Here’s the main reason Nasa hasn’t sent h umans to Mars

(Yes, that is why very rich individuals like Musk
and Bezos are so important.  They can decide quickly,
exploit new technology, and even take some risks.)

from
https://www.the-sun.com/tech/4815741/main-reason-nasa-humans-mars/

WE HAVE A PROBLEM
Here’s the main reason Nasa hasn’t sent humans to Mars yet
and it may surprise you

Jona Jaupi
7:25 ET, Mar 5 2022Updated: 7:25 ET, Mar 5 2022
NASA has sent many a spacecraft to distant worlds, yet humans still 
haven't set foot on Mars – here's why.

Space exploration has come a long way since Galileo first developed a 
telescope to peer into the heavens in 1609.

Nasa has never sent a man to the moon, but it's not because of 
technological reasonsCredit: UnSplash
We have sent a man to the moon via Project Apollo 11, developed 
satellites that orbit the Earth, placed rovers on Mars, and even 
documented supernovas exploding.

Therefore, the question begs: Why hasn't man stepped on Mars yet?

Clearly, scientists and engineers have developed the technology to do so 
– Nasa could have likely achieved this feat 30 years ago, according to a 
report by Business Insider.

It seems the lag can, in part, be attributed to politics, according to 
Zero Gravity Operations CEO Peter Diamandis.

Because Nasa is a government-funded agency, many of its initiatives are 
determined and outlined by the Executive Branch.

And since it was founded in 1958, the agency has worked with 12 
presidential administrations, many of which clashed with one another 
when it came to space exploration goals.


"So what's happened throughout all of space history after the Apollo 
program was over was to start, stop, start, stop, cancel. President 
comes in like Bush comes in to go to the Moon, back to Mars and the next 
president comes in and cancels that," Diamandis told Business Insider.

"The agency is unable to sustain consistent funding to do anything," he 
added.

For example, President Bush in 2004 announced Nasa's Constellation 
Program, which had two goals: Send a crewed mission back to the moon in 
2020 and land humans on Mars in the 2030s.

However, when the Obama administration came along, the agency had to 
steer away from the Constellation Program to instead focus on Obama's 
"Journey to Mars" project, which aimed to send humans to the Red Planet 
by the early 2030s.

President Trump's admin shifted the agency's focus once more when it 
announced its goal to "return American astronauts to the moon and from 
there to lay a foundation for a mission to Mars," according to Vice 
President Mike Pence.

All of this shuffling around may have prevented the agency from focusing 
solely on a mission to Mars, which still requires tackling a number of 
concerns.

The first obstacle is just the distance between Mars and Earth, which is 
constantly changing as the two planets orbit the Sun at different paces, 
Michelle Rucker, lead of NASA’s Human Mars Architecture Team at NASA’s 
Johnson Space Center, told Astronomy.

Therefore, an optimal period for traveling to and from the Red Planet 
doesn't occur as often as scientists would like – as of right now, the 
"trains to Mars," so to speak, leave once every 26 months, according to 
Jeffrey Sheehy, chief engineer of the NASA Space Technology Mission 
Directorate.

Other important concerns include understanding how the human body and 
mind will be affected by factors such as spending a long period of time 
in a small confined space, as well as exploring what adapting to life on 
another planet looks like.

Until Nasa addresses these very important concerns, Mars is likely on 
pause for cosmonauts.

"The scientists and engineers at NASA are amazing and they've done 
extraordinary things. But they're risk aversion. That doesn't allow us 
to do new and novel things that are on the edge," Diamandis said.

"Doing anything big and bold in space is hard and it's risky. So, it's 
entrepreneurs taking the risks these days, willing to put everything on 
the line," he added.

Diamandis is not wrong – with private companies like SpaceX and Boeing 
funding their own missions to the Red Planet, it's not improbable that 
the first person who will walk on Mars could be either a billionaire or 
a very lucky civilian.

Nasa has landed a rover on Mars, but not humans.
2
Nasa has landed a rover on Mars, but not humans.
In other news, the creators of a chilling new horror game say that the 
title is so disturbing they've been forced to censor it on PlayStation.

Apple has announced updates to AirTags following claims that the 
coin-sized tracking devices are being used to stalk people.

And TikTok has announced new rules, banning users who deadname or 
misgender others.

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Topics
NASA
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