NASA could take advantage of a rare planetary alignment in 2033 to send the first crewed mission to orbit Mars and, on the way back, Venus. The short trip—which would be the first interplanetary crew ever—could be a pathfinder mission for the first crewed landing on the red planet in 2037.
It’s “the best time to go to Mars in the next 25 years,” said Matt Duggan, mission management and operations manager at Boeing, addressing the 2023 Humans To Mars Summit on Wednesday at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington D.C. “That’s in terms of the amount of energy and fuel you have to spend to get to Mars—it’s a unique opportunity that comes around once every 15 years.”
A mission plan to send crew in existing spacecraft on a 570-day return trip to orbit Mars and Venus will only work every 15 years—and the next opportunity is 2033.
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