I’ve been away from following space exploration for nearly a decade, ever since the Curiosity rover landed back in 2012, and now I’m trying to catch up on all the upcoming Mars mission details and news. My son, who is ten, has become obsessed with the idea of humans landing on Mars, and I want to explain to him what’s actually happening over the next few years without mixing up old plans with current reality.
I started by watching a few YouTube summaries, but they mostly covered the Artemis Moon missions or generic “Mars in the 2030s” talk with no firm dates. Then I dug into NASA’s official website and found a page listing the Mars sample return timeline, but it mentioned a cost estimate of around $8 to $11 billion and that the project is currently stalled—or maybe just restructured? I’m not sure if that means the whole return plan is scrapped or simply delayed until the early 2030s. I also stumbled on some news about China’s Tianwen-3 mission, which supposedly has a 2028 target, but I can’t verify if that’s still on track.
For someone who is trying to explain this to a curious kid, what is the single most reliable source you use to track which Mars missions have concrete launch windows, and which ones are still just proposals or concepts? I’d love to know what you consider the “definitely happening” missions within the next five years, versus the ones that might slip.
I started by watching a few YouTube summaries, but they mostly covered the Artemis Moon missions or generic “Mars in the 2030s” talk with no firm dates. Then I dug into NASA’s official website and found a page listing the Mars sample return timeline, but it mentioned a cost estimate of around $8 to $11 billion and that the project is currently stalled—or maybe just restructured? I’m not sure if that means the whole return plan is scrapped or simply delayed until the early 2030s. I also stumbled on some news about China’s Tianwen-3 mission, which supposedly has a 2028 target, but I can’t verify if that’s still on track.
For someone who is trying to explain this to a curious kid, what is the single most reliable source you use to track which Mars missions have concrete launch windows, and which ones are still just proposals or concepts? I’d love to know what you consider the “definitely happening” missions within the next five years, versus the ones that might slip.
