Here's Why There's Still Not a Human on Mars
For the last 70 years, scientists and engineers have dreamed of going to Mars. But their imaginative plans haven't left the drawing board.
Attention, job seekers: NASA is looking for astronauts. Ideal candidates are willing to travel—to Mars.
The space agency—seemingly high off its recent Journey to Mars announcement and the successful design review of the Space Launch System rocket—is currently recruiting for the next class of astronauts, “in preparation for the agency’s journey to Mars.”
But keep in mind that when it comes to human missions to Mars, NASA’s “preparation” has already lasted quite a while: the last 70 years straight.
The delay is at least in part technical. A trip to the red planet is like visiting an even more inhospitable Antarctica, and its unbreathable atmosphere is less than two percent of what you’d find at Everest’s summit. Never mind
