page_title: Human mission to Mars
section_title: NASA Space Exploration Initiative (1989)
hierarchical_section_title: Human mission to Mars / Mission proposals / 20th century / NASA Space Exploration Initiative (1989)
caption_attribution_description: English: NASA artist's conception of a human mission to Mars (painting).
context_page_description: A human mission to Mars has been the subject of science fiction, aerospace engineering and scientific proposals since the 20th century. Plans include landing on Mars for exploration at a minimum, with the possibility of sending settlers and terraforming the planet or exploring its moons Phobos and Deimos also considered.
  The exploration of Mars has been a goal of national space programs for decades. Conceptual work for missions that would involve human explorers has been ongoing since the 1950s, with planned missions typically being stated as taking place anywhere between 10 and 30 years from the time they are drafted. The list of crewed Mars mission plans shows the various mission proposals that have been put forth by multiple organizations and space agencies in this field of space exploration. Plans have varied from scientific expeditions, in which a small group would visit Mars for a period of a few weeks or year, to the permanent colonization of Mars.
  In the 2010s, numerous US, European, and Asian agencies were developing proposals for human missions to Mars. In fiction, Mars is a frequent target of exploration and settlement in books, graphic novels, and films.
context_section_description: In response to a presidential initiative, NASA made a study of a project for human lunar- and Mars exploration as a proposed follow-on to the International Space Station. This resulted in a report, called the 90-day study, in which the agency proposed a long-term plan consisting of completing the Space Station as "a critical next step in all our space endeavors," returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent base, and then sending astronauts to Mars. This report was widely criticized as too elaborate and expensive, and all funding for human exploration beyond Earth orbit was canceled by Congress.
caption: Artist's conception of a human mission on the surface of Mars
  (1989 painting by Les Bossinas of Lewis Research Center for NASA)
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