"We're finally out of the cradle. Of the hundred billion humans who ever lived, we're the first to stand beneath an alien sky."
— CDR Anna Wilson's first words on Mars; Oct. 3, 2018 CE
The Ares program was a crewed spaceflight project led by NASA, in collaboration with other members of the United Nations Aerospace Coalition, that succeeded in its milestone goal of landing humans on the surface of Mars. From its announcement in 2010 it took another eight years of preparation, training, and construction before the first mission was ready to begin.
Ares 1 was launched in mid-2018 and reached the red planet a few months later. At 10:45:33 UTC on October 3rd, 2018, commander Anna Wilson of the United States became the first human being to ever set foot on Mars and the first living thing on the planet in almost four billion years. Ares 1, and the four missions to follow, greatly enriched humanity's understanding of Mars. Ares 5 returned home in early 2028, ending the first crewed Mars exploration phase and opening the door for the next.
The Ares program was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to humankind at the time, and captivated the public imagination for over a decade. Like its predecessors Apollo and Artemis, it is widely recognized across the 30th-century human diaspora as a key reason for humankind's modern status as adept starfarers, best expressed by Commander Wilson in her first words upon touching the Martian surface: "We're finally out of the cradle."
Angry at Lego for making good(aka anything but starwarts) space sets again because I don't really want to acquire more plastic at the moment but they share a lot with one of my favourite themes Mars Mission and I have a longing. Anyway I really hope this marks them trying to pull out of the era where star wars monopolised all the sets that have spaceships. I'd really love to see a new take on the interconnected space themes of old, with more of a focus on space cultures than space combat.
Welcome to the Mars Mission Tournament, pitting Mars spacecraft against each other to determine the Ultimate Martian™
There are 40 missions in the tournament, including flybys, orbiters, landers and rovers (and one helicopter). I have for the most part not included missions which were failures with some exceptions (E.g. Beagle 2, Mars Polar Lander). I'm also splitting up spacecraft within missions in some instances (E.g. Perseverance and Ingenuity, the Viking landers and orbiters).
There is only one unflown mission - the ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover because it's my tournament and I love her!
Stay tuned for a bracket, some thoughts about how it's set up, and introductions to the spacecraft!
The two types of Aliens in the classic Lego lore- you ever think about how there's two types of Martians that are kind of close together? Makes you wonder if the Life on Mars martians and the Mars Mission Martians are connected or if one replaced the other by force.
Learn about Elon Musk's Rygar Enterprises, its history, projects, and plans for the future of technology. Discover about rygar enterprises.
Introduction:
Who hasn’t heard of Elon Musk? His name is practically inseparable from concepts such as innovation, ambition, and an unyielding pursuit of progress. This titan of the industry has a long and storied career, from his founding of PayPal to his more recent ventures like Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company. But now, he’s made yet another move that’s sure to shake things up: the…
A group of four NASA volunteers has embarked on a 378-day mission in which they will be locked in a ground-based simulation of the planet Mars. The mission, which began on Sunday, is the first of three year-long Mars surface simulations, according to NASA. During the mission, crew members will live and work in a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat. NASA says researchers will simulate the challenges of a human mission to Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failure, and communication delays.