mars trip 2022

NASA shows off early plans to send astronauts to Mars for 30 days

The agency also wants feedback about its concept.

We have a glimpse now of NASA's latest vision for its first crewed Mars mission.

The agency released its top objectives for a 30-day, two-person Mars surface mission on Tuesday (May 17) and asked the public to provide feedback on how the planning is going. Submissions were initially due on May 31, but that deadline was recently extended to June 3.

NASA aims to launch astronauts to Mars by the late 2030s or early 2040s. Making that vision a reality will be challenging. Assuming the funding and technology come into play at the right time, for example, the round-trip travel time would still be about 500 days given the distance between Earth and Mars.

Related: How living on Mars would challenge colonists (infographic)

Gravity — or the lack thereof — would also be a problem, as current-generation spacecraft look nothing like those seen in movies like "The Martian" (2015). The astronauts will arrive on the Red Planet after months in microgravity and face a significant road to recovery, even to operate in the partial gravity of Mars, which is roughly one-third that of Earth. NASA suggests that one way to address this issue might be having the crews live in a pressurized rover during their mission.

"We want to maximize the science so we allow them to drive around before they become conditioned enough to get in the spacesuits, and walk and maximize that science in 30 days," Kurt Vogel, NASA director of space architectures, said in a 30-minute YouTube video accompanying the data release.

The mission plan is in the early stages and could change considerably. But so far, NASA envisions using for a habitat-like spacecraft to ferry crewmembers to the Red Planet, using a hybrid rocket stage (powered by both chemical and electrical propulsion). Four people would make the long journey, with two alighting on the surface, somewhat similar to the model seen in the Apollo program with three astronauts.

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Roughly 25 tons of supplies and hardware would be ready and waiting for the crew, delivered by a previous robotic mission. These supplies would include a crew ascent vehicle, already fueled and ready to go for the astronauts to make it off Mars and  back into orbit around the planet.

— 12 amazing photos from the Perseverance rover's 1st year on Mars — NASA's Curiosity rover shares spectacular views of Mars — See a sunrise on Mars in this stunning view from NASA's InSight lander (photo)

NASA is not issuing a standard request for information or formal contract process for this mission concept yet. After all, the agency is focused on getting its uncrewed Artemis 1 mission off the ground to get ready for astronaut missions to the moon in the 2020s. (NASA has said the moon work is essential to getting ready for Mars.)

But more stakeholder input on Mars is forthcoming. The agency pledged to have a workshop in June "with partners from American industry and academia," who are invited individually by NASA. Invited international organizations can also weigh in during a workshop in July.

You can view more details about NASA's objectives (there are 50 in all) before submitting your comments on this website , through June 3.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter  @Spacedotcom  and on  Facebook . 

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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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Mission Timeline Summary

While every mission's launch timeline is different, most follow a typical set of phases - from launch to science operations.

Pre-launch Activities 

Preparation for the mission, including pre-project planning, science definition and instrument selection, landing site selection, assembly and testing, and delivery to the launch site.

Liftoff from Earth.

Cruise: The Trip to Mars

The interplanetary cruise phase is the period of travel from Earth to Mars and lasts about 200 days. The phase begins after the spacecraft separates from the rocket, soon after launch. Engineers on Earth keep close tabs on the mission during cruise. Major activities include:

• Checking spacecraft health and maintenance
• Monitoring and calibrating the spacecraft and its onboard subsystems and instruments
• Performing attitude correction turns (slight spins to keep the antenna pointed toward Earth for communications, and to keep the solar panels pointed toward the Sun for power)
• Conducting navigation activities, such as trajectory correction maneuvers, to determine and correct the flight path and train navigators before orbit insertion or atmospheric entry. The last three correction maneuvers are scheduled during approach.
• Preparing for entry, descent, and landing (EDL) and surface operations, a process which includes tests of communications, including the communications to be used during EDL.

The mission is timed for launch when Earth and Mars are in good positions relative to each other for landing on Mars. That is, it takes less power to travel to Mars at this time, compared to other times when Earth and Mars are in different positions in their orbits. As Earth and Mars orbit the Sun at different speeds and distances, about once every 26 months they are aligned in a way that allows the most energy-efficient trip to Mars.

Orbiter’s Journey

The approach phase begins two months prior to Mars orbit insertion.

Mars Orbit Insertion

Mars Orbit insertion is the point in the mission when a spacecraft arrives just short of Mars, firing onboard rockets to slow its speed relative to the planet, and it is captured into a long, looping orbit.

Aerobreaking

Aerobraking is a spaceflight technique wherein an orbiting spacecraft brushes against the top of a planetary atmosphere. The friction of the atmosphere against the surface of the spacecraft slows down and lowers the craft's orbital altitude. The solar panels are used to provide the maximum drag in a symmetrical position that allows some control as the spacecraft passes through the atmosphere. 

Instead of using onboard jets and propellant to adjust a spacecraft's orbit, aerobraking uses the atmosphere as both a brake and a steering wheel. The technique, however, shares more elements with sailing than with driving: successful aerobraking depends upon precise navigation, knowledge of weather, and a solid understanding of the forces the craft can withstand.

Science Operations

Orbiters begin their primary science phase when they enter science orbit and their instruments and other systems are calibrated and ready to collect science data.

Communications Relay

At the end of their primary missions, orbiters support the Mars Exploration Program by providing communications support to future Mars missions during approach, navigation, and relay. The relay orbit is similar to that of the primary science orbit. In general, this orbit allows for relay access to any point on Mars. Most locations on Mars will have contact opportunities once or twice per day.

Relay activities and other activities in support of newly arrived missions have highest priority during the relay phase. Electra, the navigation and telecommunications relay payload, can provide UHF coverage to Mars landers and rovers on the surface using its nadir-pointed (pointed straight down at the surface) antenna.

Rover/Lander’s Journey

To ensure a successful entry, descent, and landing, engineers began intensive preparations during the approach phase, about 45 days before the spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere. It lasted until the spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere, which extends 2,113 miles (3,522.2 kilometers) as measured from the center of the Red Planet.

