Explore Mars, Inc. is pleased to announce that the 2016 Humans to Mars Report (http://www.exploremars.org/the-humans-to-mars-report) was officially released today on the opening morning of the three-day Humans to Mars Summit ( H2M.ExploreMars.org) in Washington, DC.
As stated in our premiere issue in 2015 ( http://www.exploremars.org/the-humans-to-mars-report) this annual publication provides a snapshot of current progress in mission architectures, science, policy, international engagement, human factors, and public perception regarding human missions to Mars, and highlights progress and challenges from year to year. By doing so, this report provides stakeholders and policy makers with a resource to help them make decisions based on the most current information rather than on outdated sources, speculation, and occasional misinformation.
“This report is the product of the combined efforts of NASA, industry, and academic experts who came together to provide a considered synopsis of the progress and plans now underway for the continued scientific exploration of Mars, the planet most like Earth, leading to human missions in the early 2030s,” stated Joe Cassady, Explore Mars Board member and Aerojet Rocketdyne Executive Director, Space.
As highlighted in this year’s report, there have been significant developments since the premiere issue was released. Mars has been in the news regularly, and the United States has embraced Mars as the goal for human space flight more than ever before. For example, in October 2015 NASA began the process of assessing potential candidate human landing sites on Mars for the first time.
However, much additional progress is needed, and greater urgency is required to achieve the goal of landing humans on Mars. The greatest threat to mission success is complacency and delay. More clarity is required about the intermediate steps that will be needed for human landings on Mars. This historic goal has become far more realistic than ever before. We believe that the 2016 Humans to Mars Report will help to enable a human presence on Mars beginning in the early 2030s.
According to Explore Mars President, Artemis Westenberg, “Looking at the progress that has occurred over the past year as indicated in our 2016 Humans to Mars Report, I am happy to say that October 6th, 2033 is looking better than ever as the date for the first footsteps on Mars.”
Over the next few weeks, Explore Mars will distribute this report to every member of Congress, all attendees of the Humans to Mars Summit, policy makers, members of the press, and space exploration stakeholders.
About Explore Mars
Explore Mars was created to advance the goal of sending humans to Mars within the next two decades. To further that goal, Explore Mars conducts programs and technical challenges to stimulate the development and/or improvement of technologies that will make human Mars missions more efficient and feasible. In addition, to embed the idea of Mars as a habitable planet, Explore Mars challenges educators to use Mars in the classroom as a tool to teach standard STEM curricula. Explore Mars, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation organized in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
