Humans on Mars in 2033: A bipartisan vision

For decades, achieving a bi-partisan consensus in Washington, D.C. on just about any issue has been a daunting task, to say the least. Such is the nature of politics. But one of the very few issues with strong bi-partisan support in 2017 is support for human missions to Mars.

When President Trump signed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 in March, it not only was the first piece of legislation presented to him by Congress for enactment, but the bill had been co-authored by both Republicans and Democrats and was overwhelmingly approved by both the House and the Senate — an extremely rare accomplishment in modern politics.

{mosads}The bi-partisan support for Mars exploration embodied in the act, however, didn’t materialize out of the blue. It has been building for several years, and the support that exists for human missions to Mars is now at unprecedented levels. After decades of starts and stops, it appears that we are finally on the verge of moving again beyond low Earth orbit.

When John F. Kennedy stated that, “We choose to go to the Moon…”, the decision to go to the Moon came from the top downward. However, our current momentum toward Mars and other space exploration goals has in large part been generated from the bottom upward.

A surge of support and activity from non-profit organizations, small businesses and new startups, as well as large industry, academia and many other spheres, has changed public and political perceptions about what is possible in space and why these endeavors are important. This is not only critical to creating a politically sustainable program, but has also inspired new, more efficient, concepts of how to send humans to Mars.

Contrary to some of the myths about the costs of our space program, and as strange as it may sound — sending humans to Mars is fiscally responsible. Even when accurate estimates are discussed in the press (and this is rare), pundits and others often talk as though the cost of sending humans to Mars would be in addition to what NASA is already receiving in its annual budget allocations. However, in reality, the actual costs of human Mars missions would largely be included and accounted for in funds that NASA would almost certainly receive over the next 15-20 years, even without a humans-to-Mars program.

Although concerns have been raised recently that NASA may not have sufficient funds to send humans all the way to the surface of Mars in the 2030s, many current estimates indicate that it would not require a large increase in NASA’s budget to accomplish this task. Since the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 calls for human missions to Mars by 2033, NASA should provide a clear plan for achieving this goal — even if there are not sufficient funds in the current budget. Without a clear plan, it will be difficult for Congress to assess the situation and provide an appropriate budget level.

It is time to cash in on this momentum and take the necessary steps that will set us on a course to launch human missions to the surface of Mars no later than 2033. This is an achievable goal. It will probably require modest increases to NASA’s budget, but with that budget currently sitting at less than half of one percentage of the federal budget, this is a cost that we certainly can and must afford. Now is not the time to be timid. It is time for NASA and its industrial and international partners to truly enable humans to walk on the martian surface within the next 16 years.

Chris Carberry is CEO of Explore Mars, Inc. Rick Zucker is vice president of policy for Explore Mars, Inc.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.