72bluNblu said

Mars is exactly where science says it is. And it's definitely not a "wandering ball of light". How do I know? Fun fact, I briefly interned at a company that built parts for one of the Mars rovers. Lucy, the engineer mentioned in this article, was a classmate of mine at UCLA was an intern there already and got me the internship. Needless to say she stayed in the industry and I did not.

The company behind the robotic arms that help us explore Mars

But beyond that we've already sent spacecraft to Mars. Mariner 4 traveled from Earth to Mars in 1964/'65. Took it 228 days to get there, and took 21 photographs. In 1965. We've landed spacecraft on Mars. Can't land on Mars if science doesn't know where it is.

• Mariner 4 (1964/65) - 228 days
• Mariner 6 (1969) - 156 days
• Mariner 7 (1969) - 131 days
• Mariner 9 (1971) - 167 days
• Viking 1 (1976) – 335 days
• Viking 2 (1976) – 360 days
• Mars Global Surveyor (1996/97) - 300 days
• Mars Pathfinder (1996/1997) - 212 days
• Mars Odyssey (2001) – 200 days
• Mars Express Orbiter (2003) – 201 days
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006) – 210 days
• Phoenix Lander (2008) – 295 days
• Curiosity Lander (2012) – 253 days

Using the Hohmann transfer orbit Mars travel generally takes between 150-300 days. We've been doing it for 50 years, using a method that uses the minimum energy transfer orbit that was proposed by Walter Hohmann in 1925. 1925. Ridiculously cutting edge at the time, basic orbital mechanics now.

How Long Does it Take to Get to Mars? - Universe Today

As for the "falling stars", bud, we've got BILLIONS of years before that happens. A fact that can also be derived directly from science. Whether or not any humans are around to see it is another story.



Technically the current push is for a 2033 mission, but that depends a lot more on funding, budgets, and actual equipment test procedures than anything else. We already have the technology, we just need to start building things. A fairly recent analysis taking into account equipment testing protocols and procedures puts it off to more like 2037, but again, that timeline is a lot more politically based than it is scientifically based.

Independent report concludes 2033 human Mars mission is not feasible - SpaceNews.com

We can do it, we just have to decide to actually do it. Personally, I doubt we'll be able to commit to the funding necessary to get it done in the next 20 years. We need someone with vision like JFK to actually get people interested and behind the idea to commit to the long term planning and funding that such a mission would take. It will take over a decade at least to build and fully test the equipment, so it has to be supported through multiple administrations. Which is something we haven't been able to do for a while now. Funding and then de-funding and then funding and so on and so forth does not work well with such a monumental endeavor.

Click to expand...