NASA has recently announced funding for a revolutionary high-thrust rocket known as a Pulsed Plasma Rocket, which could make crewed missions to Mars possible in just two months. This is a significant improvement compared to the current technology, which would take nine months for a Mars mission. Howe Industries, the company developing the concept, stated that this rocket could drastically reduce the risk and cost associated with a crewed Mars mission. NASA described it as holding the potential to revolutionize space exploration.
Despite ongoing efforts to send humans to Mars, political factors have been significant barriers. Experts in the space community have joked that putting humans on Mars is always considered to be 20 years away – a timeline that is short enough to sound achievable but long enough that political circumstances may change before the mission becomes a reality. This uncertainty has contributed to the delay in sending humans to Mars.
To understand why the US has yet to send humans to Mars despite its extensive experience with robotic missions to the planet, it is necessary to explore the history of past crewed Martian mission proposals. Despite significant progress made in exploration, there have been numerous promising initiatives that ultimately did not come to fruition. These historical insights shed light on the challenges and complexities associated with planning a crewed mission to Mars.
