mission to mars
... The United States and Russia have already begun this quest by sending unmanned space probes to Mars. Recently, the United States took the next step by sending the Pathfinder spacecraft to Mars to take the first-ever high resolution pictures of Mars surface. ... The final step will be to send a manned spacecraft to Mars. The first thing that needs to be done is to make a space station where we can build the spaceships needed for the long trek to Mars. ... Next, we would have to build a special ship to transport people to Mars. ... 5 years to travel to Mars, 1.5 years to return from Mars, and 1 year stationed on Mars. This human ship would be transported to Mars by a chemical rocket which would burn at the beginning of the trip. ... When the ship hits the Martian atmosphere, the nose disc would slow the ship down enough for it to enter an orbit around Mars. ... It would carry the supplies to build the Mars space station, and be propelled by solar sail.