Public submissions were originally scheduled for May 31 as a deadline, but that deadline was recently extended to June 3.
The agency said that following reaching the orbit of Mars by a space rocket, two astronauts will go to the surface of the planet, while two others will remain in orbit, and there, the two astronauts will be able to receive the supplies that were sent to the site in advance thanks to a 25-ton unit that provides power and mobility.
NASA aims to launch astronauts to Mars by the late 1930s or early 1940s.
Turning this vision into reality is quite a challenge, assuming finance and technology come in just in time, for example, the round-trip travel time would still be around 500 days given the distance between Earth and Mars.
The issue of gravity may represent a real problem, as astronauts will reach the Red Planet following months in microgravity and face an important path to recovery, even to work in the partial gravity of Mars, which is approximately one third of Earth’s gravity, and NASA suggests that one way to address this problem may be To Crew members to live in a pressurized rover during their mission.
“We want to ramp up the scientific research so we can let them roam before they’re adapted enough to wear spacesuits, and walk in 30 days,” said Kurt Vogel, NASA’s director of space architectures.
The mission plan is still in its early stages and might change dramatically, and NASA envisions using a Habitat-like spacecraft to transport crew members to the Red Planet, using a hybrid rocket stage (powered by chemical and electrical propulsion). In a journey similar to what was seen in the Oblo program, four people will make the long journey, with two people descending on the surface.
According to NASA, approximately 25 tons of supplies and devices will be ready and waiting for the crew, and will be delivered by an earlier robotic mission. These supplies will include a crewed boarding vehicle, already refueled and ready to go for astronauts to eject from Mars and back into orbit around the planet.
NASA is focused on launching its unmanned Artemis 1 mission to Earth to prepare for astronauts’ missions to the moon in the 1920s, as NASA considered that the moon mission would contribute to preparing for the Mars mission.