Heena Sharma Blog

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said that the agency is planning its first round-trip voyage to Mars during which the crew could spend about a month on the planet's surface. The US space agency wants to send humans to Mars as early as the 2030s. NASA will use advanced propulsion systems to enable a faster journey to the Red Planet while limiting radiation exposure for its astronauts and other mission risks, Bridenstine said on Monday while participating in a discussion with the Space Foundation, a non-profit organisation. "Our preferred launch window will give the crew about 30 days on the Martian surface, which is ample time to search for life on another world," he said. Read More

The first person to set foot on Mars is likely to be a woman, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said. While Bridenstine did not identify a specific person, he said that women are at the forefront of the US space agency's upcoming plans. Asked if a woman will go to the Moon for the first time, Bridenstine said "The answer is absolutely. In fact, it is likely to be a woman, the first next person on the Moon." "It is also true that the first person on Mars is likely to be a woman," Bridenstine said during a recent interview on the science and technology radio talk show "Science Friday." NASA recently announced that it will have its first all-female spacewalk at the end of the month, when astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will get to float around in space. "We have the first all-female spacewalk happening this month at the end of March, which is of course, National Women's Month. So NASA is committed to making sure t...