NASA unveiled new plans for getting humans to Mars, and hardly anyone noticed | The Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2017/20170407-new-mars-plans-unveiled.html
The journey might involve a Venus gravity assist, in which case the chosen crewmembers would get to see the clouds of Venus and volcanoes of Mars all in the same trip—with their own eyes.
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Gerstenmaier's current approach could prove to be nothing short of genius. The DSG plants at least the seeds of a cislunar economy: it will rely on commercial and international resupply services, it offers a waypoint in deep space, and it opens up lunar surface opportunities.
In the meantime, SpaceX and NASA might end up making more strides toward Mars together. During last week's Advisory Council meeting, Gerstenmaier reiterated the agency's partnership with SpaceX on its Red Dragon project, which could yield critical advances in entry, descent and landing technologies. NASA also has years of experience operating rovers on the Martian surface, a small fleet of reconnaissance orbiters, and the Deep Space Network at its disposal.
Maybe the situation isn't as
bad as Musk thinks.