Human mission to Mars

The idea of sending humans to <a href="/facts/Mars/AQGtVvz0">Mars</a> has been the subject of <a href="/facts/Aerospace_engineering/2Ib02w7f">aerospace engineering</a> and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader <a href="/facts/Exploration_of_Mars/CbCgmNcH">exploration of Mars</a>. Long-term proposals have included <a href="/facts/Colonization_of_Mars/7En499hD">sending settlers</a> and <a href="/facts/Terraforming_of_Mars/2fB9v0bT">terraforming the planet</a>. Currently, only robotic <a href="/facts/Mars_landing/sWzMuVfW">landers</a> and <a href="/facts/Mars_rovers/6ueforXf">rovers</a> have been on Mars. The farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Moon</a>, under the U.S. <a href="/facts/National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Administration/TIMCV0yV">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</a> (NASA) <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo program</a> which ended in 1972.
Conceptual proposals for missions that would involve <a href="/facts/Human_spaceflight/VgVxsGmq">human explorers</a> 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 <a href="/facts/List_of_crewed_Mars_mission_plans/MHSvhbjb">list of crewed Mars mission plans</a> shows the various mission proposals that have been put forth by multiple organizations and <a href="/facts/Space_agency/2Hs0qa3x">space agencies</a> in this field of <a href="/facts/Space_exploration/2eKXYVdq">space exploration</a>. The plans for these crews have varied—from scientific expeditions, in which a small group (between two and eight <a href="/facts/Astronauts/HB1bd6Lz">astronauts</a>) would visit Mars for a period of a few weeks or more, to a continuous presence (e.g. through <a href="/facts/Research_stations/lHSkPMQz">research stations</a>, <a href="/facts/Colonization_of_Mars/7En499hD">colonization</a>, or other continuous habitation). Some have also considered exploring the <a href="/facts/Martian_moons/h7Bq1RUz">Martian moons</a> of <a href="/facts/Phobos_(moon)/qqS9JvuG">Phobos</a> and <a href="/facts/Deimos_(moon)/Sm30nJWY">Deimos</a>. By 2020, virtual visits to Mars, using <a href="/facts/Haptic_technology/0TuxNUcs">haptic technologies</a>, had also been proposed.
Meanwhile, the uncrewed <a href="/facts/Exploration_of_Mars/CbCgmNcH">exploration of Mars</a> has been a goal of national space programs for decades, and was first achieved in 1965 with the <a href="/facts/Mariner_4/bvt30qrv">Mariner 4</a> <a href="/facts/Flyby_(spaceflight)/BtJe76fP">flyby</a>. Human missions to Mars have been part of <a href="/facts/Science_fiction/d9hE2Lwt">science fiction</a> since the 1880s, and more broadly, <a href="/facts/Mars_in_fiction/42xCzBGj">in fiction</a>, Mars is a frequent target of exploration and settlement in books, graphic novels, and <a href="/facts/List_of_films_set_on_Mars/kqXUpNJv">films</a>. The concept of a <a href="/facts/Martian/G79E6XtP">Martian</a> as something living on Mars is part of the fiction. Proposals for human missions to Mars have come from agencies such as NASA, <a href="/facts/CNSA/q3s4bGYt">CNSA</a>, the <a href="/facts/European_Space_Agency/L8YRNV0C">European Space Agency</a>, <a href="/facts/Boeing/tF5sMe9F">Boeing</a>, <a href="/facts/SpaceX/2tKHsVdJ">SpaceX</a>, and space advocacy groups such as the <a href="/facts/Mars_Society/g9SJAVz0">Mars Society</a> and <a href="/facts/The_Planetary_Society/rAuRH7IK">The Planetary Society</a>.

Human mission to Mars open-in-new

Human mission to Mars