Spaceflight 🚀The first #Starhopper flight was in 📆 2019. First #Starship landing (without #RUD 💥) 📆 2021. First #atmospheric entry 📆 2024. When do you expect the first (uncrewed) Starship #Mars 🔴 landing attempt ? 🤔
2025
2027
2029
> 2030
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#SpaceX will launch its first #Starships 🚀 to #Mars 🔴 in two years. "These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars" https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/musk-says-spacex-launch-first-uncrewed-starships-mars-two-years-2024-09-07/
"Two years down the road it seems feasible.It would be enough for #SpaceX to have a fleet of three launchers, one per pad. The bottleneck may lie in the supply of the thousands of liters of #methane and oxygen needed to maintain a sustained hourly launch rate. Some have proposed building a jetty and a small gas #pipeline so that the fuel can arrive in large methane tankers." https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2024-11-04/elon-musks-plans-to-go-to-mars-within-two-years.html
The proof of concept shows that at the current achievable flow rates of #CO2 and water, it is possible to meet #NASA’s 16-month deadline for refueling #rockets on #Mars 🔴. It can be scaled further to meet tighter rocket refueling ⛽ deadlines. The use of Martian nighttime temperatures for heat 🌡️ exchange can potentially reduce the dependence on power-hungry cryogenic methods for gas liquefaction. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9118664
Thermodynamic modeling of in-situ rocket propellant fabrication on Mars
In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) to refuel rockets on Mars will become critical in the future. The current effort presents a thorough feasibility analysis of a scalable, Matlab-based, integrated ISRU framework from the standpoint of the second ...
For Starship to go to #Mars 🔴, you’ve got to get #Starship tankers ⛽ on orbit and perfect orbital refueling. #SpaceX will have to perfect the #robots 🤖 that will help build spacecraft #LandingPads and human #habitats on the Martian surface, prospect for water 💧 underground, and convert the water and carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere into vast reservoirs of super-cooled oxygen and methane for the Starships’ return voyage to Earth. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinholdenplatt/2025/03/11/spacexs-starship-plan-to-land-first-humans-on-mars-but-not-till-2031
#Reuters - #Starship is set to depart for #Mars at the end of next year, carrying humanoid bot #Optimus. https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/starship-carrying-teslas-bot-set-mars-by-end-2026-elon-musk-2025-03-15
Each #technological breakthrough brings us closer to realizing the goal of living on #Mars 🔴. Mars colonization 👩🚀👨🚀 is within our potential reach. This paper has outlined a feasible timeline⌛
📆 2020s: Continued #robotic exploration
📆 2030s: Test missions for human life-support systems and #ISRU ⚒️ on the Martian surface
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10884476
#HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTravel #SpaceExploration #SpaceColonization
Towards sustainable horizons: A comprehensive blueprint for Mars colonization
This paper thoroughly explores the feasibility, challenges, and proposed solutions for establishing a sustainable human colony on Mars. We quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the Martian environment, highlighting key challenges such as ...
#ZARM scientists have identified the #cyanobacterium strain Anabaena sp. PCC 7938 as a highly promising one for a life support system on #Mars 🔴. Fed with a simulant of Martian dust and atmosphere, the selected strain demostrated its ability to produce oxygen and form biomass, which could serve the production of food 🥔, fuels, drugs 💊 and other materials https://www.zarm.uni-bremen.de/en/in-focus/space-exploration
#MaMBA #habitat #artificial #photosynthesis #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #Bremen #University
There are #bacteria 🧫 on Earth that enjoy perchlorates as a food. The organisms could not only get rid of a toxic component in Martian 🔴 dirt to make it farmable 🌱, but perhaps also help produce breathable oxygen for #astronauts https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mars-farming-harder-martian-regolith-soil
📆 17 November 2025 : Microbially 🦠 mediated #terraforming is not speculative but strategic. Recent advances in space #microbiology, synthetic #biology, and systems ecology are converging toward a new paradigm for #astrobiological research. The future of life in #space 🌌 will likely depend on our ability to simulate, design, and guide #microbial ecosystems capable of adapting to #alien worlds https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08973-1
The role of extremophile microbiomes in terraforming Mars - Communications Biology
This Review highlights how extremophile microbiomes and synthetic biology approaches could support Martian terraforming by driving biogeochemical cycles, regolith transformation, and future life-support ecosystems.
Do indigenous #Martian 🔴 bacteria have precedence over human exploration ? https://marspapers.org/paper/McKay_2000.pdf
Yes
No
Microbes could have been brought in by landers
If they are dangerous, we should eradicate them
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We can consider three possible responses to the discovery of indigenous life on #Mars 🔴
• Leave it alone
• Alter Mars to enhance the chances of that biota to become a global scale biology
• Collect samples for laboratory preservation, then replace or augment it with #terrestrial life forms
It is very unlikely that we would drive to extinction any native #Martian #microorganisms 🦠 by extending the habitability of Mars
#RobertZubrin 2002
https://marspapers.org/paper/McKay_2000.pdf
"It is very unlikely that we would drive to #extinction any native Martian #microorganisms in the process of extending the habitability of #Mars" https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin
