Introduction:
I'm sure you've seen the news about the NASA Mars mission and all the headlines about this amazing journey that will take our species to Mars. But does that mean we'll be able to travel to Mars? How much will it cost us? Well, let's get down to business and take a look at some of the details regarding these missions.
If you're a space fanatic, you might have wondered how much an astronaut has to pay to travel to Mars. And if you're not one — or even if you have — maybe you'd like to know what makes your home planet such an attractive destination for astronauts.
How much is a ticket to Mars?
A ticket to Mars is a ticket that can take you anywhere in the solar system. It's not a specific destination, but rather a journey that will take you through space and land you on another planet.
A ticket to Mars means that you can go anywhere in the solar system — the moon, Mars, Venus, or Mercury. A trip to those destinations would cost more than a ticket to either Earth or Venus.
There are two main ways to get a ticket to Mars: You could buy one from an airline or travel agency and be on your way, or you could buy one from a private company such as Space Adventures or SpaceX.
To date, SpaceX has offered tickets for trips that cost as little as $207 million (the cost of sending one person into space). NASA is also working with companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin on commercial spaceflight projects that would put astronauts into low-Earth orbit for about $200,000 per person.
The Mars One organization has a bold goal: to establish a human settlement on Mars by 2027. The company has raised $6.67 million on Kickstarter and plans to use the funds to build its first spacecraft, which will launch in 2020.
If all goes according to plan, that spacecraft will land on Mars in 2023, with seven astronauts aboard. They'll spend the next three years preparing their habitat and conducting scientific experiments before leaving Earth in 2024.
The mission's main goal is to establish a permanent human settlement on another planet. But the company also plans to send researchers back to Earth every year or two during this time period so they can collect data from Earth-based experiments — like studying how microorganisms survive in space — and send it back to Mars via laser beams or other transmission methods.
The space agency is currently planning a mission to send humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s, but it will cost $6 billion per person. For context, NASA paid $2 billion for Curiosity, its most recent rover — not including its launch costs.
A ticket to Mars is more expensive than a ticket to Earth because there are fewer people on Mars than on Earth. There are about seven million people living in Houston, for example; there are fewer than 200 million people on Earth.
Conclusion:
Whether you're a passionate space venturer or more of a casual fan, the question still remains: how much does it cost to go to Mars? Though Elon Musk's recent announcement about his plans for commercial trips to the red planet garnered plenty of media attention, both Musk and NASA have been investing in space travel for quite some time.
The math is telling. As crazy as it may seem, it's also quite possible, which makes the question above all about money. Are you and a partner willing to spend half a billion dollars so that one of you can go start a new colony, plus some of your friends who have similarly high net worths? Consider that you would then be in the very bottom tax bracket on Mars, and will be taxed for anything you make or bring to the planet.