When Are Humans Going To Mars? Red Planet Base Camp Planned For 2028

Global security aerospace company Lockheed Martin announced Tuesday plans to set up a base camp on Mars by the year 2028. The mission would send astronauts into orbit around the Red Planet for three years.

Tasked with performing research while in orbit, the astronauts would ideally be able to remotely control rovers and drones on the planet’s surface in order to locate the best spot for humans to land on a future mission. The company unveiled the plan at a meeting of the National Space Club Florida Committee Tuesday.

Read: NASA Proposes Massive Shield Around Mars To Make Planet Habitable For Humans

“This is all doable in the next 10 to 12 years. All we have to do is decide that we’re going to go collectively, together – government, industry, international participation,” said Tony Antonelli, former NASA space shuttle pilot and leader of advanced civil space programs for Lockheed Martin, according to Florida Today.

All the necessary technologies for such a mission are already available or are currently being developed, Antonelli noted.

“The concept is simple: transport astronauts from Earth to a Mars-orbiting science laboratory where they can perform real-time scientific exploration, analyze Martian rock and soil samples, and confirm the ideal place to land humans on the surface in the 2030s,” reads Lockheed Martin’s outline for the project.

Read: United Arab Emirates Plans First City On Mars With 'Mars 2117' Project

Though the U.S. is still the only country to land a spacecraft on Mars, the planet is a primary target for both government agencies and private organizations throughout the world. In one of his last announcements before leaving office, former President Barack Obama announced a “clear goal” to get humans to Mars by sometime in the 2030s.

Congress passed a NASA authorization bill in March allocating funds with the long-term goal of sending people to Mars in mind. The bill set aside $19.5 billion for NASA in 2017 and instructed the agency to work toward a “Mars human spaceflight mission to be launched in 2033.”

The United Arab Emirates announced its intention to build the first city on Mars: a permanent “Chicago-sized” hub situated on the Red Planet.

Private organizations have gotten involved as well. Mars One, a private company founded by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, announced its intentions to build a permanent settlement on the planet by 2032. SpaceX, the brainchild of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, also announced it was working on its own plan to colonize Mars by way of a unique technology it called the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System.