NASA plans to put man on Mars by 2037

Hyderabad, Sep 24 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to put man on Mars by 2037, a top official of the US space agency said here Monday.

'We are planning many missions. Our long-term game-plan is to put man on Mars by 2037, so that by 2057, when the International Aeronautical Congress (IAC) holds its centenary, we should be celebrating the 20th year of putting man on the red planet,' NASA administrator Michael Griffin told the delegates at the first plenary of the 58th IAC on the inaugural day.

Participating in the interactive session between the heads of global space agencies and the 2,000-odd delegates, held to overview current programmes and provide insight into future agency plans, Griffin said having secured a toe-hold in space with the International Space Station (ISS), the next step for NASA would be solar studies.

'We are looking beyond moon and mars into the inter-planetary system, how to make best use of the ISS and how to use solar power to reduce its operational costs. With manned mission to moon from 2020 onwards and Mars a decade later, we want to build a space civilisation for tomorrow and beyond that,' Griffin pointed out.

The NASA administrator also called for greater private investment in satellite and rocket launches for reducing the cost of space transportation and make missions to moon and mars commercially viable.

'As of now, it appears space tourism may be the only way out to make space transportation economical. Though space tourism will generate funds, we have to evolve a mechanism to train the prospective tourists and ensure their safety. We do not, however, regulate space tourism, as there is no such provision in the US Space Act,' Griffin clarified.

To attract greater private participation in space ventures, NASA is aiding select US firms to build a business model for offering orbital transportation services, as cooperation with other space-faring nations may not be economically viable in future endeavours.

'It is the economics that we should see rather than the benefits of international cooperation,' Griffin added.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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