Research For Sci-Fi Series

I plan to rewrite the Survival On Mars series, a science fiction series
I wrote during my 20s. Before I do, I would like to change some of the
obvious errors. In the original version, travellers from the 7th
manned flight to Mars encounter an advanced civilization. The year was
2010. Obviously that is not going to happen. Do you know information
or can you recommend a site that can make an educated guess when manned
travel to Mars will occur and how a future generation of risk takers
might go about it?

I would also like to know more about stars in other arms of the Milky
Way galaxy. The original series uses nearby stars like Altair and
Rigel which brings up the question why they do not return to Earth.
The maximum speed is about 1 light year per hour. Putting the series
in another arm of the Milky Way galaxy and slowing maximum speed would
make it close enough for the advanced civilization to bring them to
their planets, in about a year or so, yet far enough away to make
travel to Earth a rarity.

The main planet in the series in called Triax. It is a Jupiter sized
planet with an Earth like atmosphere containing a sizable chunk of the
galactic population. Should I make this the planet where the advanced
species originated or can such a world only exist through advanced
technology? Thank you in advance.

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Hidden Pathways - http://www.swlucky.net (My website where the Survival
On Mars series can be found)