NASA chief predicts manned landing on Mars by 2040 – Kommersant

The head of the American space agency NASA, Bill Nelson, admitted that a person could land on Mars by 2040. However, even if the mission lands on this planet, it will have to wait several years for the location of the planets to return to Earth, the head of NASA said.

“In 2040, there are only 17 years left. It takes three to four days to get to the moon, but Mars is much farther, ”he said in an interview with the newspaper. El Mundo. According to him, it will take seven to eight years to get to Mars. “In this case, you will have to stay for a couple of years until the position of the planets allows you to return on a return trip lasting six to eight months,” the head of NASA explained.

Earlier, Bill Nelson announced the start of work on an inflatable heat shield that could slow a spacecraft into the Martian atmosphere and help it land safely. NASA’s Perseverance rover collects data from the surface of Mars.

The Chinese rover “Zhuzhong” of the automatic interplanetary station “Tianwen-1” also operates on Mars. In September 2022, the Tianwen-1 station found traces of water on Mars. In January of the same year, China published photographs of Mars from an orbiting probe.