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The idea of sending humans to
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...
has been the subject of
aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader
exploration of Mars The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habi ...
. Some have also considered exploring the
Martian moons The two moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. They are irregular in shape. Both were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in August 1877 and are named after the Greek mythological twin characters Phobos (fear and panic) and Deimos (terr ...
of Phobos and
Deimos Deimos, a Greek word for ''dread'', may refer to: * Deimos (deity), one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology * Deimos (moon), the smaller and outermost of Mars' two natural satellites * Elecnor Deimos, a Spanish aerospace company * ...
. Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the planet. Proposals for human missions to Mars came from e.g.
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
,
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
, and
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
. As of 2022, only robotic landers and rovers have been on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...
. Conceptual proposals for missions that would involve human explorers started in the early 1950s, with planned missions typically being stated as taking place between 10 and 30 years from the time they are drafted. The list of crewed Mars mission plans shows the various mission proposals that have been put forth by multiple organizations and space agencies in this field of
space exploration Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by uncrewed rob ...
. The plans for these crews have varied—from scientific expeditions, in which a small group (between two and eight
astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
) would visit Mars for a period of a few weeks or more, to a continuous presence (e.g. through
research stations Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also many types of resea ...
,
colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
, or other continuous habitation). By 2020, virtual visits to Mars, using haptic technologies, had also been proposed. Meanwhile, the unmanned
exploration of Mars The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habi ...
has been a goal of national space programs for decades, and was first achieved in 1965 with the
Mariner 4 Mariner 4 (together with Mariner 3 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was the fourth in a series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit the ...
flyby. Human missions to Mars have been part of
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
since the 1880s, and more broadly,
in fiction In Fiction were an Australian five-piece melodic rock band from Adelaide. Having formed in 2005, In Fiction signed to Boomtown Records in 2006 with their debut release '' The Four Letter Failure'' and featured as Triple J's "Next Crop" artist ...
, Mars is a frequent target of exploration and settlement in books, graphic novels, and
films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
. The concept of a ''
Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pre ...
'' as something living on Mars is part of the fiction.


Travel to Mars

The energy needed for transfer between planetary orbits, or
delta-v Delta-''v'' (more known as " change in velocity"), symbolized as ∆''v'' and pronounced ''delta-vee'', as used in spacecraft flight dynamics, is a measure of the impulse per unit of spacecraft mass that is needed to perform a maneuver such ...
, is lowest at intervals fixed by the
synodic period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets ...
. For
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...
trips, the period is every 26 months (2 years, 2 months), so missions are typically planned to coincide with one of these launch periods. Due to the
eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off- center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a ...
of
Mars's orbit Mars has an orbit with a semimajor axis of 1.524 astronomical units (228 million km), and an eccentricity of 0.0934.Jean Meeus, ''Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators''. (Richmond, VA: Willmann-Bell, 1988) 99. Elements by F. E. Ross The planet o ...
, the energy needed in the low-energy periods varies on roughly a 15-year cycleDavid S. F. Portree, ''Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000,'' NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, Number 21, February 2001. Available a
NASA SP-2001-4521
with the easiest periods needing only half the energy of the peaks.Page 18–19 in Chapter 3 of David S. F. Portree's ''Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000,'' NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, Number 21, February 2001. Available a

/ref> In the 20th century, a minimum existed in the 1969 and 1971 launch periods and another low in 1986 and 1988, then the cycle repeated. The next low-energy launch period occurs in 2033. Several types of mission plans have been proposed, including opposition class and conjunction class, or the Crocco flyby.Page 15–16 in Chapter 3 of David S. F. Portree's ''Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000,'' NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, Number 21, February 2001. Available a
NASA SP-2001-4521
/ref> The lowest energy transfer to Mars is a
Hohmann transfer orbit In astronautics, the Hohmann transfer orbit () is an orbital maneuver used to transfer a spacecraft between two orbits of different altitudes around a central body. Examples would be used for travel between low Earth orbit and the Moon, or ...
, which would involve a roughly 9-month travel time from Earth to Mars, about at Mars to wait for the transfer window to Earth, and a travel time of about 9 months to return to Earth. This would be a 34-month trip. Shorter Mars mission plans have round-trip flight times of 400 to 450 days,Wernher von Braun, or under 15 months, but would require significantly higher energy. A fast Mars mission of round trip could be possible with on-orbit staging. In 2014, ballistic capture was proposed, which may reduce fuel cost and provide more flexible launch windows compared to the Hohmann.In the Crocco grand tour, a crewed spacecraft would get a flyby of Mars and Venus in under a year in space. Some flyby mission architectures can also be extended to include a style of Mars landing with a flyby excursion lander spacecraft. Proposed by R. Titus in 1966, it involved a short-stay lander-ascent vehicle that would separate from a "parent" Earth-Mars transfer craft prior to its flyby of Mars. The Ascent-Descent lander would arrive sooner and either go into orbit around Mars or land, and, depending on the design, offer perhaps 10–30 days before it needed to launch itself back to the main transfer vehicle. (See also
Mars flyby A Mars flyby is a movement of spacecraft passing in the vicinity of the planet Mars, but not entering Orbit (celestial mechanics), orbit or landing on it. Page 15-16 in Chapter 3 of David S. F. Portree's ''Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Pl ...
.) In the 1980s, it was suggested that ''
aerobraking Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit ( apoapsis) by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit ( periapsis). The resulting drag slows the spacecraft. Aerobraking ...
'' at Mars could reduce the mass required for a human Mars mission lifting off from Earth by as much as half. As a result, Mars missions have designed interplanetary spacecraft and landers capable of aerobraking.


