Artist’s impression of a future Mars base. (Image credit: NASA)<\/p><\/div>\n

Yesterday, we asked you for your opinion on whether or not to send humans to Mars. Today, we\u2019re going to look at the timeframes for such a mission, should humanity decide to go there.<\/p>\n

The current most realistic proposals from \u201cmainstream\u201d actors such as NASA or ESA operate on a timeframe that would see a manned mission sometime in the 2030s at the earliest.<\/p>\n

However, recent projects have been proposed that aim at bringing humans to Mars much sooner, even within a decade or less. These projects include the Mars One proposal for a permanent colony by 2023, and more recently Dennis Tito\u2019s “Inspiration Mars Foundation” proposal for a manned round-trip in 2018. But at the same time, they have been criticised for underestimating the challenges and involving much greater risks.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Should we try to reach Mars as soon as possible, even if the risk of failure, or perhaps even disaster, is greater? Or should we take a more careful approach and wait until the necessary technology has matured, even if this means it may take several decades more?<\/p>\n