASA's safety performance and advises the agency on ways to improve that performance. It's a senior advisory committee that reports to NASA and Congress.

Hill said NASA is working towards a three year mission to Mars. He noted NASA managers are "beginning to lay out the framework" on what must be done to learn how astronauts can live, work and remain healthy for a long-duration mission that can take anywhere from five to six months one-way.

ASAP has criticized Orion's apparent inability to fully conduct Mars missions since its heat shield can't survive the increased re-entry velocity when returning to Earth directly from Mars.

Hill said NASA needs to develop a capability where Orion can survive the 13.5 kilometers per second re-entry velocity. He said this problem will be explored in the coming years.

ASAP also said it's been asking NASA for a formal plan "for some time" as to what technologies will be required for the Mars program and when they will be needed.

Hill said NASA is in the beginnings of "putting the meat on the bones" for the "providing ground" phase or the transitional period where NASA turns its attention from the ISS to cislunar space (the space between the Earth and the Moon).

NASA's current plan calls for orbiting a manned space station in cislunar space that will serve as a "pit stop" for future treks to Mars and the asteroid re-direct mission. Congress wants NASA to again land humans on the Moon and to forego its asteroid re-direct mission.

Experts agree it will take a large increase in funding to push NASA towards a viable plan that might lead to speeding-up this timetable. NASA has publicly pinpointed 2035 as the year it intends to land humans on Mars but current funding levels don't support this date.

Hill also pointed out NASA's current plan to get to Mars calls for 41 SLS flights from 2018 through 2046 in the path towards surface missions. NASA intends to land astronauts first on Phobos and later on Mars itself.

TagsU.S. Congress, NASA, Mars, Space Launch System, Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel