Questions for ‘The ultimate getaway — visiting the Red Planet’

Part of the rim of Erebus Crater on Mars. This approximately true-color view is a composite of frames acquired by a rover on the planet’s surface.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

June 7, 2016 at 6:00 am

SCIENCE

1. What do you think some of the major challenges will be in sending people to Mars ?

2. Why could sending people to the Red Planet offer benefits over just exploring its surface with robots?

1. What is one “big question” about planning for a crewed mission to Mars, according to Jim Bell?

2. What did the Humans to Mars summit in Washington, D.C., accomplish?

3. Based on the story, what is one appeal of sending people to Mars?

4. What can human explorers do better than robotic equipment like the Curiosity rover?

5. What was the Orion spacecraft designed to do?

6. What are the crew of the International Space Station doing to figure out what it will take to make a successful crewed mission to Mars?

7. What was the purpose of astronaut Scott Kelly’s mission on the space station?

8. What are two possible places where the first people to visit Mars will set up “camp”?

9. What are two things astronauts on Mars will need to be able to do?

10. What kinds of technologies did speakers at the Mars summit rule out, at least for now?

1. What are three skills or qualities you think will be important for the first people to visit Mars to have?

2. If you had the chance, would you want to visit Mars? Explain why or why not?