Landing on Mars

A number of unmanned spacecraft have landed on the surface of Mars, while some, such as the
Schiaparelli EDM ''Schiaparelli'' EDM () was a failed Entry, Descent, and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) of the ExoMars programme—a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos. It was built in Italy and was in ...
(2016), have failed what is considered a difficult landing. The '' Beagle2'' failed in 2003. Among the successes: * '' Mars 3'' – 1971 * '' Viking 1'' and ''
Viking 2 The ''Viking 2'' mission was part of the American Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the '' Viking 1'' mission. ''Viking 2'' was operational on Mars for sols ( days; '). The ''V ...
'' – 1976 * ''
Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' (''MESUR Pathfinder'') is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight, wheeled roboti ...
'' and its ''Sojourner'' rover – 1997 * '' Spirit'' and ''
Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...
'' rovers – 2004 * '' Phoenix'' lander – 2008 * ''
Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human ...
'' rover – 2012 * ''
InSight Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of seeing intu ...
'' lander – 2018 * '' Tianwen-1'' lander and '' Zhurong'' rover– 2021 * '' Perseverance'' rover and '' Ingenuity'' helicopter – 2021


Orbital capture

When an expedition reaches Mars, braking is required to enter orbit. Two options are available: rockets or
aerocapture Aerocapture is an orbital transfer maneuver in which a spacecraft uses aerodynamic drag force from a single pass through a planetary atmosphere to decelerate and achieve orbit insertion. Aerocapture uses a planet's or moon's atmosphere to accom ...
. Aerocapture at Mars for human missions was studied in the 20th century. In a review of 93 Mars studies, 24 used aerocapture for Mars or Earth return. One of the considerations for using aerocapture on crewed missions is a limit on the maximum force experienced by the astronauts. The current scientific consensus is that 5 g, or five times Earth gravity, is the maximum allowable deceleration.


Survey work

Conducting a safe landing requires knowledge of the properties of the atmosphere, first observed by
Mariner 4 Mariner 4 (together with Mariner 3 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was the fourth in a series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit the ...
, and a survey of the planet to identify suitable landing sites. Major global surveys were conducted by ''
Mariner 9 Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars '71 / Mariner-I) was a robotic spacecraft that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the NASA Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from LC-36B at Cape Canaveral Ai ...
'' and '' Viking 1'' and two orbiters, which supported the ''Viking'' landers. Later orbiters, such as ''
Mars Global Surveyor ''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through t ...
'', ''
2001 Mars Odyssey ''2001 Mars Odyssey'' is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin, with an expected cost for the entire mission of US$297 million. Its mission is to use spectr ...
'', ''
Mars Express ''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA). The ''Mars Express'' mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally ref ...
'', and ''
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, a ...
'', have mapped Mars in higher resolution with improved instruments. These later surveys have identified the probable locations of water, a critical resource.


Funding

A primary limiting factor for sending humans to Mars is funding. In 2010, the estimated cost was roughly US$500 billion, though the actual costs are likely to be more. Starting in the late 1950s, the early phase of space exploration was conducted as much to make a political statement as to make observations of the solar system. However, this proved to be both wasteful and unsustainable, and the current climate is one of international cooperation, with large projects such as the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...
and the proposed
Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is the first planned extraterrestrial space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, and short-term habitation module for government-agency ast ...
being built and launched by multiple countries. Critics argue that the immediate benefits of establishing a human presence on Mars are outweighed by the immense cost, and that funds could be better redirected towards other programs, such as robotic exploration. Proponents of human space exploration contend that the symbolism of establishing a presence in space may garner public interest to join the cause and spark global cooperation. There are also claims that a long-term investment in space travel is necessary for humanity's survival. One factor reducing the funding needed to place a human presence on Mars may be
space tourism Space tourism is human space travel for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism. During the period from 2001 to 2009, seven space tourists made eight s ...
. As the space tourism market grows and technological developments are made, the cost of sending humans to other planets will likely decrease accordingly. A similar concept can be examined in the history of personal computers: when computers were used only for scientific research, with minor use in big industry, they were big, rare, heavy, and costly. When the potential market increased and they started to become common in many homes (in Western and developed countries) for the purpose of entertainment such as computer games, and booking travel/leisure tickets, the computing power of home devices skyrocketed and prices plummeted.


Medical

Several key physical challenges exist for human missions to Mars: * Health threat from cosmic rays and other ionizing radiation. In May 2013, NASA scientists reported that a possible mission to Mars may involve great
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, vi ...
risk based on energetic particle radiation measured by the
RAD RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley ...
on the
Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigati ...
while traveling from the Earth to Mars in 2011–2012. The calculated radiation dose was 0.66
sievert The sievert (symbol: SvNot be confused with the sverdrup or the svedberg, two non-SI units that sometimes use the same symbol.) is a unit in the International System of Units (SI) intended to represent the stochastic health risk of ionizing radi ...
s round-trip. The agency's career radiation limit for astronauts is 1 sievert. In mid-September 2017, NASA reported temporarily doubled radiation levels on the surface of Mars, with an
aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
25 times brighter than any observed earlier, due to a massive unexpected
solar storm A solar storm is a disturbance on the Sun, which can emanate outward across the heliosphere, affecting the entire Solar System, including Earth and its magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space s ...
. * Adverse health effects of prolonged weightlessness, including bone mineral density loss and eyesight impairment. (Depends on mission and spacecraft design.) In November 2019, researchers reported that
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
s experienced serious
blood flow Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuousl ...
and
clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...
problems while on board the International Space Station, based on a six-month study of 11 healthy astronauts. The results may influence long-term
spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in o ...
, including a mission to the planet Mars, according to the researchers. * Psychological effects of isolation from Earth and, by extension, the lack of community due to lack of a real-time connection with Earth (Compare
Hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...
) * Social effects of several humans living under cramped conditions for more than one Earth year, and possibly two or three years, depending on spacecraft and mission design * Lack of medical facilities * Potential failure of propulsion or life-support equipment Some of these issues were estimated statistically in the HUMEX study. Ehlmann and others have reviewed political and economic concerns, as well as technological and biological feasibility aspects. While fuel for roundtrip travel could be a challenge, methane and oxygen can be produced using Martian H2O (preferably as water ice instead of liquid water) and atmospheric CO2 with mature technology.


Planetary protection

Robotic spacecraft to Mars are currently required to be sterilized. The allowable limit is 300,000 spores on the exterior of general craft, with stricter requirements for spacecraft bound for "special regions" containing water.Queens University Belfast scientist helps NASA Mars project
"No one has yet proved that there is deep groundwater on Mars, but it is plausible as there is certainly surface ice and atmospheric water vapour, so we wouldn't want to contaminate it and make it unusable by the introduction of micro-organisms."
COSPAR PLANETARY PROTECTION POLICY
(20 October 2002; As Amended to 24 March 2011)
Otherwise there is a risk of contaminating not only the life-detection experiments but possibly the planet itself. Sterilizing human missions to this level is impossible, as humans are host to typically a hundred trillion (1014) microorganisms of thousands of species of the
human microbiota This article lists some of the species recognized as belonging to the human microbiome. Whole-body distributed *'' Acinetobacter calcoaceticus'' *''Burkholderia cepacia'' *'' Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes'' *''Peptostreptococcus spp'' Natu ...
, and these cannot be removed. Containment seems the only option, but it is a major challenge in the event of a hard landing (i.e. crash).When Biospheres Collide – a history of NASA's Planetary Protection Programs
Michael Meltzer, May 31, 2012, see Chapter 7, Return to Mars – final section: "Should we do away with human missions to sensitive targets"
There have been several planetary workshops on this issue, but with no final guidelines for a way forward yet. Human explorers would also be vulnerable to
back contamination Interplanetary contamination refers to biological contamination of a planetary body by a space probe or spacecraft, either deliberate or unintentional. There are two types of interplanetary contamination: *''Forward contamination'' is the transfe ...
to Earth if they become carriers of microorganisms.


Mission proposals

Over the past seven decades, a wide variety of mission architectures have been proposed or studied for human spaceflights to Mars. These have included
chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...
,
nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...
, and
electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described b ...
propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...
, as well as a wide variety of landing, living, and return methodologies. A number of nations and organizations have long-term intentions to send humans to Mars. * The
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
has several robotic missions currently exploring Mars, with a sample-return planned for the future. The
Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the Euro ...
(MPCV) is intended to serve as the launch/splashdown crew delivery vehicle, with a
Deep Space Habitat The Deep Space Habitat (DSH) is a series of concepts by NASA that would be used to support crewed exploration missions to the Moon, asteroids, and eventually Mars.
, which is mainly water, but contains other substances so it can be added directly to the human blood stream. If it could be created on the spot from existing water, this would reduce mass requirements. A prototype for this capability was tested on the International Space Station in 2010. ;Advanced resistive exercise device A person who is inactive for an extended period of time loses strength and muscle and bone mass. Spaceflight conditions are known to cause loss of bone mineral density in astronauts, increasing bone fracture risk. Last mathematical models predict 33% of astronauts will be at risk for osteoporosis during a human mission to Mars. A resistive exercise device similar to ARED would be needed in the spaceship. ;Breathing gases While humans can breathe pure oxygen, usually additional gases such as nitrogen are included in the breathing mix. One possibility is to take ''in situ''
nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...
and
argon Argon is a chemical element with the symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble gas. Argon is the third-most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as a ...
from the
atmosphere of Mars The atmosphere of Mars is the layer of gases surrounding Mars. It is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (95%), molecular nitrogen (2.8%), and argon (2%). It also contains trace levels of water vapor, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and no ...
, but they are hard to separate from each other. As a result, a Mars habitat may use 40% argon, 40% nitrogen, and 20% oxygen. An idea for keeping carbon dioxide out of the breathing air is to use reusable amine-bead carbon dioxide scrubbers. While one carbon dioxide scrubber filters the astronaut's air, the other is vented to the Mars atmosphere.


Related missions

Some missions may be considered a "Mission to Mars" in their own right, or they may only be one step in a more in-depth program. An example of this is missions to Mars's moons, or flyby missions.


Missions to Deimos or Phobos

Many Mars mission concepts propose precursor missions to the moons of Mars, for example a sample return mission to the Mars moon Phobos – not quite Mars, but perhaps a convenient stepping stone to an eventual Martian surface mission. Lockheed Martin, as part of their "Stepping stones to Mars" project, called the "Red Rocks Project", proposed to explore Mars robotically from Deimos.Geoffrey A. Landis, "Footsteps to Mars: an Incremental Approach to Mars Exploration," ''Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Vol. 48,'' pp. 367-342 (1995); presented at Case for Mars V, Boulder CO, 26–29 May 1993; appears in ''From Imagination to Reality: Mars Exploration Studies'', R. Zubrin, ed., ''AAS Science and Technology Series Volume 91'' pp. 339-350 (1997). (text available a
Footsteps to Mars pdf file
Use of fuel produced from water resources on Phobos or Deimos has also been proposed.


Mars sample return missions

An uncrewed
Mars sample return mission A Mars sample-return (MSR) mission is a proposed mission to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and return them to Earth. Such a mission would allow more extensive analysis than that allowed by onboard sensors. The three most recent concept ...
(MSR) has sometimes been considered as a precursor to crewed missions to Mars's surface. In 2008, the ESA called a sample return "essential" and said it could bridge the gap between robotic and human missions to Mars. An example of a Mars sample return mission is
Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars The Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars (SCIM) is a mission concept for a Mars air and dust sample return. It was a semi-finalist at the Mars Scout Program along with four other missions in December 2002. Sample return plans raise the concern, however remote, that an infectious agent could be brought to Earth. Regardless, a basic set of guidelines for extraterrestrial sample return has been laid out depending on the source of sample (e.g. asteroid, Moon, Mars surface, etc.) At the dawn of the 21st century, NASA crafted four potential pathways to Mars human missions, of which three included a Mars sample return as a prerequisite to human landing. The rover Perseverance, which landed on Mars in 2021, is equipped with a device that allows it to collect rock samples to be returned at a later date by another mission. Perseverance as part of the
Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover '' Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from ...
mission was launched on top of an
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Marti ...
rocket on 30 July 2020.


Crewed orbital missions

Starting in 2004, NASA scientists have proposed to explore Mars via
telepresence Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance or effect of being present via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location. Telepresence requires that the user ...
from human astronauts in orbit.M. L. Lupisella
"Human Mars Mission Contamination Issues"
''Science and the Human Exploration of Mars,'' January 11–12, 2001, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. LPI Contribution No. 1089. (accessed 11/15/2012)
A similar idea was the proposed "Human Exploration using Real-time Robotic Operations" mission.HERRO TeleRobotic Exploration of Mars, Geoffrey Landis, Mars Society 2010
4 part YouTube Video


See also

* * * * * * *
List of missions to Mars This is a list of the 50 spacecraft missions (including unsuccessful ones) relating to the planet Mars, such as orbiters and rovers. Missions ;Mission Type Legend: Mars landing locations There are a number of derelict orbiters around ...
* * * * * *


References


Further reading

*


External links


Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission
Design Reference Mission 1.0
Reference Mission Version 3.0, Addedum to Human Exploration of Mars
Design Reference Mission 3.0

an

List of most crewed mission projects to Mars * A longer bibliography can be found in the bibliography of Portree's book
available in pdf format from NASA
{{Portalbar, Solar System, Spaceflight +Human