The search for evidence of life should be the primary scientific goal of the first human missions to Mars, according to a major new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The report makes the strongest case yet for sending astronauts to the Martian surface, arguing that crewed missions can achieve discoveries impossible for robots alone.
“The first human landing on Mars will be the most significant moment for human space exploration since we first set foot on the Moon over 50 years ago,” said Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, co-chair of the committee that wrote the report and principal investigator on Nasa’s Psyche mission. “Our report puts science at the centre of what will be a remarkable achievement.”
The 240-page document, titled ‘A science strategy for the human exploration of Mars’, offers recommendations to Nasa as it prepares to send astronauts to the Red Planet in the 2030s. The authors outline 11 science priorities, including searching for resources such as water, radiation sampling, and assessing habitability.
These objectives could be achieved across four possible three-mission campaigns, combining crewed surface missions with uncrewed cargo flights to different sites. All proposals include setting up a science laboratory on the Martian surface and returning samples to Earth for further analysis.
“By imagining different ways that priority science could be pursued, our report shows there are many options for humans to explore Mars and achieve great scientific breakthroughs,” said committee co-chair Dava Newman, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She added that the report offers “a synergistic review of science priorities enhanced by human exploration.”
