Getting to Mars

Jenny,
Very good questions. Mars missions are much more complex than anything that we have done in the past, and are very difficult to do in a single vehicle. Thus, the NASA approaches typically incorporate pre-deploying cargo (power, habitats, rovers, etc.) before the crew leaves Earth. That way when they get there, they have everything that they need to live on the surface. The duration of the transit to Mars will be much like what the crews experience on the ISS today (180-360 days), and thus they will be deconditioned when they arrive at Mars and will take a week or two to acclimate to the gravity of Mars. The vehicle that they land in must be capable of providing the room and equipment that they will need for that acclimation period. And, the first crews will have to do that on their own, since there will be no medical teams there to assist them upon landing. A greenhouse large enough to produce all of the food necessary for the crew will be too big and complex for the first missions. So we don't envision that from the beginning, but perhaps we can "grow" to that capability. We will probably start off with small "salad machine" type of systems much like what we fly on the ISS. They don't provide much in terms of nutrition, but can be very good from a psychological perspective. We also expect there to be around 4-6 crew on each mission and each crew member will need to be cross-trained in multiple technical disciplines (engineer, doctor, geologist, pilot, etc.). Hope that these thoughts help.

Typical round-trip Mars missions are 2.5-3.0 years in duration. The times vary each opportunity but are typically 9-months out to Mars, around 18 months at Mars, and then another 9 months return.

As for growing plants in space, there is still a lot of research to do to determine the best strategy. See the following link for more information: www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-plant-researchers-explore-question-of-deep-space-food-crops

They would be in a habitat module doing things we would all consider normal living essentially, eating, exercising, sleeping, and working to maintain the spaceship or do science expirements.

In order to maintain their health, exercise would be really important so staying in a sitting position would def not be allowed. There is also the mental health aspect where crew will need to communicate with earth and family and have a private space from the rest of the crew. So ultimately a rather significantly sized habitat spaceship is needed to support a crew on the journey with everythikng they will need.

What specific Health and Fitness Requirements do I require to prepare to travel to Mars/Moon? Are there any good Training now for private people to get ready?

Hey! I'm curious, what rocket will be used to lift off from Mars, if it has been invented yet?

Thank you! On more question, there isn't a thread for it, so I'll put it here. What will be the dimensions of DSG, like how long, etc?