The 200‑page study "A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars" recommends U.S. investment in crewed Mars missions, prioritizing the search for life and scientific exploration that humans can uniquely enable. It calls for a phased approach: an initial 30‑day surface mission followed by cargo support to enable a later 300‑day expedition. Authors highlight advancing heavy‑lift spacecraft and geopolitical urgency — including the prospect that other nations could reach similar milestones first.
Scientists Urge Human Missions to Mars in New 200‑Page Strategy Report
(Credit: NASA)
Leading U.S. scientists and engineers have published a 200‑page study, "A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars," arguing that the United States should invest in crewed missions to Mars. The report makes a central case for sending humans to the Red Planet to search for life, accelerate geological exploration, identify in‑situ resources, and enable robust sample return efforts.
For decades Mars was framed as a distant objective dependent on technologies that did not yet exist. As heavy‑lift and deep‑space vehicles such as SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Starship analogues — Blue Moon and New Glenn — mature, the prospect of crewed missions is becoming more feasible on nearer timetables. With a new NASA administrator expected to take office soon, authors say the U.S. could choose to accelerate plans toward human exploration.
"There's no turning back," said Dava Newman, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT (via Ars Technica). "Everyone is inspired by this because it's becoming real. We can get there. Decades ago, we didn't have the technologies. This would have been a study report."
The report details scientific objectives best accomplished with humans on the Martian surface. In addition to the primary goal of searching for signs of past or present life, it highlights studies of water and carbon dioxide cycling at and below the surface, long‑term geological processes, the effects of reduced gravity on human physiology, and the behavior of terrestrial microbes in the Martian environment.
"The report says here are the top science priorities that can be accomplished by humans on the surface of Mars," said Linda T. Elkins‑Tanton, one of the report's authors. "There are thousands of scientific measurements that could be taken, but we believe these are the highest priorities. We've been on Mars for 50 years. With humans there, we have a huge opportunity."
Practically, the authors recommend an initial, short‑duration 30‑day surface mission to validate operations and science approaches, followed by cargo and logistics missions that would enable a later, extended 300‑day expedition. The phased approach is designed to build experience, infrastructure, and the ability to conduct complex field science.
The report also places the program in a geopolitical context: officials and observers express concern that other nations — notably China — might achieve key milestones such as a Mars sample retrieval before the U.S. can mount crewed missions. The authors suggest that timely policy, international partnerships, and deliberate contract decisions will influence whether the U.S. can remain competitive in human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Overall, the strategy contends that on‑site human science would dramatically expand what we can learn about Mars, hasten sample return and resource characterization, and better position humanity to test living and working beyond Earth.
