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I just hope we'll send people to the red planet in my lifetime. And this new discovery might shorten the time we'll have to wait  |
Speaking of which, I'm actually working on a voiceover translation of a BBC series about a possible mission to Mars, and I've learned that NASA estimates a trip to happen in 2033 at the earliest.
It does look like a difficult mission. It's probably my own ignorance of space stuff, but just watching this 50 minute first episode revealed a lot of difficulties that need to be tackled for a space flight to Mars. The trip itself would take roughly seventeen months, so the spacecraft would need adequate amounts of fuel, sustenance and equipment, which does take up a lot of space. Then there's the question of how should these people preserve muscle and bone mass through the whole mission, in zero-G conditions. How will they preserve their mental health while being confined to a small space with the same group of people for two years or so? Interesting stuff.