Mars Colony Will Have To Wait, Says NASA Scientists

Concept for NASA Design Reference Mission Architecture 5.0 (2009). Credit: NASA

Establishing a human settlement on Mars has been the fevered dream of space agencies for some time. Long before NASA announced its “Journey to Mars” – a plan that outlined the steps that need to be taken to mount a manned mission by the 2030s – the agency’s was planning how a crewed mission could lead to the establishing of stations on the planet’s surface. And it seems that in the coming decades, this could finally become a reality.

But when it comes to establishing a permanent colony – another point of interest when it comes to Mars missions – the coming decades might be a bit too soon. Such was the message during a recent colloquium hosted by NASA’s Future In-Space Operations (FISO) working group. Titled “Selecting a Landing Site for Humans on Mars”, this presentation set out the goals for NASA’s manned mission in the coming decades.

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Hatch Opens as Simulated Mars Mission Ends

The first Mars crew has “returned” home. Thee Mars500 crew of six complete their simulated mission to Mars, with the hatch opening today, November 4, 2011. You can watch the replay the crew coming out of their 520 days of isolation inside a mock spaceship, which was actually in Russia. They crew has done countless hours of experiments, testing both the physiological and psychological effects of being “away from Earth” — isolated — for long periods of time.