NASA officials talk Mars exploration at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Officials from NASA visited Purdue University to discuss the future of deep space exploration and hear students' ideas on how Mars could sustain human life.

"Purdue has long been known for having student projects that look at human missions to Mars. This year was an exceptional year," said John Connolly, leader of NASA’s Human Mars Study team.

More than 30 students worked for the past few months to design concepts for a pioneering base on Mars that could support about 50 people and eventually establish a long-term colony on the red planet. They presented their concepts Friday in Fowler Hall to Connolly and William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate.

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Their impressive work is a promising sign for the future of human exploration on Mars, Connolly said.

"We saw orbital mechanics, we saw habitation, we saw plant growth and how you support large groups of people over large amounts of time on the Martian surface," he said. "Basically what I took away from it is that we're getting closer. There seems to be a better understanding of how we send people to Mars, what technologies we use, how we sustain them there and I think we're getting closer."

NASA hopes to send a human to Mars in the 2030s, but that might happen even sooner under President Donald Trump.

In a phone call Monday, Trump told a pair of U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station that he would like to see a human mission to Mars "during my first term or, at worst, during my second term."

The Trump administration has proposed $19.1 billion for NASA in his 2018 budget blueprint, down slightly from the current year's $19.3 billion allocation. The proposal cuts Earth science and education programs, but would maintain funding levels for Mars exploration.

"NASA has always enjoyed broad support from the folks up in Washington. The people in Congress basically love NASA and we always get a lot of good words from them," Connolly said. "Recently, the president has come out and said a lot of nice things ... and it’s great to have the support of both the people at the White House and in Congress."

Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, who was also in attendance Friday, has his own ambitious plans for a human settlement on Mars. If all goes as planned, his mission would launch July 20, 2019 — the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing – and send its first crew in 2021.

The private sector, too, has tapped into deep space exploration. Elon Musk’s SpaceX last year announced its Interplanetary Transport System to carry 100 people per flight to Mars and establish a self-sustaining colony in the next 50 to 100 years. Blue Origin, the space venture created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is also shooting for Mars.

"I think we're at the Lewis and Clark phase of exploring Mars right now," Connolly said. "We're just at the point where we're going to start sending people out on expeditionary missions to find out what Mars is all about, find out how hard it is to survive there, find out whether we can put people there for long periods of time and sustain human presence there."

USA TODAY contributed to this story.

Reach Journal & Courier higher education reporter Meghan Holden at mholden@gannett.com or 765-420-5205.