Humans to Mars: Time to get on with it!

The United States has been contemplating human missions to Mars for more than fifty years. Several presidents have made it a goal of their respective space policies and it is the goal of current U.S. space policy of the Obama administration. Indeed, back in the days of the Apollo program, NASA was considering landing humans on the surface of Mars and, as incredible as it now seems, they hoped to accomplish that feat in the 1980s.  So why are we, now in the second decade of a new century, not there yet and still at least a decade and a half from the earliest likely human mission?

There are certainly technical hurdles that need to be overcome before we can send crews to Mars, but the greatest obstacle has most certainly been politics.  Annual budget cycles and debates in Congress have taken their toll, but progress in space exploration has also fallen victim to changing administrations over the last few decades. Space enthusiasts long for the next ‘Kennedy moment’ to occur – a presidential speech that will inspire the country to do great things in space.  But in reality, the presidency has been a significant factor that has prevented a long-term human exploration program – because incoming presidents tend to discard or redirect the plans of their predecessor, and with respect to our space program with hopes of capturing some Kennedy magic with their own space speech. In doing so, however, any momentum that had been gained is then lost. Starting from scratch and “reinventing the wheel” is usually not only unnecessary but wasteful. Why don’t we recognize it as such with regard to our space program? 

{mosads}Presidential leadership is important – and necessary – but a new approach must be embraced

As we enter into the 2016 presidential campaign season, the emphasis must be on maintaining and growing momentum toward Mars – in a bi-partisan manner – rather than politicizing space and lobbying the next President to reinvent the space program yet again. 

A key element of building long-term support is articulating mission costs to policy makers and the public far better than what has been done before. Few people would even think of saying that they hope NASA doesn’t achieve the most bang for the “taxpayer” bucks and that we should hamper NASA from accomplishing that which it is tasked with, but in a sense, that is the effect of arguments such as, ”There are more important issues to deal with,” or “let’s solve problems on Earth first,” or “How can we think of going to Mars when …” The problem with these arguments is that they falsely assume that NASA’s budget is much larger than it actually is and that if we don’t go to Mars, the funds will be spent on ‘improving the world.’ 

In reality, we will spend roughly the same level of funds on NASA whether we go to Mars or not.  The main question is, how will those NASA funds be spent?  If we allow ourselves to be distracted/misdirected by political spin, ill-informed opinions, and cynics, we will spend a lot of money over the next couple of decades and be no closer to Mars or other ambitious goals in space. 

Inconsistent U.S. space policy is (and has been) far more of an obstacle to getting to Mars or anywhere else beyond low Earth orbit than budget challenges. It is time to break free of this cycle and get on with it.  Whether you are a passionate supporter of space exploration or think it is a waste of time is a secondary issue. If we are going to spend money on space exploration – let’s spend it wisely and well.  As unlikely as it sounds, landing humans on Mars starting no later than the mid-2030s is the fiscally responsible thing to do. 

Carberry is CEO of Explore Mars and co-chair of the upcoming 2015 Humans to Mars Summit (Mars2015.com)