why has it been difficult to send a man mission to mars?

Answer 1

Even went Nasa launched the giant 6.7 million lb Saturn V rockets the weight of material actually lifted into space was only about 3%. The vehicles that left Earth orbit were only a tiny fraction of the total weight. The trip to the Moon and back didn't take very long so it could be done with a craft that did not allow room to move around, did not have bathroom facilities, and did not need to recycle water or provide much electricity.

A mission that went to Mars would be much, much larger. You would indeed need room to move around. You would need to recycle the water so that you wouldn't run out. You would have to grow additional food. Growing food and recycling water as well as providing lights and heat would take electricity. The amount needed would be much much larger than what was needed on the lunar missions.

So, if you keep the same 3% ratio then you end taking perhaps 50 Saturn V size launches to get all the spacecraft components into space. You would not only need enough fuel to get there but much more fuel to land and return to orbit because Mars has an atmosphere and the gravity is much higher than the Moon. This requirement has led some to suggest creating fuel on Mars for the return. Because of the longer times in space these vehicles would not only have to be much larger and heavier but also much more reliable and easy to maintain.

These reasons are why no country has yet sent a manned mission to Mars. Politically, there is also the fact that during the Lunar Missions we were competing with the Soviet Union which had already beaten the US in both launching a satellite into orbit and putting a man in space. Since no other country is pursuing a manned Mars mission there is less peer pressure for the US to do so. Currently, the US is probably the only country that could attempt such a mission since Russia is the only other country at this point with a human rated launch vehicle.

Answer 2

Well it will be extremely expensive.
The trip itself would take over 6 months each way not including the time needed to actually land and study it, at the point when it is the closest to the Earth. That will require alot of supplies to be crammed into one space ship.
There is also the negative impact on the body from spending long periods of time in space due to the lack of gravity.
The fact of a sucessful landing on Mars is another problem that Nasa has had a problem with.
The fact of the air and water in the ship being recycled thousands of times.
And finally the conditions need to be pefect on Mars to even land on the planet or the mission is a bust.

It is just not feasible with extreme cost at the time being. The probes are doing a great job at the moment. Down the road with newer and better technology we should be able to complete it.

Answer 3

It could be done but there's not enough demand for it. No one wants to spend that much money. No one has shown a good enough reason - not enough potential payoffs to justify the expense and risks. And, besides the obvious problems of lifting as much fuel and life support as would be required for the long round trip, there are biological, medical problems that haven't been solved yet. The main one is that when people are outside the Earth's gravity, all their muscles get weaker, their bones become porous and fragile, and it's likely they wouldn't survive the trip. It's possible for them to delay those effects by exercising, but there's no way yet to compensate adequately.

Answer 4

Getting there is not so much a problem as getting back. While there may be a number of volunteers for a one-way mission to Mars, I don't think we could stomache it politically.

Answer 5

TECHNOLOGY.

How do you protect someone from Solar Radiation for over 2 years in an environment where the smallest object (say something the size of a pencil lead) is whizzing thru space around 18,000 mph? It can whizz right through the ship if your not careful and how would you detect it on radar?

So there are lots of unknowns to worry about!

Answer 6

It's not actually difficult, so much as it is expensive. There's no company on earth that has the money to do that sort of thing, and most taxpayers don't care enough to want to fund such a wildly expensive project.

Answer 7

NASA has this rule that if you're suicidal, you can't go on a space mission. Ergo, if you volunteer for Mars, you're automatically rejected.

Answer 8

because nasa has a hard enough time getting them just into space... the cost is one thing...everytime theres a launch it costs millions of dollars...plus everytime there in space...they flip out about how something might fail...they have lost confidence in their abilities. plus remember how far away mars is? travel time there is a few months... they need room for crew, their food.. and all their supplies

Answer 9

Because we have not figured out how to land on the moon yet!
Its a hoax1

Answer 10

good question i know its very far away, but we've come a long way in so many other areas that one would think we would be working on getting to saturn by now...