Still waiting for humans on Mars

For over 50 years the United States has talked about sending humans to explore the planet Mars.  Landing humans on Mars has been an integral goal of U.S. space policy for many years, and the Red Planet has garnered more interest and enthusiasm from the general public than any other destination in space exploration. So why hasn’t humanity cut the gravitational umbilical cord holding us down on our home planet? Why haven’t we walked yet on Mars? What are we waiting for?

While there have been many reasons contributing to our inability to achieve what humanity has dreamed of accomplishing for centuries, inconsistent policy direction has been the primary reason we have not sent humans to Mars, or anywhere else for that matter beyond Low Earth Orbit since the last Apollo crew ascended from the surface of the Moon in 1972.  Policy makers and others have provided many so-called explanations over the years, such as “There is no mandate to go to Mars”, or “The time isn’t right”, or “It’s not technically feasible”, or “It’s too risky”, or “Robots can do it better”, or, “We need to fix our infrastructure first”.  But these are really just excuses, and none are truly valid.

{mosads}Multiple administrations, and multiple congresses, have been supportive of the goal. American industry has also been on board. Companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Aerojet Rocketdyne have presented credible and affordable mission plans. SpaceX is also expected to unveil, in September of this year, its own plan for sending humans to Mars. And when the public is made aware of realistic mission plans and the realistic costs, they, too, tend to be overwhelmingly supportive of sending humans to Mars. http://www.exploremars.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Mars-Generation-Survey-full-report-March-7-2013.pdf

Problems of the Past

The real problem lies with politics. Space exploration is usually not a top priority for incoming Administrations, but most Presidents nevertheless tend to want to put their mark on the space program.  This can be an incredibly positive and powerful force, such as the “Kennedy moment” that led us to the Moon in the 1960s, but when radical course changes in space policy are made with each incoming administration, the space program never gains traction, and as a result, we fail to use taxpayer dollars wisely. 

For example, the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) that was announced by President George W. Bush in 2004 had the goal of sending humanity to “the Moon, Mars, and Beyond”. While this program was far from perfect, its greatest weakness was not in its technical viability nor even in its original budgetary framework. Its greatest flaw was that it became politicized. The VSE became known as “Bush’s Moon Plan”, not “America’s Space Plan”. As such, it was doomed from the start regardless of its relative merits. 

Then in 2010, the Obama Administration rolled out its plan without significant buy-in from many key members of Congress (both Democratic and Republican), industry partners, and other relevant stakeholders. This not only led to what became an insurmountable obstacle for the “new plan” but it also triggered a period of uncertainty, infighting, and disruption in the space industry. 

Today, however, the same situation does not necessarily apply. Over the past few years a strong bi-partisan consensus has developed, almost unheard of in today’s times with respect to any other issue. Congress, the Administration, NASA, industry, academia, and the public all agree on Mars as the primary goal.  As a result, we have a policy direction that is not considered the exclusive product of the current administration or of one party, but rather is what might be referred to as a unified space policy.

This doesn’t mean that everything is perfect with current plans.  NASA and commercial entities need to provide more clarity and specifics as to how we will achieve this long-awaited goal, and in the current timeframe of the 2030s, but we still have made clear progress forward.

If any other issue facing the nation had the clear level of public support, was similarly not marred by partisanship, and could be accomplished without major budget increases, support for such an issue would be ordinarily be a “no-brainer” for Congress and the Administration.  There are, quite simply, few issues today that fall into this category. And regardless of your personal political perspective and viewpoints, most people would probably agree that America has done great things in the past, and is capable of doing great things in the future.

Perhaps Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin said it most effectively when explaining what U.S. space policy should be: “I have a message in a time bottle for the candidate who wins the 2016 election for the U.S. presidency. There’s opportunity to make a bold statement on the occasion of the July 2019 50th anniversary of the first humans to land on the moon: ‘I believe this nation should commit itself, within two decades, to commencing American permanence on the planet Mars.’” 

Rick Zucker is Director of Political Outreach at Explore Mars, Inc. Chris Carberry is CEO of Explore Mars, Inc.