NASA Unveil Five Phase Mission To Put Humans On Mars

Space is infinitely interesting. From the comfort of our sofas while we scour the web, announcements from the likes of NASA capture our curiosity simply because there might be a chance they say they've found alien life forms.

Usually, though, it's just that there's water found somewhere which could mean a planet is capable of harnessing life. That's where our interest usually ends, as there's not really many long term plans to go any further than a plane can take you.

Elon Musk outlined last year that he wanted people to be willing to die for him in an attempt to put humans on Mars, and Trump said something similar in March, issuing a mandate for NASA to get people there by 2033.

Credit: NASA

NASA responded by detailing their plan to put man on Mars, using a five phase mission, according to Futurism.

Currently we're in Phase 0, whereby tests are being conducted on the International Space Station (ISS). Phase I, according to Futurism, will be between 2018 and 2025 and will include the launch and testing of six SLS rockets.

Those rockets will be sent to the Deep Space Gateway (DSG), a space station on the moon that will serve as a sort of service station for astronauts on the way to Mars.

Phase II, in 2027, will consist of launching the Deep Space Transport (DST) tube toward the lunar station, Futurism reports, echoing something off a level on Dead Space. Eventually in the years after 2027 astronauts will inhabit the tube for 400 days.

Entering Phase III, in 2030, the DST will be restocked with supplies and the Mars crew via SLS rocket, with Phase IV being the trip itself in 2033.

Hubble Portrait of Mars. Credit: NASA

There are many dangers to this mission, with Elon Musk saying when he suggested his ambitions to go the Red Planet that "the risk of fatality will be high," during his keynote speech in front of an audience in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Away from NASA's plans to simply put humans on the planet, Musk plans to colonise it, as he believes that is the only option unless we want to "stay on Earth forever and then there will be an inevitable extinction event".

The 45-year-old originally estimated that we'd be on Mars by 2025, but has brought his guess forward three years, and said that if anyone is willing to take part in the mission, they have to be prepared to die.

"There's no way around it," he said. "If that's okay, you're a candidate for going. The probability of death is quite high on the first mission."

Any takers? Leo DiCaprio has already singed himself up.

Mark McGowan

Mark is a journalist at LADbible, who joined in 2015 after a year as a freelance writer. In the past he blogged for independent football fan channel Redmen TV, after graduating from Staffordshire University with degrees in journalism and English literature. He has worked on campaigns such as UOKM8? and IIOC.