Entry, Descent, and Landing

Entry, Descent, and Landing – often referred to as "EDL" – is the shortest and most intense phase of a rover mission. It begins when the spacecraft reaches the top of the Martian atmosphere, traveling at high speeds. It ends about seven minutes later, with the rover stationary on the Martian surface. To safely go from those speeds down to zero in that short amount of time, while hitting a narrow target on the surface, requires “slamming on the brakes” in a very careful, creative, and challenging way.

Instrument Checks and First Drive  

After landing, when engineers first conduct tests to ensure the rover is in a "safe state."

Surface Operations

For spacecraft that land on the surface of Mars, the surface operations phase is the time when spacecraft learn about Mars through day-to-day scientific activities of the rover.

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The upcoming Artemis II mission is the first step in a long mission

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NASA recently announced the crew of its upcoming Artemis II mission, which will be the first manned trip to the moon since 1972. The launch is being billed as the first step toward getting humans to Mars , but how does NASA plan to do that? Here's everything you need to know:

How will NASA get to Mars?

The journey will start with the Artemis program, which has the goal of establishing the first long-term human outpost on the moon. From there, NASA says , they "will use what we learn on and around the moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars."

In 2022, NASA unveiled a rough outline for its first crewed Mars mission, identifying "50 points falling under four overarching categories of exploration, including transportation and habitation; moon and Mars infrastructure; operations; and science." These objectives "will inform our exploration plans at the moon and Mars for the next 20 years," said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.

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These objectives include , among other things, "[Developing] a transportation system that can deliver large surface elements from Earth to the Martian surface," as well as "[developing] Mars surface power sufficient for the initial human Mars demonstration mission," and building "entry, descent, and landing (EDL) systems capable of delivering crew and large cargo to the Martian surface."

However, there is still a ton of work to be done, as making a human trip to Mars "will be challenging," Space.com writes. The distance itself will play a major factor. Earth and Mars are an average of 140 million miles away from each other, and it would take about 500 days round-trip to get between the two planets, "assuming the funding and technology come into play at the right time," the outlet adds. A lack of gravity would also pose a significant problem, so crews may have to live in a pressurized cabin during the mission to help acclimatize to the change.

If all goes well — and that is a big "if" — Space.com notes that NASA "envisions using a habitat-like spacecraft to ferry crew members to the red planet, using a hybrid rocket stage (powered by both chemical and electrical propulsion)." The initial mission would be made by four people, with two making the journey to the Martian surface. But since you can't live on a desolate planet by yourself, NASA estimates the crew would need at least 25 tons of supplies awaiting them on Mars, which will have been delivered by a prior rover mission.

How will Artemis II help accomplish this goal?

The mission, set to launch toward the end of 2024, will be the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, the vessel that has been tapped to send humans to Mars. Both the Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) associated with it "are critical to NASA's exploration plans at the moon and beyond," the agency writes .

The Orion capsule is specifically designed to keep humans alive during months-long missions, and "will be equipped with advanced environmental control and life support systems designed for the demands of a deep space mission," per NASA . The first step in proving that these systems are viable will be a successful Artemis II mission, which CNN reports will go beyond the moon and "potentially further than any human has traveled in history."

The upcoming mission is only a flyby, and while humans will not land on the moon until Artemis III, operating on the lunar surface requires "systems that can reliably operate far from home, support the needs of human life, and still be light enough to launch," NASA writes. As a result, "exploration of the moon and Mars is intertwined," with the moon providing a platform to test "tools, instruments, and equipment that could be used on Mars ."

When does NASA plan to go to Mars?

That could depend on how fast things develop. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump signed an order directing NASA to send humans to Mars by 2033, and former President Barack Obama had set a similar goal of a mission in the 2030s, CNET reports.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson pushed that date back slightly, saying the agency's plan "is for humans to walk on Mars by 2040," per CNN . Nelson added that the goal was to apply "what we've learned living and operating on the moon and continue them out into the solar system."

President Biden's budget proposal for the next fiscal year included an allocation of $27 billion to NASA, of which $7.6 billion would be used for deep-space exploration. However, negotiations on a budget deal are ongoing between Congress and the White House, so it remains to be seen how much of these potential NASA funds will actually see the light of day.

Who will go?

That probably won't be decided for years to come. Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in 2019 that "we could very well see the first person on Mars be a woman," per Space.com , but no specifics regarding an astronaut class were given. Artemis III is expected to land both the first woman and first person of color on the moon, so it won't come as much of a surprise if a similarly diverse group heads to the red planet. Elon Musk, who has worked alongside NASA via his spaceflight company SpaceX, has said he believes humans will be on Mars by 2029 at the latest, but he hasn't provided any names either.

For now, though, the question of who will be the first person to place their boots on the Martian surface remains a mystery.

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 Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other Hollywood news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.  

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SpaceX: Here’s the Timeline for Getting to Mars and Starting a Colony

SpaceX is aiming for a much faster timeframe, with a series of 10 launches to start a city by 2050. Here’s how it looks.

Elon Musk has a grand plan for getting humanity out of the confines of Earth, setting off to the moon, Mars, and even further reaches of the solar system. Musk has regularly estimated that humans could establish a city on Mars as early as 2050.

As CEO of SpaceX, he has led the development of the Starship. The rocket is designed to refuel and relaunch using liquid hydrogen and methane, unlike the rocket propellant used in the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. That means astronauts will be able to set up refueling depots around the solar system, hopping from planet to planet. Still under development, the Starship could see its first commercial flight as early as 2021 .

Many plans for a Mars settlement expect a community in matters of decades. The United Arab Emirates aims for a city of 600,000 by 2117. Astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell told Inverse in October that “while the first human mission to land on Mars will likely take place in the next two decades, it will probably be more like 50-100 years before substantial numbers of people have moved to Mars to live in self-sustaining towns.”

SpaceX is aiming for a much, much faster timeframe, with a series of 10 launches to start a city by 2050. Here’s how it looks:

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2019

The company is set to hold the first “hop tests” for its Mars-bound Starship this year, seeing if the rocket can jump a few hundred kilometers. SpaceX has been developing a test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, shipping over 300,000 cubic yards of locally-sourced soil. In July 2018, the firm took shipment of a 95,000-gallon liquid oxygen tank, around the same capacity as 20 tanker trucks. It’s also completed a 600-kilowatt solar array and two ground station antennas that may also prove useful for Crew Dragon missions. In October 2018, it took shipment of the final major ground tank system to support the initial flights.

CEO Elon Musk previously described these tests as “fly out, turn around, accelerate back real hard and come in hot to test the heat shield because we want to have a highly reusable heat shield that’s capable of absorbing the heat from interplanetary entry velocities.” The tests were originally set to take place in the first few weeks of 2019, but a storm blew over the “hopper” test vehicle.

The firm completed its first hop test firing in April, reaching a few centimeters off the ground. More are expected later this year.

SpaceX's final Starship Hopper

Assuming all goes well, it’s onto the next stage. In January, Musk claimed that the first orbital Starship prototype may arrive as early as June, which could help accelerate testing and move select plans to an earlier stage of the schedule.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2020

As the United States holds its next presidential election, SpaceX will be working on the next stage of Starship tests. This year’s tests cover the booster, as well as high altitude, high-velocity flights. The team is expected to conduct a number of test flights before actually placing anyone on board. An orbital Starship could make its flight debut at this time.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2021

The Starship is set to embark on its first commercial flight. Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX vice president of commercial sales, revealed at a conference in Indonesia that the plan is to host the first flight around this time.

The Starship’s first voyage could see it send a commercial satellite into space for one of three telecoms firms. That sounds like a job for the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, but if all goes well it could prove the Starship’s viability for future missions and help fund its further development.

“You could potentially recapture a satellite and bring it down if you wanted to,” Hofeller said. “It’s very similar to the [space] shuttle bay in that regard. So we have this tool, and we are challenging the industry: what would you do with it?”

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2022

This could be the first year that SpaceX reaches Mars. At the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, in September 2017, Musk suggested this year as the point at which at least two unmanned ships could make their way to Mars. The two planets will be at an ideal point to send a rocket in 2022, a phenomenon that occurs roughly every two years.

SpaceX previously released concept art of the Starship on its way to distant planets, based around the older design rather than the more recent stainless steel iteration pictured above:

The Starship.

“I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and prepare the ship for launch in about five years,” he said. “Five years feels like a long time to me.”

The ships would place power, mining and life support infrastructure for future flights. They would also confirm water resources and identify hazards. Each ship would carry around 100 tons of supplies.

However, in February, Musk suggested that SpaceX has more pressing missions:

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2023

This is the year when SpaceX is expected to send Japanese billionaire Yukazu Maezawa , alongside six to eight artists, on a trip around the moon using the Starship. While not specifically a Mars-focused mission, its success would bode well for a future manned mission. Based on Musk’s February comments, this could be the first major mission for the Starship.

The path that Starship will take when on the Lunar Mission.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2024

It’s time for another election for president of the United States. It’s also the next time that the Earth and Mars are suitably aligned to send a rocket.

There’s a high chance that, based on Musk’s previous comments, SpaceX will not send two cargo ships to Mars in 2022 as previously suggested. If this prediction holds true, this will be the next ideal moment that SpaceX can send the cargo ships and lay the groundwork for a further mission.

If SpaceX has sent the two cargo ships by this stage, the next step will be the manned mission. The plan is to send two cargo ships, alongside two crew ships taking the first people to Mars. They will be tasked with setting up a propellant production plant, combining Martian water, ice, and carbon dioxide to create methane and liquid oxygen to fuel the ships and come back home. The humans would be tasked with collecting one tonne of ice every day to fuel the plant.

The first humans will also likely have to use solar-powered hydroponics to feed the plants and grow more food. Musk said in a February interview that the technology, which allows plants to grow without soil, is already in use on Earth and the same techniques could immediately apply to the Mars colony.

The Starship on Mars.

In short, it’s not going to be a leisurely visit. Musk stated at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March this year, that Mars and the moon “are often thought of as some escape hatch for rich people, but it won’t be that at all.”

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2025

This is the earliest point at which Musk thinks a Mars colony could take shape . The CEO has predicted a timeframe of “7 to 10 years” before the first bases take shape.

This will expand on the work left behind by the first humans. Paul Wooster, principal Mars development engineer for SpaceX, explained that “the idea would be to expand out, start off not just with an outpost, but grow into a larger base, not just like there are in Antarctica, but really a village, a town, growing into a city and then multiple cities on Mars.” The larger cities would offer habitats, greenhouses, life support, and enable new experiments that help to answer some of the big questions about life on Mars.

A potential future Mars city.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2026

This could be the next time that SpaceX sends more ships to Mars. Musk explained on Twitter that the company could use 10 orbital synchronizations to complete a city by the year 2050. With the two planets set to align in February 2027, this could be about the right time to complete another launch.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: Beyond

By the end of the next decade, SpaceX expects to have some sort of settlement on Mars. Musk has said there’s a 70 percent chance he’ll visit Mars himself in his lifetime, perhaps paying a visit to this developing colony. That is, depending on how the first settlements go — Musk said in 2016 that “probably people will die,” but “ultimately, it will be very safe to go to Mars, and it will be very comfortable.”

Mars could perhaps serve as a base for more ambitious missions, with Musk describing the Starship as “really intended as an interplanetary transport system that’s capable of getting from Earth to anywhere in the solar system as you establish propellant depots along the way.”

Leaving for further adventures.

Beyond transforming humanity into a space-faring civilization, it could also preserve the species. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said in April that “if something were to happen on Earth, you need humans living somewhere else…I think you need multiple paths to survival, and this is one of them.”

Related video: Elon Musk Predicts Our Future On Mars At SXSW 2018

‘Mars astronauts’ selected for NASA simulated mission

H OUSTON, TX (KXAN) — Four volunteers will soon get a trip to “Mars.” NASA announced on Monday, April 15 that they had selected the next crew for their simulated Mars mission at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The four crew members will be confined to a small chamber designed to simulate life on the red planet for future astronauts for 45 days.

The four volunteers, Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara, will board NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog, aka HERA, on May 10. They will then live and work like astronauts will typically do until June 24.

According to NASA, the mission will help the agency understand “how crew members adapt to isolation, confinement, and remote conditions” ahead of future missions to the red planet. Besides scientific experiments and basic tasks, the crew will also simulate a walk on the planet’s surface.

According to the space agency, HERA is 640-square-foot habitat. It has two floors and a loft.

This will be the second crew aboard HERA. The last crew wrapped their mission on March 18. Two more missions are scheduled for later this year. Jose Baca and Brandon Kent will serve as alternate crew members for the upcoming mission.

