Latest Manned mission to Mars Stories

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com International scientists and engineers gathered together in Houston, Texas a few weeks ago to discuss ideas about future exploration of Mars. The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) set up a workshop to bring in new ideas, concepts and capabilities to address the challenges of exploring the Red Planet. The discussions provided information for reformulating NASA's Mars Exploration Program (MEP) to be responsive to high-priority science goals and the...

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A recent workshop conducted for NASA by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, marked a key step in the agency's effort to forge a new Mars strategy in the coming decades. A report that summarizes the wide range of cutting-edge science, technology and mission concepts discussed is available online. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Held in Houston June 12-14 and attended by scientists and...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com To some, man setting foot on Mars may seem like a pipe dream, but to one Dutch group, it’s a business idea. A Dutch group, led by Bas Lansdorp, has announced plans to set up a small Mars settlement by 2023. Lansdorp is a researcher from the Netherlands with a Masters in Science from Delft University of Technology. Mars One has a plan to send a communications satellite to the Red Planet by 2016, and then set up several stages of other flights until...

A new study has found that astronauts' eyeballs have become deformed after spending a long time in space. The researchers said that flattening at the back of the astronauts' eyes may be caused by increased pressure of cerebrospinal fluid in microgravity. Doctors examined 27 astronauts who had flown long-duration missions with NASA and found a pattern of deformities in their eyeballs, optical nerves and pituitary glands that remains unexplained. The problems are similar to those...

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) technologies and capabilities will play mission-critical roles throughout the entire journey of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), which successfully launched earlier today aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. MSL carries "Curiosity" NASA's largest Mars rover to date. The one ton rover - with a payload 10 times more massive than...

HOUSTON, Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Experts at NASA's Johnson Space Center will discuss concepts for a future human mission to Mars at 1 p.m. CST on Nov. 23 as the agency prepares for the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The MSL robotic mission is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 from the Kennedy Space Center. The spacecraft will deliver a car-sized rover named Curiosity to the surface of Mars in...

For the past 17 months, researchers with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) collected data to evaluate the impact of prolonged operational confinement on the sleep, performance, and mood of six crew members during a Mars mission simulation in Moscow. The 520-day simulation, which concluded Nov. 4, was conducted by the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation – Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. As the only U.S....

[ Watch the Video ] After 520-days of a simulated mission to Mars, the Mars500 crew finally "returned to Earth" on Friday. The crew stepped out of their "spacecraft" after the 17-month-long mission and were welcomed by scientists. “Thank you very much for your outstanding effort,” ESA’s Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said in his greeting from Paris after the crew stepped from their module. “I welcome the courage, determination and generosity of these young people...

After a year-and-a-half of being locked up in isolation, the Mars500 crew's mission is finally coming to an end. The 17-month simulated Mars mission had six men spend 520-days of isolation to study the mental and physical challenges that would be faced for a manned mission to Mars. The crew had their brains monitored and bodies scanned to study the effects of the long period of isolation. The Mars500 crew believes they have properly answered the question of whether men can mentally...

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden met with Space Coast community leaders, Kennedy Space Center employees and news media representatives during a Tuesday visit to Florida. He outlined recent steps the agency has taken toward missions to deep space and Florida's critical role in future exploration. "As our nation looks for ways to compete and win in the 21st century, NASA continues to be an engine of job growth and economic opportunity," Bolden said. "From California to Florida, the space...