Fuzzydog
Red Skull Member
Does anyone one know how many missions to Mars have launched or will launch this month?.....anyone...anyone.....Bueller?
Three. There were 4 planned but the Euro/Russia venture got pushed back to 2022.
Now to be fair there is a launch window for trips to Mars that only opens up every 26 months so it makes sense that everyone would be leaving around the same time. But 4 independent space agencies all going with their own program? Damn! Maybe Mars has the Covid cure?
The UAE just launched and their craft is going to set up orbit around Mars
China just launched and they are deploying both an orbiter and a rover
The US is launching Jul 30 with a big rover and a helicopter
And of course SpaceX is moving full steam ahead on Starship with the stated ambition of colonizing Mars. They are on prototype 5 and already have the next 3 or 4 in various stages of construction.
I was a kid when the space shuttle program started and I still remember that every single launch was a big event (I guess it was the same for the Apollo era folks). Now, rockets are launching all the time from different places on the planet and it hardly makes the news (cuz corona, BLM, politics, etc are sooooo much more important)
With all the crazy shit and fighting over petty stuff (egos) that is going on in the world, these guys are looking way down the line in the future. Just makes me wonder what we could have accomplished by now if we could all work together
Three. There were 4 planned but the Euro/Russia venture got pushed back to 2022.
Now to be fair there is a launch window for trips to Mars that only opens up every 26 months so it makes sense that everyone would be leaving around the same time. But 4 independent space agencies all going with their own program? Damn! Maybe Mars has the Covid cure?
The UAE just launched and their craft is going to set up orbit around Mars
China just launched and they are deploying both an orbiter and a rover
The US is launching Jul 30 with a big rover and a helicopter
And of course SpaceX is moving full steam ahead on Starship with the stated ambition of colonizing Mars. They are on prototype 5 and already have the next 3 or 4 in various stages of construction.
I was a kid when the space shuttle program started and I still remember that every single launch was a big event (I guess it was the same for the Apollo era folks). Now, rockets are launching all the time from different places on the planet and it hardly makes the news (cuz corona, BLM, politics, etc are sooooo much more important)
With all the crazy shit and fighting over petty stuff (egos) that is going on in the world, these guys are looking way down the line in the future. Just makes me wonder what we could have accomplished by now if we could all work together