NASA outlines roadmap to Mars

In its report, NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration, the US space agency sets out the challenges that must be overcome as humans move further from Earth. The first stage is ‘Earth Reliant’, and will be conducted primarily in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station. Astronauts will test the technologies and systems that will enable deep space missions, while monitoring the impacts on human health of long durations in space.

NASA has labelled the second stage ‘Proving Ground’. This will involve complex operations in a deep space environment, but with the ability to return to Earth in a matter of days. It will take place predominantly in cislunar space—the volume of space around the moon featuring multiple possible stable staging orbits for future deep space missions. During this stage, NASA plans to advance and validate capabilities required for humans to live and work at distances much farther away from Earth, such as Mars.