A manned mission to Mars will take place in the next 20 years, according to NASA and industry experts. At the Humans to Mars (H2M) summit at George Washington University this week, NASA staffers, researchers, private space agencies, and others are exploring the practicalities of sending astronauts to Mars by the 2030s.
“A human mission to Mars is a priority” NASA chief Charles Bolden said Monday, though he admitted the agency can't do it alone. Budgetary limitations, he argued, mean private and government agencies will have to effectively pool resources.