JF Mezei wrote on Sun, 18 Mar 2018
07:36:58 -0400:

On 2018-03-17 10:48, Fred J. McCall wrote:

NASA's current long range plan puts the first Mars mission (with no
landing) out in like 2033. I think it's pretty obvious that even with
the expected schedule slides Musk will beat them there.


When must NASA start to get funding to develop whatever will travel
between Earth and Mars and back?


They can probably just buy a B330 module.


Eventually, NASA will have to stop pretending that Orion is big enough
to carry people to and from Mars on a 1 year mission, and perhaps have
to fess up that it needs to develop a Mars lander and take-off vehicle
if it intends to put humans on Mars surace and bring them back.


No plans to land through 2033.


--
"Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the
truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
-- Thomas Jefferson