We may have been aware of the proposed mission to Mars by NASA. It is no longer a question of whether it is a possibility of futility, but it’s now a question of: Who will first step foot on the surface of the red planet?
Space travel has been one of man’s greatest achievements in the field of Astrodynamics. The trail to this was heralded many years ago. Even the moon landing was part of the trail; when the Apollo II landed the first humans (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins) on the moon in the year 1969, July 20.
This is one small step of a man, but a giant leap for mankind – Neil Armstrong
Since the moon landing feat was achieved, astroscientists have been proposing the possibility of going beyond the moon into Mars. But the question is; who will take up this kind of journey?
Girl on mission to Mars
There has arisen a major contender for the proposed mission to Mars; 16 years old Alyssa Carson. She has confirmed that she has been interested in going to Mars since she was 3 years.
A very important question was thrown at her on Live Tv:
Would you travel to Mars knowing that you may not return?
Her reply was priceless
If the option is to go to Mars and never return, I would still pick the option. I would definitely be part of the mission to Mars. – Alyssa Carson
Alyssa has already started training with NASA to take on the big risk. She’s the youngest trainee to have ever made the graduating list of NASA’s advanced space academy. Astonishingly, she got her Rocket license even before getting her drivers license. She could be leading a revolution in the field of astrodynamics soon.
By the mid 2030s, I believe we can send people to Mars and return them safely to Earth – Barack Obama 15th April 2010 (source)
There has also been a prediction of an AI singularity, which could put the existence of humankind in serious threat. The only hope of surviving this could be an imminent Space Colonization. Asides this, some of the activities we engage in destroy and deplete the earth, if we refuse to explore the possibilities of other ET options, we could end up not having a planet at all. And Mars has been the target of ET colonization for ages.
In my own opinion, I think the major aim of the Mission to Mars is to “terraform” Mars, and possibly to seed some life forms in Mars (just like the movie “Martian”). With this, Mars could become a second home for humans to live on.
Mission prep
Why is 2033 chosen for the mission to Mars?
In the year 2033, the Mars will be closest to the Earth than it has ever been in over 2000 years, and also the sun will have the least amount of radiation. And by that year, the technology for the trip would be perfected.
But there are some technicalities that should also be considered for the Mission to Mars (because 2033 is just 15 years away). The first technicality that should be considered is the duration of the journey.
According to Mars-one, travelling to Mars (in the world’s fastest shuttle; Juno at 213,000km/hr) could take between 6-8 months, depending on the time when the journey is taken. This is because; the orbits of Earth and Mars are not exactly circular.
Are humans really prepared to take on such a long journey?
In theory, there is a faster way of going to Mars; the Antimatter spaceship (this spaceship would be powered by antimatter). But the problem here is, the price of antimatter is not feasible for the proposed trip. Antimatter is one of the world’s costliest materials (it would cost about $65.2Trillion just for one gram). I guess they would stick to the initial plan of 6-8months journey.
Well, let’s just wait till 2033 and see how history will be made.
Thanks for reading
References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4