Crew members go to “space”

Crew member Shareef Al Romaithi will be the first from the United Arab Emirates. His participation is part of a new partnership between NASA and the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

Other crew members include Jason Lee, a professor at the University of Connecticut, Stephanie Navarro, a space operations officers with the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and Piyumi Wijesekara, a researcher at the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

Eighteen health studies will be conducted as part of this mission. The studies will focus on physiological, behavioral, and psychological responses caused by the environment. Researchers hope that data collected will help better prepare us for upcoming trips to Mars and survival in deep space travel.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.

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ExoMars 2022: The Way Forward to Mars

By European Space Agency October 1, 2020

The path that ExoMars 2022 will follow to reach the Red Planet is set. The trajectory that will take the spacecraft from Earth to Mars in 264 days foresees a touchdown on the Martian surface on June 10, 2023, at around 17:30 CEST (15:30 UTC). Credit: ESA

The path that ExoMars 2022 will follow to reach the Red Planet is set. The trajectory that will take the spacecraft from Earth to Mars in 264 days foresees a touchdown on the Martian surface on June 10, 2023, at around 17:30 CEST (15:30 UTC ).

The weather at Mars, the type of launcher, and the laws of physics governing the planets determined a 12-day launch window starting on September 20, 2022.

Efficient orbital transfers, good communications, and no large dust storms on the Martian horizon make the chosen trajectory the fastest and safest choice.

Choosing the best path

When confronted with how to get to Mars, European and Russian teams have to juggle many factors. The mission analysis team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany took into account the performance of Russia’s Proton launcher to identify a number of possible trajectories.

Once a spacecraft is released from the rocket that boosts it into orbit, the spotlight is onto the men and women controlling the mission from the main control room of ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Credit: ESA/J. Mai

“We had several transfer trajectories to choose from and a spacecraft already built for the trip,” says Mattia Mercolino, ExoMars principal systems engineer. “These variables imposed on us constraints linked to power, temperature thresholds, and orientation towards Earth during the first stages of the flight, among others.”

Being able to communicate with the spacecraft also played a major role.

“One of the alternatives had a longer launch window, but a worse connection with the spacecraft during the first days. This choice was too risky, especially when you want to have full control at the beginning of the mission,” explains Tiago Loureiro, ExoMars spacecraft operations manager.

Overview of the ExoMars program timeline. Credit: ESA

The final trajectory takes a bit longer – one week more – and the launch sequence requires more maneuvers, but this wasn’t only about earthly constraints. “We needed to understand the challenges unique to our destination. Mars orbital characteristics and dust storms were crucial to our decision,” says Tiago.

Riders on the storm

Dust storms are frequent on Mars, but also difficult to predict. Seasons play a role, with stormy weather more likely to happen during the spring and summer in the southern hemisphere. ExoMars landing site is Oxia Planum, located in the northern hemisphere.

Threatening global-scale dust storms tend to happen approximately every ten years. The most recent one was in 2018.

Oxia Planum close up. This image was taken by MRO’s high resolution camera HiRISE and shows a relatively flat surface in this region. Images like these have been used in the assessment of the various landing site candidates. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Although ExoMars will land outside the dust storm season, a build-up of dust on the solar panels will reduce the power supply and could even force a temporary shutdown of ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover and the Russian surface platform, dubbed Kazachok.

“We went through a number of studies and tests to ensure that all systems would survive with reduced sunlight upon the late afternoon landing, and during surface operations the following weeks,” adds Tiago.

European scientists want to operate the rover on Mars for as long as possible. Rosalind Franklin can cope with regional dust storms for a few days and with layers of fine dust covering its solar panels.

“A global dust storm that blankets the atmosphere for several months would most likely result in the death of the rover,” warns Jorge Vago, ESA’s ExoMars rover project scientist.

“That is why it is so important to achieve most of the mission objectives before the problematic dust season starts,” he adds.

Earth at work

It took the teams at ESOC a few months of work to narrow down the final launch date and trajectory to Mars. “The whole challenge is fantastic – I think I have the best job in the world,” says Tiago.

“Launching a spacecraft, shooting it across the Solar System, hoping it lands in one piece, deploying it, driving it on Mars… And we will do all of this without the luxury of interacting with the spacecraft or the rover in real time,” he explains.

Engineers at Thales Alenia Space Turin, Italy, work on the ExoMars carrier module integrated with the Russian surface platform, dubbed Kazachok. Credit: Thales Alenia Space

Sending the first European rover to Mars requires true teamwork. Each and every command has been carefully planned together with the Russian partners, involving several control centers and countries.

ESA will control the communications between Rosalind Franklin and the Kazachok surface platform during their first days on Mars. As part of the ExoMars program, the Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been circling Mars for nearly four years, will serve as a data relay platform to support communications.

A few weeks after landing, and only when the surface platform is safe and able to operate independently, ESA will hand over the control of Kazachok to Roscosmos .

About ExoMars

The ExoMars program is a joint endeavor between the Roscosmos State Corporation and ESA. Apart from the 2022 mission, it includes the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) launched in 2016. The TGO is already both delivering important scientific results obtained by its own Russian and European science instruments and relaying data from NASA ’s Curiosity Mars rover and InSight lander. The module will also relay the data from the ExoMars 2022 mission once it arrives on Mars.

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The way forward to Mars

NOTE: In March 2022 the second part of the ExoMars mission was put on hold but this article and related graphics remain for background

The path that ExoMars 2022 will follow to reach the Red Planet is set. The trajectory that will take the spacecraft from Earth to Mars in 264 days foresees a touchdown on the martian surface on 10 June 2023, at around 17:30 CEST (15:30 UTC).

The weather at Mars, the type of launcher and the laws of physics governing the planets determined a 12-day launch window starting on 20 September 2022.

Efficient orbital transfers, good communications and no large dust storms on the martian horizon make the chosen trajectory the fastest and safest choice.

Choosing the best path

When confronted with how to get to Mars, European and Russian teams have to juggle many factors. The mission analysis team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany took into account the performance of Russia’s Proton launcher to identify a number of possible trajectories.

“We had several transfer trajectories to choose from and a spacecraft already built for the trip,” says Mattia Mercolino, ExoMars principal systems engineer. “These variables imposed on us constraints linked to power, temperature thresholds and orientation towards Earth during the first stages of the flight, among others.”

