If we're ever going to get to Mars in a reasonable amount of time, it's going to take one amazing rocket. That's just what NASA has been testing with its Space Launch System rocket.
The major difference between the SLS and previous rockets is a more powerful upper stage that continues to fire after its ascent out of the atmosphere.
NASA had initially planned to send astronauts up in the SLS in 2021, after an unmanned mission to the moon in September 2018.
However, even though the SLS still hasn't been rated for human flight, NASA announced that they were studying the feasibility of adding an astronaut crew to that 2018 mission. That's a tight timeline for equipment that hadn't been planned to include little things like life support or space for people.
Observers point to President Trump's inaugural address, when he announced the US's intentions to "unlock the mysteries of space" as the reason for the sudden change.
NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, admitted in a memo that "clearly the extra work would require a different launch date." The mission currently scheduled for 2018 would set up another mission three to five years later that would involve landing on the moon, so perhaps an aggressive approach isn't unwarranted.
After all, the ultimate goal for the SLS is to take humans to Mars, and the best place to train for that is the moon.
It might not be possible to put astronauts back on the moon on such an ambitious timeline, but it's a necessary first step to pushing the boundaries of human exploration. It's a huge risk to put people on a rocket's first flight, but if any organization has the right stuff to get it done, it's NASA.
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