NASA gives priority to sending humans to Mars
The former astronaute Charles Bolde, general administrator of NASA, said at a Conference at the George Washington University that the interest for sending humans to Mars has never been greater, despite the current context of budget cuts in the US administration.
He made this statements at the opening of a Summit that lasted three days and was held to address the influx of people to the red planet. “We are on the edge of a ravine that opens us a second chance to push us to what I think is the destiny of man, and that is to go to another planet”, said Bolden, according to the journal The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency expected the first astronauts to visit Mars in the next two decades, therefore, the Agency is working on a new rocket and capsule that should allow to reach Mars by 2030.
“Human mission to Mars is a priority and all our exploration program converge to support this objective,” said Bolden, who also hopes that the former astronaute Buzz Aldrin, the second man who walked on the Moon after Neil Armstrong in 1969, also go next Wednesday to George Washington University.