Being able to communicate with the spacecraft also played a major role. 

“One of the alternatives had a longer launch window, but a worse connection with the spacecraft during the first days. This choice was too risky, especially when you want to have full control at the beginning of the mission,” explains Tiago Loureiro, ExoMars spacecraft operations manager.

The final trajectory takes a bit longer – one week more – and the launch sequence requires more manoeuvres, but this wasn’t only about earthly constraints. “We needed to understand the challenges unique to our destination. Mars orbital characteristics and dust storms were crucial to our decision,” says Tiago.

Riders on the storm

Dust storms are frequent on Mars, but also difficult to predict. Seasons play a role, with stormy weather more likely to happen during the spring and summer in the southern hemisphere. ExoMars landing site is Oxia Planum, located in the northern hemisphere.

Threatening global-scale dust storms tend to happen approximately every ten years. The most recent one was in 2018.

Although ExoMars will land outside the dust storm season, a build-up of dust on the solar panels will reduce power supply and could even force a temporary shutdown of ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover and the Russian surface platform, dubbed Kazachok.

“We went through a number of studies and tests to ensure that all systems would survive with reduced sunlight upon the late afternoon landing, and during surface operations the following weeks,” adds Tiago.

European scientists want to operate the rover on Mars for as long as possible. Rosalind Franklin can cope with regional dust storms for a few days and with layers of fine dust covering its solar panels.

“A global dust storm that blankets the atmosphere for several months would most likely result in the death of the rover,” warns Jorge Vago, ESA’s ExoMars rover project scientist.

“That is why it is so important to achieve most of the mission objectives before the problematic dust season starts,” he adds.

Earth at work

It took the teams at ESOC a few months of work to narrow down the final launch date and trajectory to Mars. “The whole challenge is fantastic – I think I have the best job in the world,” says Tiago.

“Launching a spacecraft, shooting it across the Solar System, hoping it lands in one piece, deploying it, driving it on Mars… And we will do all of this without the luxury of interacting with the spacecraft or the rover in real time,” he explains.

Sending the first European rover to Mars requires true teamwork. Each and every command has been carefully planned together with the Russian partners, involving several control centres and countries.

ESA will control the communications between Rosalind Franklin and the Kazachok surface platform during their first days on Mars. As part of the ExoMars programme, the Trace Gas Orbiter , which has been circling Mars for nearly four years, will serve as a data relay platform to support communications.

A few weeks after landing, and only when the surface platform is safe and able to operate independently, ESA will hand over the control of Kazachok to Roscosmos.

About ExoMars

The ExoMars programme is a joint endeavour between the Roscosmos State Corporation and ESA. Apart from the 2022 mission, it includes the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) launched in 2016. The TGO is already both delivering important scientific results obtained by its own Russian and European science instruments and relaying data from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and InSight lander. The module will also relay the data from the ExoMars 2022 mission once it arrives on Mars.

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Why sign up for a one-way Mars trip? Three applicants explain the appeal

A one-way trip to Mars sounds like something you'd wish on your worst enemy — so why would more than 78,000 people from around the world pay up to $75 for a chance to die on another planet?

"I can say I have an ulterior motive," said David Brin, who has written more than a dozen science-fiction novels — including "The Postman," which was turned into a Kevin Costner movie in 1997 . "I'd get a lot of writing done, and it might be memorable."

As a master of hard science fiction, the 62-year-old Brin knows better than most applicants what the first Red Planet settlers would face if they're sent off in 2022, as the Dutch-based Mars One venture has proposed.

The settlers would have to be sealed up in habitats, protected from harsh radiation, supplied with machine-made air and water, and nourished by whatever food can be grown on a cold, barren planet. They'd have to keep their sanity, millions of miles away from their families and Mission Control. Worst of all, they'd have to face the fact that there's no guarantee of ever going back.

Will this scheme actually work? "I give it a low probability of happening," Brin said, "and I don't consider it to be the most responsible thing I've ever seen."

Nevertheless, the venture has an attraction for Brin and tens of thousands of others, The ages of those listed in Mars One's database range from 18 to 71. All those applicants are facing a long road even before the first four-person crew gets off the planet. Mars One is accepting applicants through Aug. 31. The field of applicants would first be whittled down by panels of experts. Then they'd undergo trial by reality TV, followed by years of training.

"This may sound crazy, but it kind of reminds me of 'The Hunger Games,' " said Kayli McArthur, an 18-year-old student who's one of the youngest Mars One applicants. "It's cool that it would be televised, but that's not my whole thing."

On the other end of the age spectrum, 71-year-old psychiatrist Sanford Pomerantz is a little surprised that it's taking this long to get something like Mars One off the ground. "I thought by now we would have colonized Mars," said Pomerantz, who's currently the oldest applicant on Mars One's list.

So what's the appeal of Mars One? It's too early for Brin, McArthur and Pomerantz to give a lot of thought to their adventure on Mars, let alone their death on Mars. Instead, they're focusing on the adventure here on Earth. Here's what's behind their thinking:

David Brin: 'My main purpose is the conversation'

Brin sees Mars One as just one of a number of ventures aimed at expanding humanity's frontier, ranging from Virgin Galactic's suborbital space tours to Golden Spike's moon missions . "It's emblematic of the new era that we're about to enter at long last — what I call the barnstorming era," he said.

Like the daring airplane fliers of the 1920s, these 21st-century space barnstormers are willing to take bigger risks in hopes of providing bigger thrills — and eventually, earning bigger payoffs. The Mars One project is "a great way to get the discussion going," Brin said.

"You have to assume that it may not work, and that there will be a statue of you on Mars someday," he said. "I'm aware of the tradeoffs, and I'm willing to explore it further, but largely my main purpose is the conversation. We've got to be talking about how we can be a more exploratory people — a more interesting people, if you like."

Brin doesn't doubt that Mars One will find plenty of qualified (and interesting) people willing to take the risk.

"People who cannot imagine any sane person making that choice simply aren't envisioning the wide range of human diversity," said Brin, who has three children in school. "Consider what I told my family. By the very earliest date that Mars One might launch, I expect to be a spry 75-year-old whose kids are already successfully launched, and who might spend a few years doing something truly remarkable."

