NASA had made it clear that they want to take astronauts back on the moon by 2024. As of now, NASA is zeroing in on the Red Planet. The US space agency has confirmed that it wants humans to reach Mars by 2033.
NASA’s administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday that to achieve their goal of reaching Mars by 2033, they have to move forward quickly. There are some other segments of the program that includes a lunar landing.
Bridenstine has stated to lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill that they want to achieve this Mars landing by 2033. “We can move up this Mars landing by moving up the moon landing. The moon is the proving ground right now” he further added. Jim Bridenstine is a former congressman, and he was appointed as NASA’s administrator by Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is planning to land astronauts on the moon four years earlier than what has planned, and he dispatched Mike Pence, Vice President of America to announce the latest timetable for putting humans on the moon. As per the latest timetable, NASA’s astronaut has to land on the moon by 2024 only.
The new date has political significance too. It will be the final year of Trump’s eventual second term as the President of America at White House.
Many experts and lawmakers are worried that NASA won’t be able to reach this new deadline as Boeing is taking a lot of time in developing the heavy-lift rocket- The Space Launch System. Any mission that has been planned to reach Mars would take two years. Reaching Mars alone takes up six months, unlike the moon which can be reached in three days. Round Trip around Mars can take place if the Red Planet is positioned on the same side of the Sun where Earth is right now. This occurs once in 26 months so the dates can be adjusted with 2031, 2033 and so on.
