For the first time since the Apollo moon landings, NASA is preparing to send astronauts beyond Earth orbit on the most ambitious adventure ever. NASA's journey to Mars launches for the journey to the Red Planet begin right here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This unprecedented effort actually began 50 years ago, with increasingly advanced robotic scouts launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. From the Mariner 4 flyby in 1965 to the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover that landed in 2012, NASA is learning what future explorers may expect. While landers investigate the Martian surface, probes such as Maven, NASA's Mars, atmosphere, and volatile evolution spacecraft now are orbiting the Red Planet. Launched from the Cape in 2013, Maven is helping us understand the planet's mysterious atmosphere. Looking ahead, the Mars 2020 rover will build on the success of the Curiosity Mission. Scheduled to launch four years from now, the mission's goals include detecting and characterizing ancient environments that could have harbored life. Everything samples for a future sample return mission and testing the ability to extract oxygen from the Red Planet's carbon dioxide atmosphere. These robotic explorers are paving the way for human pioneers who will journey to the surface of Mars. To help prepare for that ambitious mission, the NASA industry team at Kennedy has converted the center into a 21st century multi-user space port. American providers are delivering critical research and supplies to the International Space Station, and soon will launch astronauts to the orbiting laboratory once again from Florida. These commercial crew flights will increase the expeditions to the space station from six crew members to seven. Doubling the amount of time astronauts can devote to science, research, and technology demonstrations. Aboard the station. Crews are learning more about living and working in space for longer periods. These lessons will be crucial to meet the challenges of the 49 million mile journey to Mars. Investigations aboard the space station include a project called Veggie. Since a trip to and from the Red Planet likely will last more than a year, this plant growth chamber is helping astronauts develop ways to grow food during long missions. Ground systems at Kennedy also are being prepared to support the powerful new space launch system rocket, which will boost the Orion spacecraft and crews to the technological proving grounds of space around and beyond the moon. As astronauts embark on these bold missions, they will test new capabilities, developing advanced propulsion systems, and deep space habitats needed to reach and work on Mars. In advance of working on the surface of Mars, researchers at the Kennedy Space Center are studying how to harvest raw materials to produce supplies such as water and breathable air for astronauts visiting deep space destinations. Once these new technologies are mastered, astronauts will be ready to reach for our planetary neighbor, expanding human presence deeper into the solar system than ever before.