Goal of putting people on Mars increasingly within reach

“I believe I will see people on the surface of Mars before I die” - Smead Aerospace Asst. Professor Allie Anderson

From CGTN (China Global Television Network):

China’s moon landing – along with past Soviet and American ones – are warm-ups of sorts for the next frontier: Mars. Putting people on the Red Planet’s surface has been a goal for decades. While challenges remain, scientists believe it’s only a matter of time. CGTN’s Hendrik Sybrandy reports.

It’s the year 2042. Nine years after the first human mission to Mars, the transformation of the planet to support human life has begun. The U.S. T.V. docudrama series “Mars” is National Geographic’s vision of what could be our future.

“This is the planet that everybody’s dreamed about visiting ever since there’s been science fiction,” said author Stephen Petranek, who wrote the book “How We’ll Live on Mars” upon which the series is based.

He argues potential calamities like asteroid collisions or massive viruses make it imperative that Earthlings include other planets in their survival plan.

“I think you need a backup for the human race,” Petranek said.

At a special “Mars” screening recently, a panel of space experts gamed out the path to landing on the Red Planet... Read the full story of how the University of Colorado Boulder is positioning itself to be on the forefront of humanity's quest to get to Mars at CGTN.