Human mission to Mars
putting humans on the planet Mars
The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the planet. Currently, only robotic landers, rovers and a helicopter have been on Mars. As of 2026, the farthest humans have been beyond Earth is the Moon and its vicinity, with the lunar flights of the Apollo program from 1968 to 1972 and the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026, both of which were operated by NASA.
Conceptual proposals for missions that would involve human spaceflight started in the early 1950s, with planned missions typically expected to take place between 10 and 30 years after they were drafted. The list of crewed Mars mission plans shows the proposals put forth by multiple organizations and space agencies in this field of space exploration. These plans have varied – from scientific expeditions, in which a small group (between two and eight astronauts) would visit Mars for a period of a few weeks or more, to a continuous presence (e.g. through research stations, colonization, or other continuous habitation). Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos. By 2020, virtual visits to Mars, using haptic technology, had also been proposed.
Meanwhile, uncrewed exploration of Mars has been a goal of national space programs for decades, and was first achieved in 1965 with the Mariner 4 flyby.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Human mission to Mars” is putting humans on the planet Mars. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Human, mission and Mars, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “putting humans on the planet Mars” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q51075. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2026, 1968, 1972 and 2020.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Human mission to Mars”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Human mission to Mars primary sources, Human mission to Mars archive and Human research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Human mission to Mars”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Human mission to Mars” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.