What country will first put a man on Mars and when will they do it?

Question

Look into your crystal ball. Do you think a Chinese person will first set foot on Mars? An American? A European? And when do you think *whatever* country will do this feat?

Answer 1

It will be an international effort, not unlike the ISS, but as others have said probably involving at least China and India in addition.



Timing? Purely my guess, but I am not totally optimistic, I kind of expect it won't be until 2035-2040.

Answer 2

I would think that it would be a joint US/European project. It's probably too big and expensive a job for any one country to accomplish in a reasonable time frame. The Chinese have just put a robot on the moon, the US put humans on the moon more than 40 years ago. The Russians' probes to Mars have a bad habit of failing.

Answer 3

Hard to say but all the hype about Mars One and other such projects are a crock. There is no point sending a human to Mars until we've sent enough probes to find one helluva lot more about it. I'm sure there won't be a manned mission to Mars in the next 100 years and doubtfully 200 years or more.

Answer 4

A manned trip to Mars is presently impossible no matter how much money is thrown at the project. The technology does not yet exist.

If it occurs, it won't be during this century or the next.



We can successfully send UNMANNED small probes to Mars because:

~Light weight probes can be accelerated with limited fuel.

~The travel time does not matter. Long duration slingshot maneuvers may be used. These reduce fuel consumption but extend the one way nine month trip to several years.

~Shielding from deadly cosmic rays is of limited concern.

~There would be no humans aboard that need constant food, water, pressure, oxygen, heat, medical care, recreation, exercise, cleaning etc. – and equipment for each.

~No fuel would be needed to lift off from Mars when the mission is completed.

~No fuel would be needed for a return trip; they do not return.

~If any of the thousands of vital ship systems fail, no life would be lost. The risk can therefore be acceptable.

. .

Answer 5

I don't think a single country could afford it; I'd lay a bet on a joint effort - which it should be. Right now, if a single nation *could* afford it, I'd bet on China...

And, it's going to take about 15 to 20 years of building and testing before there's boot prints on Mars; I'd say 5 to 10 years before we start...

Answer 6

Probably the United States, and only when political pressure forces them to do it. We only went to space at all because of the Cold War.

Answer 7

Andorra will do it on August 4, 2034. There, are you happy with this groundbreaking information?

Answer 8

It will be a joint venture. USA, EU, Russia, China and India will be involved.