Even if it means dying on alien soil? Brin isn't completely sure he'd go that far, but he's willing to bet that others would.

"I think you'll find tens of thousands of people who, under those circumstances, will at least ponder it seriously," Brin said.

Kayli McArthur: 'I'm trying to strive for something more'

McArthur, a freshman at the University of Arizona, is one of more than three dozen  18-year-olds  on Mars One's list of applicants. Ever since she applied, she's been hearing that she has her whole life ahead of her, so why would she want to leave it all behind for Mars?

"Being young doesn't make me want to do it any less because I have my whole life ahead of me," she said. "It makes it more exciting. ... I love all my friends, my guy friends, my family. It's not that I'm trying to get away. It's like I'm trying to strive for something more."

She has long dreamed of going into outer space, and she figures that her future degree in materials science would come in handy for creating the first interplanetary settlement. "Going to Mars, there are so many opportunities for that," she said. 

So far, her family hasn't stood in her way. "My family jokes, like, 'Oh, Kayli, have your fun with it,'" she said. If the selection process gets more serious, she suspects she might face more resistance from her parents. But not from her grandfather.

"My grandpa is a retired three-star [general] in the Air Force," she said. "We were talking about it. I get really worked up and excited, and he was talking about it, too, and being realistic about it. He said, 'That would be so cool if you were able to do it.' ... I know my grandpa would totally support me."

Sanford Pomerantz: 'Grandpa is going to Mars!'

Pomerantz is old enough to remember when the idea of sending people into outer space seemed as far out as the idea of sending people on a one-way trip to Mars seems now. One of the books that made an impression on him in grade school was Robert Heinlein's "Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars,"  which was published in 1949.

"I started as a physics major in the university, but then I got accepted into med school and changed directions," he said. At the age of 71, he's still a practicing psychiatrist in Topeka, Kan. But he's also still holding onto that boyhood dream of spaceflight.

"The Mars thing is exciting, because I hope it'll stimulate people to get interested in space. ... And I hope it has the secondary effect of stimulating science education, especially in the U.S.," he said.

Just as McArthur believes that Mars will need a materials scientist, Pomerantz believes the crew will need a psychiatrist. "Psychologically, it's going to be an interesting challenge, but human beings are very adaptable," he said. "It'll be exciting to go to a whole new world. It'll be a major step in human evolution."

If Pomerantz ends up being selected for the first Mars crew, he's likely to become not only the oldest human to head for the Red Planet, but the oldest human to go on any space mission. (The current record-holder is John Glenn , who flew on the shuttle Discovery when he was 77 years old.) For now at least, that prospect doesn't faze Pomerantz's three children and two grandchildren. "The grandchildren are excited," he said. "It's like, 'Grandpa is going to Mars!'"

Pomerantz became a certified scuba diver just two years ago, and he still expects to be in good physical and mental shape for liftoff in 2022. "Remember, age is a state of mind," he said. "Chronologlcally, I may be 71. ... But psychologically and physically, I'm definitely in my 20s. I look in the mirror and say, 'Who's that old guy?'"

More about missions to Mars:

• Inspiration Mars: So crazy it just might work
• Buzz Aldrin envisions US leading way to Mars
• Cosmic Log archive on Mars

David Brin's latest science-fiction novel is "Existence,"  which is set in the latter part of the 21st century and involves matters way beyond Mars.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page , following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter , delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

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ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti operates the rHEALTH One analyzer on the International Space Station in May 2022.

The race for Mars is on. NASA hopes to land the first Martian in the next decade, and the agency’s not alone: The China National Space Administration, Indian Space Research Organization, and Russia’s Roscosmos, as well as Elon Musk’s SpaceX have similar aspirations.

Yet the trip to Mars a long journey, filled with questions about how interplanetary trips affect human health. A paper published in Nature Communications puts the spotlight on a device that is helping to find answers: the rHealth One, a single-drop flow cytometer. The rHealth One was sent to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2022 to test its capabilities in orbit, and the results from that experiment have implications for health on Earth as well as Mars.

“The rHealth One exceeded expectations,” says Eugene Chan , CEO of rHealth. “[We’re] putting it on a rocket that goes up to nine Gs during launch, and when it gets up there, it’s in zero gravity... the fact that everything worked out perfectly kind of blows my mind.”

Re-thinking the Cytometer for Life in Space

Flow cytometers are an important diagnostic instrument that blasts cells with laser light and identifies different types of cells based on how light scatters. They were popularized in the 1970s as an alternative to viewing cells through a microscope. “If you’re looking at cells in your blood in a microscope, you see red blood cells... but if you are after the more interesting type of cells, the white blood cells and their subtypes, you’re almost missing them because you’re overwhelmed by all the other cells. The flow cytometer really revolutionized that problem,” says Edwin van der Pol , assistant professor of biomedical engineering and physics at Amsterdam University Medical Center.

But conventional flow cytometers have a downside: They’re large and heavy. Most are desktop devices that weigh between 20 and 120 kilograms. That’s not a major issue in a medical facility but when it comes to launching a device into space, every kilogram counts.

“The fact that everything worked out perfectly kind of blows my mind.” —Eugene Chan, rHealth

“What we’ve been able to do is shrink this thing down a hundredfold in terms of mass, volume, and power, so that the entire cytometer is the size of a matchbox, and that fits inside the [rHealth One],” says Chan. The rHealth One weighs 1.5 kilograms and measures roughly 18 centimeters long, and 13 centimeters deep and tall.

To shrink the cytometer, rHealth One rethought the engineering of a flow cytometer with a focus on miniaturization. The printed circuit boards are cut down and integrated, the optical module is simplified, and the laser is reduced in size and output.

“If you compare the rHealth One to any flow cytometer that you can now commercially buy, it’s a big revolution,” says van der Pol. That’s not to say the rHealth One is a replacement for its predecessors: Rather, focusing on miniaturization and durability makes it possible to re-think assumptions of how a cytometer should be engineered.

The optical system is a key example. Most cytometers have optical systems that provide adjustments for future correction and calibration, while the rHealth One uses epoxy to fasten and seal the “optical block,” which reduces complexity, increases durability, and prevents unwanted movement when used in a zero-gravity environment.

