The space agency has plans in the pipeline to get humans to Mars in the 2030s, however it admits there is a lot more research to be done first. One of the main issues NASA faces is how the journey to Mars will effect humans. Initial estimates suggest it would take humans around nine months to get to Mars.
During that time, astronauts would be constantly bombarded from radiation from the Sun after leaving Earth’s protective atmosphere.
However, there is no protection from the radiation in space.
Another issue is how the lack of gravity will effect the body, as it can cause complications with blood flow and muscle atrophy.
This is why NASA wants at least 10 more astronauts to spend a year on board the ISS so it can analyse how its astronauts will cope.
Julie Robinson, NASA’s chief scientist for the ISS Program, said at the first Space Health Innovation Conference: “We really could do much more. We’re ready to do more, because we have 20 years of really good datasets.”
Currently, there are only two people who have spent around a year on the ISS.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly lived there from March 2015 until the same month the following year.
The other was Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko who spent just shy of a year in Earth’s orbit – 342 days.
READ MORE: Why Neil deGrasse Tyson claimed mission to Mars ‘not going to happen’
The pair were tasked with replacing an ISS power controller that had failed.
After the historic mission NASA chief administrator Jim Bridenstine said: “We could very well see the first person on Mars be a woman.
“I think that could very well be a milestone.
“If my 11-year-old daughter has her way, we’ll have a woman on Mars in the not-too-distant future.”
NASA’s first mission will see them place humans back on the Moon for the first time since 1972.
The space agency has decided it has unfinished business on our lunar satellite and wants to set up a permanent base on the Moon, with the missions hopefully taking place in 2024.
The base would be used as a checkpoint between Earth and Mars while also allowing astronauts to study the Moon in close detail.