Space experts worry that the United States does not reach Mars by 2030 "Manila Bulletin News



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By Agence France-Presse

The United States promised to send the first humans to Mars d. here the 2030s, but space experts and President Donald Trump promised Wednesday to send Americans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, by building a mosaic tune. NASA 's Curiosity Mars rover images show a series of sedimentary deposits on the planet, which the United States hopes to reach with humans by the 2030s (NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS / AFP / File / HO / MANILA BULLETIN) "width =" 768 "height =" 484 "/>

A mosaic of 2013 NASA Mars Curiosity rover images shows a series of sedimentary deposits on the planet, that the United States hopes to reach 2030 (NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS / AFP / File / HO During a hearing in Washington, DC Senator Bill Nelson said that the White House's decision to return to the moon – a program that former President Barack Obama had stopped to focus on Mars – could slow the process. 19659005] "We do not want to steal NASA's budget from the goal, and the goal is to reach Mars with humans," said Nelson, a Florida Democrat, who is home to Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center.

"Do these missions help us reach our goal of bringing humans to Mars?" He asked.

In 2009, a group of independent experts referred to the Augustine Commission warned that NASA's resources were not meeting its objectives. With an annual budget of about $ 18 billion, NASA would need an additional $ 3 billion a year to get to Mars, she discovered.

NASA officials said that this year they were trying much less, using only inflation-based increases in b

and the National Academies of Science calculated that if the budget for NASA continued on its current trajectory, "forget the scenario of arriving at Mars in the 2030s". "I do not think we want to wait that long."

Global Partners Concerned

In 2017, NASA's congressional authorization bill NASA needed to define and present to Congress a detailed plan to reach Mars.

"We do not have this road map yet, it is seven months late," Nelson said.

"What gives? Let's see the program to go to Mars and see where all this is."

Testifying at the hearing, Chris Carberry, general manager of Mars said that international and private partnerships could help the United States make it more affordable to reach Mars.

"Our international partners want us to lead," he told lawmakers.

"But they have concerns that we will continue to change direction, they are not sure we will follow the direction."

Even more, aerospace experts have identified a dozen technologies that "we need to start to work on almost immediately if we have the hope of landing on Mars in the 2030s, added Carberry

It includes the development of spacecraft capable of surviving the Difficult landing on Mars and landing quite gently, as well as the ability to lift people and return to Earth.It will take a long time to achieve this, said Carberry.Thanking bipartisan support to the NASA, he sees among lawmakers, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican who heads the Senate Subcommittee on Space, said he hopes NASA's next congressional bill will "This next authorization NASA, the hope is that it will go further and be more daring in its aspirations, "he said.

Cruz asked retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who spent an American record of 665 days in space, for her views on what is needed for the flight. future

"The most important thing is the constancy of purpose," she replied. have a vision that lasts more than one administration. We must have a budget line that will support the goals and objectives we are trying to achieve. "

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