Bringing the Cytometer Home

Once aboard the International Space Station, the rHealth One was tasked with measuring three types of prepared samples that contained a variety of particles designed to test the cytometer’s accuracy. Each sample was observed on Earth, then again on the ISS. The rHealth One’s results were largely on-target, with one exception: a single sample returned unexpected readings.

“The NASA guys said, hey, that doesn’t look like what the sample is supposed to be,” said Chan. “Maybe the astronaut carrying it it put in some corner of the spacecraft that is a little colder, or warmer, or whatever.” The sample was sent to Johnson Space Center for further analysis, which found the rHealth One’s unexpected measurements were accurate. Something—what, exactly, is unknown—had altered the sample in transit.

That underscores why a cytometer can prove useful in space. A long journey through space is likely to have unexpected impacts on the astronauts making the trip, as well as other living organisms sent on the journey. A cytometer gives astronauts en-route (or on) Mars a tool to analyze cells and observe changes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

And it holds potential on our home planet, as well. “In a home-based setting you can take more measurements, you can capture more points in time, to make sure you’re catching events and don’t miss anything,” said Eugene.

The rHealth One’s design already hints at this direction. Aboard the ISS, the device’s power and data were provided over a USB cable to a laptop running rHealth’s software. Sample runs averaged more than 71 million raw data points and were streamed in real-time, with reach run completing in roughly two minutes.

Chan said people undergoing cancer treatment are one group who could benefit. Cancer treatment typically includes frequent blood counts which currently must happen in a medical setting. Bringing a cytometer into the home would allow more frequent and convenient testing. That could also prove useful for people with other conditions that require frequent testing, such as blood cell disorders.

A future version of the device, the rHealth Awesome, will look to further refine the design and software for ease of use. “Essentially, you can get all the diagnostics that you would using the rHealth One through a fairly dumbed-down app. That’s where we are right now, and I think we’re close to achieving victory on that as well,” said Chan.

• Astronaut Bioengineers Human Cartilage in Space Using Magnetic Fields ›
• Moondust, Radiation, and Low Gravity: The Health Risks of Living on the Moon ›
• The Human Body in Space - NASA ›

Matthew S. Smith is a freelance consumer-tech journalist. An avid gamer, he is a former staff editor at Digital Trends and is particularly fond of wearables, e-bikes, all things smartphone, and CES, which he has attended every year since 2009.

Video Friday: SpaceHopper

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Mars One mission: a one-way trip to the red planet in 2024

The launch date is still a decade away but preparations are underway for the first human expedition to Mars. Here we explain about the mission, Mars spacecrafts and selecting volunteers to establish a colony on the planet

From more than 200,000 people who hoped to leave Earth and die on Mars , only 660 remain in the running. They now face a more stringent astronaut selection process. Those who make the final cut earn a seat on the Mars One mission, a one-way trip to the red planet.

How will the astronauts be selected?

The next round involves more filmed interviews and group challenges to see how well people work together. The final selection round will follow the candidates as they cope with living in harsh, remote mocked-up Mars habitats. At the end of the process, Mars One wants six groups of four astronauts to train for the mission.

How will Mars One pay for the mission?

The Dutch not-for-profit organisation is raising money any way it can. That means broadcasting rights, sponsorship deals, crowd-funding, donations from philanthropists, and licensing intellectual property rights from inventions made along the way. The first mission, costing $6bn (£4bn), aims to send a spacecraft carrying two men and two women to the planet.

What do they need to do?

It’s all quite complicated. The first humans are not scheduled to blast off for Mars until 2024. But plenty of missions are planned beforehand to do vital groundwork. In 2018, a lander would be sent to the planet as a trial-run for technologies that the real mission will need. That will be accompanied by a communications satellite to beam messages back and forth. In 2020, an “intelligent” rover is sent to Mars, along with a trailer. The rover’s job is to scope out a good landing site, far enough north for the soil to contain a good amount of water, but equatorial enough to get plenty of sunlight. Two years after that, in 2022, six cargo missions head off for Mars. They include another rover, two living units and two life support units. These land near the first rover, which tows them into position and sets up solar panels to power the units. The life support unit is meant to produce a breathable atmosphere in the habitat, 3,000 litres of water, and 120kg of oxygen kept in storage.

How will the astronauts get to Mars?

Mars One will contract a rocket manufacturer to build them a rocket. That could be Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, or another company. In 2024, they will blast the crew’s landing module and their main living quarters for the voyage into Earth’s orbit and dock them together. The crew then launch into Earth orbit themselves, climb into the waiting Mars spacecraft, and head off for their destination.

How do they land?

The Mars lander module detaches from the spacecraft and descends to the surface. Once down, the crew in their Mars suits are picked up by one of the rovers and taken to the habitat. It will take them a good while to acclimatise to the gravity on Mars. Their first tasks are to deploy more solar panels, and start their efforts to grow food on Mars.

When do they get fresh company?

The second Mars One crew is planned for take off in 2026, for arrival the following year. Their own habitats and life-support units are meant to land within weeks of the first crew arriving. To protect the astronauts from the harsh radiation on Mars, the rovers will pile Martian soil on top of the habitats.

• Monthly science explainer
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More on this story

Mars One shortlist: the top 10 hopefuls

Mars One shortlist: five Britons among 100 would-be astronauts

If I die on Mars: meet the people on a mission to be first on the red planet ... and stay there – video

Will Mars One’s volunteers get to live on the red planet? Yes, briefly

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The Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend — With Up to 18 Shooting Stars Per Hour

It's the first of 2 meteor showers happening this spring.

Stephanie Vermillion is a travel journalist and photographer covering culture and adventure for Travel + Leisure Outside, and more.

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The next few weeks are busy with meteor showers, including the Lyrids’ peak this weekend — a show that could bring eye-popping fireballs, depending on the conditions. The Lyrid meteor shower, which peaks overnight from April 21-22, is the first of two spring meteor showers; the second, the Eta Aquariids, will peak in early May.

This weekend’s event could produce up to 18 streaking Lyrids per hour in peak conditions, according to NASA . Unfortunately, it hits during a bright waxing gibbous moon, which will make viewing trickier — but all is not lost. If you’re in a dark-sky destination from April 21-22, it’s still worth giving the Lyrids a go.

 Here’s how and when to watch the 2024 Lyrid meteor shower, plus when to catch the next one.

What Makes the Lyrid Meteor Shower Special?

