If you were to go back to the 1950s and 1960s, many people thought that we would have landed people on Mars by the end of the 20th century. Evidence: In “2001: a Space Odyssey” we are able to fly people to Jupiter in 2001. Of course the futurists in the 1950s also though that nuclear energy would make electricity free and robot cars would be driving us everywhere by now, so they were off in more than one regard.

Even so, we got to the moon so quickly (first man in orbit: 1961 – first man on moon: 1969) that it seemed like Mars would be a piece of cake. But it wasn’t.

Why not? Here’s the answer:

Mars Is Hard

There are a dozen factors that make Mars surprisingly hard. So hard that the article says: “with the global economy on life support, you have to wonder if we’ll even get there before the century is out.” Despite that bit of pessimism, it is a really interesting article.

In this alternative reality, a manned mission launches in 2020:

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