VIDEO: UCF and the Next Space Frontier: Making the Case for Mars

By  //  July 20, 2016

IDEAS INCLUDE USING asteroids FOR REFUELING

ABOVE VIDEO: “How To get to Mars” is a clip from the IMAX documentary “Roving Mars” from 2006. This is an edited short version. 

BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – Many feared the United States’ role in space exploration was over after an accident took the lives of a second space shuttle crew in 2003.

After another long grounding of the shuttle fleet, flights restarted briefly but by 2011 the program was retired and no manned missions were on the horizon. Prospects were dim.

But as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. The pioneering American spirit soon ignited.

Individuals such as SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos announced bold plans to build commercial spacecraft to return people to space. And NASA is investing in the research needed to get people to Mars within the next 20 years.

University of Central Florida researchers are working on a variety of current and future projects that will help get us to the red planet, including OSIRIS-REx.

Final Design, Construction of NASA’s Next Mars Rover Progresses Toward 2020 LaunchRelated Story:
Final Design, Construction of NASA’s Next Mars Rover Progresses Toward 2020 Launch

Many projects include the idea of turning asteroids into refueling stations that spacecraft on long trips could use. UCF is in the thick of making a trip to Mars a reality.

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University of Central Florida researchers are working on a variety of current and future projects that will help get us to the red planet, including OSIRIS-REx.