Manned mission to Mars
A manned expedition to the planet Mars is an idea which has long been a mainstay of science fiction. Several serious proposals for real Mars expeditions have been presented as well. A manned Mars expedition has been promoted by the Mars Society since its inception, and has been proposed by various people since before the beginning of the Space Age.
Proposed Mars Expeditions
A complete count of the people who have stated "We should send people to Mars", studied methods & technologies that could be used to accomplish that end, and even attempted to raise money to fund such an expedition, would be well beyond the scope of any single online article. Arbitrarily restricting oneself only to those publicly submitted proposals supported by comprehensive engineering analysis of the entire mission infrastructure (including cost and implementation) shortens the list to a few dozen. Few of these were ever attempted and none was successfully accomplished. However, thanks to the depths of analysis (and in some cases preparations) undergone for each, they could provide an instructive starting point for successful plans.
- Das Marsprojekt
- MPK (Martian Piloted Complex)
- The Exploration of Mars
- Stuhlinger 1957
- TMK-1 Flyby
- Bono Vehicle
- NASA Lewis Study
- TMK-E
- Project EMPIRE Aeroneutronics Flyby
- Project EMPIRE General Dynamics Expedition
- Project EMPIRE Lockheed Flyby
- NASA Stuhlinger 1962
- Faget Mars Expedition
- MaVR (Mars-Venera)
- TRW Mars Expedition
- Project Diemos
- Project UMPIRE Convair Study
- Project UMPIRE Douglas/General Dynamics Study
- MORL (Manned Orbiting Research Laboratory) Flyby
- FLEM
- KK Space Complex
- IMIS
- MEK (Mars Expeditionary Complex
- Von Braun's 1969 Mars Expedition
- NASA 1971 Mars Expedition
- MK-700
- Energia's Mars 1986
- Planetary Society Mars Expedition
- The Case for Mars II Expedition Plan
- Lagrangian Interplanetary Shuttle
- Pioneering the Space Frontier
- The Ride Report
- Mars Evolution 1988
- Mars Expedition 88
- Phobos Expedition 88
- The 90 Day Report
- Mars 1989
- Mars Evolution 1989
- Mars Expedition 1989
- Mars Direct
- Mars Semi-Direct
- STCAEM (Space Transfer Concepts and Analyses for Exploration Missions) Study Aerobrake Vehicle
- STCAEM Study NEP Vehicle
- STCAEM Study NTR Vehicle
- STCAEM Study SEP Vehicle
- Space Exploration Initiative Synthesis Study
- DRM-I (Design Reference Mission I)]
- Mars 1994
- Athena Flyby
- DRM 3
- Combo Lander Mission
- DRM 4.0
- DRM 4 SEP
- Dual Lander Mission
- Mars Society Mission
- Marpost
- Mars for Less
- Mars Oz
- Mars Homestead Project