Debris and particles from Comet Thatcher create the Lyrids, an annual spring meteor shower known for vibrant fireballs (astonishingly bright meteors), as well as spontaneous outbursts. During the latter — which occurs when the shower generates an eye-popping number of shooting stars — happens roughly every 60 years, according to EarthSky . The next outburst isn’t expected to hit until 2042.

How to See the 2024 Lyrid Meteor Shower

The full 2024 Lyrid meteor shower runs from April 14 to 30, with peak activity striking between the Sunday and Monday night, according to The Planetary Society . Point your eyes toward the constellation Lyra to watch for the spectacle. It will rise above the northeast horizon around 10 p.m. While stargazers can technically view the Lyrid meteor shower from the southern hemisphere, it is easiest to observe it from the northern hemisphere.

 Will 2024 be a Good Year for the Lyrid Meteor Shower?

This year, the bright moon, which will be out all night, will likely obscure many streaking meteors. Increase your odds of catching the show by watching from a stargazing-friendly destination — here are some of our favorite dark-sky getaways . Or, hold out just a bit longer to enjoy another spring meteor shower — the Eta Aquariids — which will peak near the dim, near-new moon on May 6.

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Nasa picks new crew to simulate trip to mars moon, hrp communications team.

This story has been updated to reflect a switch in crew members.

A new crew is gearing up to participate in NASA’s next simulated mission to Mars. Crew members will soon enter the Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA , at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Once inside HERA, they will live and work like astronauts for 45 days while “traveling” to the Martian moon Phobos.

The new crew includes Roberto Carlino, Brad Hensley, Russ Klvacek, and Jennifer Milczarski. Their mission begins on May 27 and they will “return” to Earth by stepping outside HERA on July 11.

HERA enables researchers to study how crew members adjust to isolation, confinement, and remote conditions on Earth before NASA sends astronauts on deep-space missions. To help researchers learn about crew behaviors, the crew carries out various science and maintenance inside HERA. Crew members also face increasing communication delays with their ground control support — staff outside their habitat — as they “approach” Phobos. All these activities help researchers learn how crew members become more autonomous, work as a team, and communicate effectively to accomplish mission tasks.

This crew marks the third group of volunteers to participate in HERA’s current research campaign. The most recent mission  ended March 14. Before that, HERA’s  first mission  of this campaign — and the first mission following pandemic isolation — ended Nov. 15, 2021. One more mission, set to end in September, is planned for this campaign.

As with the other HERA missions this year, NASA’s Human Research Program, or  HRP , is performing 15 studies on human behavior. These studies will help NASA create a robust data set on how individuals adapt to challenges inherent in spaceflight. With this data set, scientists can develop strategies to better prepare astronauts for Artemis missions to the Moon, and eventually for ventures to Mars.

See below for details about each crew member.

Primary Crew

Roberto Carlino

Carlino received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Naples Federico II in Italy. He earned a master’s degree, also in aerospace engineering, from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He then obtained another master’s degree in space systems and orbital platforms from the University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy.

Roberto loves aircraft flying, skydiving, scuba diving, high-intensity interval training, hiking, and cooking Italian food, especially Neapolitan pizza.

Brad Hensley

Hensley leads efforts to develop advanced deployable structures for NASA, defense, and commercial spacecraft, with a recent focus on space weather instruments. He is an inventor with multiple patents in a technology called slit-tube boom, which has been adopted by the space industry to deploy spacecraft systems. His inventions involve slit-tube boom design, deployment, and function.

Originally from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Hensley earned a bachelor’s degree from Rhodes College, Memphis, in 2012, where he double majored in physics and biology, with a minor in mathematics. He then earned a master’s degree in 2015 from the University of Colorado – Boulder in aerospace engineering, focusing on bioastronautics. 

Hensley is also a member of a professional mountain search and rescue team, and has been involved in more than 100 mountain rescue incidents in the past six years. He is a certified wilderness first responder, nitrox SCUBA diver, and technician-class amateur radio operator. He enjoys chess, astronomy, and exploring the mountains of Colorado.

Russ Klvacek

Born in Ogden, Utah, Klvacek lived in Canada and Montana as a child. He eventually returned to Ogden, where he studied computer science and software engineering at Weber State University. He then earned a master’s degree in computer science with an emphasis in machine learning from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

In his free time, Klvacek enjoys hiking and frequenting coffee shops with his fiancée, studying philosophy, playing board games, and trying his hand at astrophotography.

Jennifer Milczarski

Milczarski attended Michigan State University, Lansing, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in nursing. She then obtained a master’s and doctorate in anesthesia practice.

Milczarski began her anesthesia career at Tampa General Hospital in Florida, where she was on the cardiac, transplant, obstetric, and trauma teams. After several years at Tampa, she opened her own anesthesia company and began providing anesthesia services nationwide, including Alaska and on the Lakota Sioux Indian Reservation. Milczarski has administered anesthesia at some of the top hospitals throughout the country, including Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. She currently works at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.

Milczarski’s research interests involve studying how psychedelics affect the treatment of mental health-related illnesses. In her spare time, she is an avid traveler and has visited more than 50 countries. She enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors, golfing, reading, and following the latest space news.

Originally Assigned Primary Crew

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Diaz was unable to continue in the HERA C6M3 mission beyond baseline training. He hopes to return to complete a full HERA mission in the future.

Alejandro Diaz

Diaz is a senior project leader in the Human Exploration and Spaceflight division at The Aerospace Corporation in Houston, Texas. In this capacity, he supports NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston by analyzing and assessing crew-to-hardware avionics interfaces. He is a former associate technical fellow at The Boeing Co., where he helped design, manufacture, integrate, and launch systems on the International Space Station, Crew Exploration Vehicle, CST-100 Starliner, Human Landing System, and more.

Diaz has also performed Mars analog research at the Mars Desert Research Station, where he led the development of spacewalk emergency rescue procedures and supported prototype spacesuit testing. There, he was part of four two-week rotations, serving as the commander for three missions and spacewalk director for one.

Diaz holds several degrees, including a doctorate in astronautical engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a master’s in Latin American studies and a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently a fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in their System Design and Management program.

Got a question for future HERA crew members? Ask them through our new Groundlinks  program!

NASA’s  Human Research Program , or HRP, pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives HRP’s  quest  to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

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