Inspiration Mars, the bold plan to send a man and woman on a 501-day trip around the Red Planet beginning in January 2018, reports individuals and industry are offering their services for the task, including “hundreds” of couples who have qualifications that would put them in the running.
Dennis Tito, the California financier who was the first space tourist to visit the International Space Station, told a National Space Symposium audience here that finding a suitable launch architecture to start the mission, and a thermal protection system to protect the crew when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere at 14.2 km/sec. after looping around Mars 100 mi. above the surface, are the biggest near-term hurdles to accomplishing the mission.
Tito is funding the first two years of the five-year development plans, and expects to fund the rest with contributions, media rights and other sources of income. Media response to the February kickoff press conference for the mission would have generated $80 million in advertising revenue, according to a team spokesman.
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