NASA’s target to send humans to Mars by 2030 is not going to be met, stated former NASA Astronaut Jerry Ross on Friday. According to plans announced last year, NASA has targeted Mars for a series of manned and unmanned missions by the end of 2030.
“We just don’t know everything we need to know yet. We need to go out and do types of experiments and tests to get to that point. But it’s not going to be a straightforward thing and will take a couple of design cycles before we get to systems that work,” Ross told journalists at a press conference on the sidelines of International Ideas Festival, hosted by Purdue.
“For this, we need to increase budget and work effort on aspects, including nuclear power plants for the moons,” he added.
“However, if we get politicians to support space programmes on a continuum basis, we can do it,” he said. “But the problem in a country such as the United States, which is democratic, is that the leadership changes from time to time. New leaders have a different set of ideas on what’s important,” he said.