How to colonize Mars

Ambitious plans to settle the red planet may conflict with international law. Sara Bruhns and Jacob Haqq-Misra suggest an alternative approach.

NASA has released a report containing detailed plans for a human mission to Mars. This has been a long-standing goal for NASA and their report outlines the challenges of Mars exploration in three stages. The first, 'Earth Reliant', stage focuses on research aboard the International Space Station. The 'Proving Ground' stage puts humans deeper into space for research, while remaining a few days from Earth. The 'Earth Independent' stage completes the plan by getting humans to the surface of Mars.

NASA is not the only organization preparing to send humans to the red planet. SpaceX, Dennis Tito's Inspiration Mars Foundation, and Mars One have all expressed an aim to visit and in some cases even colonize Mars.