Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Space & Astronomy > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Space & Astronomy

Elon Musk could actually beat NASA to Mars

By T.K. Randall
May 17, 2017 · Comment icon 14 comments

Who will be the first to reach Mars ? Image Credit: NASA
The SpaceX CEO has a timetable for getting to Mars that could edge out NASA's manned mission schedule.
To say that it has been a long time coming would be an understatment, but now at last, thanks to a renewed commitment by both NASA and SpaceX, it is looking as though the greatest voyage ever undertaken by mankind may finally be happening in the not-too-distant future.

NASA's plan centers around its upcoming Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft - two vehicles which, when combined, will be able to take mankind all the way to Mars.

With a mission date set sometime in the 2030s however there is still quite a long time to wait.

SpaceX, meanwhile, is developing what it calls the 'Interplanetary Transport System' that will combine a super-heavy lift launch vehicle with the company's planned 'Interplanetary Spaceship' - a vessel that will be capable of transporting both passengers and cargo to other worlds.
The plan is to send a robotic mission to Mars by 2020 with a follow-up manned mission in 2024 - a highly ambitious goal that would place humans on Mars long before NASA's scheduled landing.

Even SpaceX itself however considers this particular timetable "optimistic".

If the firm continues striving towards its goals though there is every chance that the first humans to land on the surface of Mars will be emerging from a vessel without 'NASA' written on the side of it.

The 21st-century race to Mars is now well and truly underway.

Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (14)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #5 Posted by BeastieRunner 7 years ago
A good space race is good for our planet.
Comment icon #6 Posted by J-Man V 7 years ago
Agree, Beastie.
Comment icon #7 Posted by Frank Merton 7 years ago
Reminds me of when the government had a multi-million (maybe billion) dollar plan to map the human genome in five years.  It was done in private industry in two for much less money.
Comment icon #8 Posted by coolguy 7 years ago
I dont think humans will never step foot on mars, if they do it wont be in out life time
Comment icon #9 Posted by kartikg 7 years ago
I have similar  concerns just like flying cars and all such wonderful things promised the hype will die down
Comment icon #10 Posted by Frank Merton 7 years ago
The difficulties are great.
Comment icon #11 Posted by Frank Merton 7 years ago
I must have missed the hype about flying cars.  Flight is easy and piloting is easy, so long as the skies are relatively empty.  Otherwise machines that do the flying will be needed, and we don't yet have cars that do that so I think it is a ways off.  It is also fuel wasting.
Comment icon #12 Posted by kartikg 7 years ago
if you are not a 90s kid you have missed a lot of hypes as well as some truly amazing stuff
Comment icon #13 Posted by Frank Merton 7 years ago
These hypes are aimed at everyone -- I'm not sure what your statement is trying to say, but if there is a hype around, unfortunately I am no more able to miss it than others. Being in Cambodia is another matter -- the politicians here keep talking about getting Battambang a proper commercial airport -- a freeway to the other cities and to Thailand, and good drinking water for all.  Now those are hypes no doubt you missed.
Comment icon #14 Posted by kartikg 7 years ago
check this link https://www.bustle.com/articles/130233-8-predictions-about-the-future-made-in-the-90s-that-we-got-totally-wrong seems like you were not aware of these 


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles