journey to mars ride

Mission: SPACE

• 40in (102cm) or taller
• Thrill Ride

You Are Go for Launch

What’s it like to be an astronaut? You’ll find out on Mission: SPACE!

Before you board, you’ll train for your mission on the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle at the International Space Training Center (ISTC). Each member of your 4-cadet crew will assume an important role: navigator, pilot, commander or engineer. During your flight, cadets will be instructed to initiate a mission-critical sequence… so be prepared!

Next, count down to liftoff—and an incredible mission through space. Dodge meteorites and slingshot around the moon—or enjoy a flight path with breathtaking views of our home planet.

Your crew is counting on you to make the mission a success!

Which Mission Should I Choose?

Journey to Mars with the more intense Orange Mission. Or, orbit the Earth with the less intense—but still exhilarating—Green Mission.

Orange Mission

Hurtle through space on an out-of-this-world experience thrill-seekers will love. The Orange Mission uses a centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate the speed and G-forces of a spacecraft launch and reentry. Orange Mission offers astronauts 44” and taller a more intense experience.

Guests who wish to experience the Orange Mission should be in good health and free of high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not ride either Mission.

Green Mission

Take flight on a family-friendly adventure that’s sure to excite. The Green Mission offers a gentler, more family-friendly adventure for space explorers 40” and taller. It uses a motion simulator that offers light movement and doesn’t spin—so it’s less likely to cause motion sickness.

This experience is optimal for those prone to motion sickness or uncertain about which level to choose. Expectant mothers should not ride either mission.

Related Activities

Even more magic – as you wish, mission: space advanced training lab, guests also viewed, safety, accessibility and guest policies, times for mission: space.

How Disney's Mission to Mars Went From Attraction to Brian De Palma Movie Back to Attraction

45 years ago today Mission to Mars opened at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World . The attraction, which simulated the experience of blasting guests to the red planet, would having an oddly lasting effect on the company, inspiring a poorly received film that in turn would serve as the basis an equally mediocre attraction. And on and on it goes, like the rotation of some huge planet. For some reason (and for many years), its gravitational pull was too great.

Tomorrowland was always the hardest land for Walt Disney to conceptualize. The future, after all, was a moving target, and to give the area the space age sleekness he was hoping for, was expensive and cumbersome. It was the last land to come together and was seemingly willed into existence thanks to Walt’s stubbornness and a loose confederacy of corporate sponsors that would pay for additional attractions. One of those attractions, sponsored by TWA, was Rocket to the Moon. Adorned with an 80-foot tall rocket replica (taller than Cinderella Castle), the attraction’s façade was pure mod wonderment with swooping clean lines. This is what a space port, in the far-off year of 1986, would look like. The attraction itself, which used projection and sound effects, approximated what a journey to the moon would feel like.

In 1967, new show buildings would be installed (complete with more immersive effects and a nifty, audio-animatronics-filled pre-show) and a new name would be given – Flight to the Moon (this time sponsored by McDonnell Douglas Aircraft). Sadly, the iconic rocket that used to welcome guests to the attraction was dismantled. But by 1969, man had already visited the moon and NASA would make regular trips over the next several years. It was no longer the stuff of fantasy.

Florida’s Magic Kingdom, set to be the opening salvo in the ambitious Walt Disney World project in Florida, was having a similarly hard time fleshing out its version of Tomorrowland. It would soon have a brilliant, eye-catching anchor attraction in the futuristic rollercoaster Space Mountain, but when the land first opened, it was also fighting the oil embargo which had pushed another of projects down the line (if they were ever made at all). The Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland opened as an odd mishmash of preexisting attractions and the same sort of lame, last-minute corporate sponsored cash grabs (in this case an attraction at the back of the land devoted to the history of air travel). Flight to the Moon made the trip to Florida, but Disney knew it wouldn’t be able to sustain prolonged interest.

In June, 1975, Mission to Mars was first launched. It featured many of the same animatronics and even some of the same footage in the pre-show and ride film, but new elements were made to the show itself, both in terms of effects (inflatable seats would be inflated or deflated, to simulate space travel) and story points (hello, hyperspace travel). In 1975 Mission to Mars was installed in Disneyland too. But by the early 1990s, it was starting to show its age. It lacked the visceral thrills and excitement that modern audiences demanded and much of the science and technology was outdated and creaky. It closed in 1992 in Disneyland and 1993 in Walt Disney World. The mission had come to an end.

Since the late 2000s, Disney had been noodling with the idea of turning some of its beloved theme park attractions into equally beloved big screen events. The test pilot was Tower of Terror , a 1997 horror comedy starring Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst that aired on Wonderful World of Disney and, more crucially, acted as an 89-minute commercial for The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror, an innovative attraction that opened at what was then known as Disney-MGM Studios a few years earlier. (Part of the movie was actually filmed at the attraction in Florida. At the time MGM-Studios took pride in the fact that it was a fully operational production studio, even though hardly anything was ever shot there.) The movie was enough of a hit that several other projects inched through development, among them were big screen adaptations of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion , along with Dinosaur , an animated film that was using state-of-the-art technology and was being developed alongside an attraction set to open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Ah, synergy.

But the film that would ultimately make it out of the gate first was Mission to Mars . Part of this had to do with an arms race Disney was having with Warner Bros, who was developing their own Mars-themed project called Red Planet . (A couple of years earlier Disney had found itself in a similar situation as its own Armageddon squared off against Paramount and DreamWorks’ Deep Impact .) And part of it had to do with the fact that the studio really didn’t publicize that it was based on the theme park attraction, which at the time had been shuttered for the better part of a decade. The movies-based-on-theme-park-attractions idea appealed to Disney chief Michael Eisner but it still made him nervous. It was Eisner who made the last-minute decision to add the cumbersome subtitle to Pirates of the Caribbean in an effort to distance itself from the attraction. If Mission to Mars was a success, so be it. But the connections between the theme park attraction and the movie were not going to be explicitly drawn.

And, truth be told, the movie, directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay officially credited to Jim and John Thomas and Graham Yost , doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the original attraction. Sure, it’s about an expedition to Mars. But there aren’t any direct parallels to be drawn, save from that amazing long shot, set to Van Halen ’s “Dance the Night Away,” which features a rotating circular centrifuge, that explicitly recalls a similar image on one of the screens in the Mission to Mars preshow. (It’s a deep cut, I know.) Where there could have been references, there are emphatically not . You’d think that some of the characters could have had the last name “Morrow” or “Johnson,” references to the audio-animatronic figure that gave you the rundown in the ride’s pre-show. But, alas, there is none. De Palma, whose experience on the film wasn’t particularly positive (“It was relentless,” he said in the De Palma documentary), never mentioned the original attraction. It’s unclear if he even knew the film was an adaptation of a popular theme park attraction.

When Mission to Mars came out in the spring of 2000 (happy 20th!), it lost money, making $111 million internationally from a budget of over $100 million. De Palma was so broken by the project that he left the United States. “The Hollywood system we work in does nothing but destroy you,” De Palma said in the documentary. “When I finished that movie, that’s when I got on a plane and went to Paris. Mission to Mars was the last movie I made in the United States.” ( Mission to Mars did get some strong notices from critics, particularly overseas. It was #4 on Cashiers du Cinema’s collective Top 10 that year, outranking The Virgin Suicides and In the Mood For Love .) But box office be damned, Mission to Mars was going to live on.

EPCOT had wanted a space pavilion since the early 1990s. It made sense. EPCOT (formerly EPCOT Center) was the science and discovery park. Space should have always been there. Initial plans called for a giant pavilion wherein several attractions would be accessible (one would have simulated a spacewalk, with guests suspended from an overhead track, peering into the outside of a space station) but budget cuts and the popularity of Horizons, a sort-of space-themed attraction about futuristic communities, occupying the same land that the new pavilion would have been placed, meant the space pavilion was off the table. But the idea was being revisited at the close of the decade; Horizons had lost its corporate sponsorship and a large sinkhole had been detected underneath its massive show building. They could finally do the really-for-real space pavilion and they had a cutting-edge idea to go along with it: spinning centrifuge that would make you feel weightless. They also had a flashy Disney movie they could piggyback on: Mission to Mars .

Disney enlisted Gary Sinise , one of the stars of Mission to Mars , to host the preshow for the new attraction, now called Mission: Space. (Sinise essentially is playing the same character but his name is never spoken.) And the big, wheel-shaped room from the “Dance the Night Away” scene is actually a part of the attraction’s extended queue, along with several model spaceships from the film (much of the visual effects work for the movie was provided by Dream Quest Images, Disney’s in-house visual effects company, that was shuttered following Mission to Mars ’ release). On a narrative level, this new attraction borrowed heavily from the Mission to Mars attraction, including the conceit that you are being trained to make the journey to outer space and the patina of pseudo-scientific education. But this time the emphasis was on thrills.

So Mission to Mars , a movie inspired by a Disney theme park attraction, inspired another Disney theme park attraction. Moving in a circle, just like the astronauts in the movie. Who has the Van Halen?

Sadly, some of the Mission to Mars has been scrubbed off of Mission: Space in recent years. In 2017 it went down for a refurbishment. The ride film was redone, with updated graphics by Industrial Light & Magic , and a new film was made for the cuddlier version of the attraction, this time a zoom above earth. Also, Sinise was replaced. It’s the same script and the same awkward staging, but Gina Torres stepped in for Lt. Dan., welcoming guests aboard the attraction and explaining key safety information. But it wasn’t totally gone – the oversized props and sets are still in the queue. And the memory of the ouroboros of Mission to Mars still looms large in our memory. It’s positively planetary.

Mission: SPACE

World Discovery

Guests Must Be

Age interest.

Tweens, Teens, Adults

Thrill Level

Thrill Ride, Spinning, Dark

Accessibility and Other Information - Opens Dialog

Accessibility

• Must Transfer from Wheelchair/ECV
• Transfer Access Vehicle Available
• Transfer Device Available
• Video Captioning
• Supervise children at all times. Children under age 7 years must be accompanied by a person age 14 years or older.
• The seating and restraints of this attraction may prohibit Guests of certain body shapes or sizes from riding.

Service Animals Not Permitted

Rider Switch

• Rider switch offered. More Information - This attraction offers rider switch, which allows 2 or more adults to take turns waiting with children who are too small to ride, without the need to wait in line twice. Please ask a Cast Member at the attraction entrance for assistance. Beginning of tooltip content This attraction offers rider switch, which allows 2 or more adults to take turns waiting with children who are too small to ride, without the need to wait in line twice. Please ask a Cast Member at the attraction entrance for assistance. End of tooltip content

Blast off on a thrilling simulated NASA-style mission to Mars—or orbit the Earth on a more gentle ride through space.

Even More Magic – As You Wish!

Let Disney Genie service summon the attractions, entertainment and dining you love most.

You Are Go for Launch

Before you board, you’ll train for your mission on the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle at the International Space Training Center (ISTC). Each member of your 4-cadet crew will assume an important role: navigator, pilot, commander or engineer. During your flight, cadets will be instructed to initiate a mission-critical sequence… so be prepared!

Next, count down to liftoff—and an incredible mission through space. Dodge meteorites and slingshot around the moon—or enjoy a flight path with breathtaking views of our home planet.

Your crew is counting on you to make the mission a success!

Which Mission Should I Choose?

Orange Mission

Hurtle through space on an out-of-this-world experience thrill-seekers will love. The Orange Mission uses a centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate the speed and G-forces of a spacecraft launch and reentry. Orange Mission offers astronauts 44” and taller a more intense experience.

Guests who wish to experience the Orange Mission should be in good health and free of high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not ride either Mission.

Green Mission

Take flight on a family-friendly adventure that’s sure to excite. The Green Mission offers a gentler, more family-friendly adventure for space explorers 40” and taller. It uses a motion simulator that offers light movement and doesn’t spin—so it’s less likely to cause motion sickness.

This experience is optimal for those prone to motion sickness or uncertain about which level to choose. Expectant mothers should not ride either mission.

Mission: SPACE Advanced Training Lab

Take part in space-themed games after your Mars mission in this interactive play space.

• 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Sunday, May 26, 2024

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Touchstone and Beyond: A History of Disney’s “Mission to Mars”

Disneyland is set to reopen in just a couple of weeks, and what better way to prepare for Walt’s magic kingdom then to catch up with the big screen adaptation (of sorts) of the Disneyland attraction, Mission to Mars .

Mars 1 is about to launch and for the commander, Luke (Don Cheadle), he is excited for this historic opportunity. Celebrating with his last night on Earth, Luke is eager for the journey, but regrets that Jim (Gary Sinise) is not the one going. For years Jim and his wife Maggie (Kim Delaney) prepared for this mission, but with her untimely death, Jim pulled himself out of the mission and now Luke is set to make history.

The launch and journey to Mars is a success. Luke and his crew are testing radar on an unknown object on Mars when tragedy strikes the astronauts. Three of the four members of the team are killed and Luke’s whereabouts are unknown. Jim, Woody (Tim Robbins) Terri (Connie Nielsen) and Phil (Jerry O’Connell) prep a rescue mission to bring Luke home and to find out what happened on the surface of the red planet.

Their journey to Mars is dangerous and an engine explosion forces Jim, Phil, Woody, and Terri to abandon ship and access the orbiting Recon ship. It takes Woody sacrificing himself so that the other three can reach the orbiting craft, and for a moment, success looks fleeting. Once they land safely, the three find Luke in the Mars habitat. He cannot believe that they came for him, and the isolation has caused Luke to doubt for a moment the reality of the reunion. Luke quickly fills them in on what has been happening on the fourth planet from the sun.

The unknown force that killed his crew comes from a sculpted statue face on the surface of Mars. Together they determine that the unknown radio frequency that the face is emitting is testing the astronauts for a response. When the crew realizes what the answer is, they investigate the structure themselves. Phil is left behind in the escape craft while Terri, Luke, and Jim enter an unknown moment for humanity. Inside an all-white room is a being that will unlock the secrets of Earth and the cosmos.

Cinematic Compliments

I like movies about Mars, so  Mission to Mars  had me at the title. The visuals used to create the alien landscape are fantastic, and the technology seems realistic and not science fiction. I feel like the film used there NASA support well to present a realistic approach to how these missions would be conducted.

Cinematic Complaints

This film has multiple talented actors headlining the story, but for the life of me, none of them seem to be comfortable in their roles. While Tim Robbins shines as Woody, his death negates the joy he brought to the screen. Gary Sinise is a talented actor who can pretty much do anything on the big screen, but his Jim is a character that I just am not able to empathize with. I don’t dislike his character, I just have no feeling for him.

Brian De Palma is a fantastic director, but I feel like he was the wrong choice for this film. Gore Verbinski would have been a better choice. De Palma is too slow in his direction which makes the film drag and can cause the audience to lose interest in the story. There are moments of interest that hook the audience, like the meteor shower that hits the rescue ship, but the follow up to these dramatic moments are ridiculous. This billion dollar space ship that the astronauts fly doesn’t have a sophisticated computer that can identify where the leaks in the hull are? It takes Tim Robbins wandering around outside the ship and a leaking soft drink to find one of the leaks. Moreover, as the astronauts are ready for their Mars insertion orbit, the ship’s computer fails to identify a massive leak in the fuel lines which causes an explosion. How is that even possible.  

The conclusion to the film is silly. There is no other way to describe the events that wrap up the movie. For one moment in a flashback scene, we hear Maggie describe how Mars has a deeper connection to Earth then we know of which leads to this disorganized and preposterous conclusion.

Fun Film Facts

• The film did not garner much love on the awards circuit. The only significant nomination that  Mission to Mars  earned was a Worst Director Razzie nomination for Brian De Palma.
• Gary Sinise’s son McCanna played the younger version of Sinise’s character.
• Armin Mueller-Stahl has an uncredited role as Ray Beck the flight director for the mission.
• The score for the film is by legendary composer Ennio Morricone.
• The film is inspired by the Disneyland attraction Mission to Mars which opened in 1975 and closed in 1992. A duplicate of this attraction appeared in Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World and lasted from 1975-1993.
• The Mars locale was built in a sandpit in Vancouver.
• Multiple props from the film were on display at the Mission Space attraction in Epcot.
• Gary Sinise was the original narrator for the Mission Space attraction in Epcot.
• The timeline of the film takes place in 2020.
• Mission to Mars  had competition at the box office. In the fall of the same year another Mars themed film, Red Planet , starring Val Kilmer and Carrie Ann Moss premiered in theatres. Neither were a commercial success or a critical darling.
• Gore Verbinski was supposed to direct the film.
• This is the second space themed film that Gary Sinise starred in. He won praise for his role in 1995’s Apollo 13.
• The weightless scenes were filmed by hanging the actors from wires.
• Mission to Mars is the last major film directed by Brian De Palma.

The Golden Popcorn Bucket Award

Mission to Mars  gets a  ½ Golden Popcorn Bucket rating. The film has a great cast, but the story falls short and the conclusion to the film is silly.

Coming Attractions

Next week with Earth Day coming soon, we look at A Civil Action . John Travolta plays a crusading lawyer who takes on chemical polluters in Massachusetts.

Production Credits

Directed by  Brian De Palma

Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Spyglass Entertainment

• Gary Sinise as Jim
• Don Cheadle as Luke
• Tim Robbins as Woody
• Connie Nielson as Terri
• Jerry O’Connell as Phil

Release Date:  March 10, 2000

Budget:  $100 million

Box Office Gross

Domestic:  $60,883,407

Worldwide Total:  $110,983,407

Disney News » Disney Attraction » Magic Kingdom Park » Mission to Mars 

Mission to Mars | Disney World

Last Updated on: May 19th, 2024

Posted By: Craig Smith

Mission to Mars was a now-defunct attraction at Disney World in Florida. The attraction was a simulated space flight experience that allowed visitors to experience what it might be like to travel to Mars.

During the experience, visitors would board a spacecraft and watch a series of simulated launches and spaceflight maneuvers on a large screen. The attraction was designed to be both educational and entertaining, with a focus on providing an immersive and realistic space travel experience.

Mission to Mars was originally introduced at Disneyland in California in 1975, and was later brought to Disney World in Florida in 1976. The attraction was a popular part of the Tomorrowland area of the park for many years, but was eventually replaced by other attractions as Disney World continued to evolve and expand.

Today, Mission to Mars is remembered as a classic Disney attraction that provided visitors with a unique and exciting glimpse into the world of space travel. Although the attraction is no longer in operation, it remains a beloved part of Disney World’s history and is remembered fondly by many visitors who had the chance to experience it firsthand.

• Mission to Mars was a dark ride attraction that simulated a trip to Mars.
• The attraction featured a number of special effects, such as animatronics, and a high-energy musical score.
• The attraction’s queue featured a number of interactive elements, such as a large spaceship model, and a number of Tomorrowland-themed posters and signs.
• The ride featured a number of different scenes, including a rocket launch, a journey through space, and a landing on the surface of Mars.
• Mission to Mars was one of the most technologically advanced attractions at the time of its opening, it was designed to simulate the experience of a space flight and it was a popular ride among guests.

At a Glance

• Disney Resort: Walt Disney World Resort
• Disney Park: Magic Kingdom Park Info News and Attractions
• Park Area: Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland
• Attraction Type: Disney Park Show , Extinct Disney Attractions
• Year Opened: 1975
• Year Closed: 1993
• Replaced: Flight to the Moon
• Replaced By: ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter

Experience:

Related News:

• Vintage Walt Disney World: Mission to Mars Launches , June 8, 2012
• Mission to Mars Opens at Walt Disney World , June 7, 1975

Related Movie(s):

Mission to Mars

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On this thrilling journey to Mars, witness the Red Planet's rugged beauty firsthand. Featuring a glimpse back in time at Mars' ancient oceans, an encounter with the pioneering Perseverance rover, and an escape from one of the planet's infamous dust storms, this tour offers an up-close look at our planetary neighbor's history and potential.

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Cosmic Wonders

On this journey to the deepest reaches of space, witness some of the most famous cosmic sights in the universe. Including vistas of the inky Horsehead Nebula dust cloud, a flight through the glowing tendrils of the Crab Nebula, and a special visit to a massive star about to go supernova, this firsthand look at the birth and death of stars promises unsurpassed cosmic beauty.

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Nasa’s space launch system is the rocket for the ride to mars.

NASA is going to Mars , and here on Earth, the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is the first stop for building the world’s most powerful rocket for the ride – the Space Launch System (SLS).

The SLS will be NASA’s first exploration-class vehicle since the Saturn V took American astronauts to the moon more than 40 years ago. It will expand our reach in the solar system, launching crews aboard the new Orion spacecraft to explore multiple, deep-space destinations. A fleet of robotic spacecraft and rovers are already on and around Mars, but to fly to and land humans safely on Mars requires a next-generation spacecraft – Orion. SLS will ensure it gets there.

The first SLS rocket, known as the Block I configuration with a 70-metric-ton (77 ton) lift capability, will be powered by twin boosters and four RS-25 engines . The next planned evolution of the SLS, Block 1B, would use a more powerful exploration upper stage to enable more ambition missions and a 105-metric-ton lift capacity, while a later evolution, Block 2, would add a pair of advanced solid or liquid propellant boosters to provide a 130-metric-ton (143-ton) lift capacity. In each configuration, SLS will continue to use the same core stage and four RS-25 engines.

The initial Block 1 configuration of SLS will stand 322 feet tall, higher than the Statue of Liberty. It will produce 8.4 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, the equivalent of 13,400 locomotive engines, and be capable of carrying 154,000 pounds of payload, about the same as 12 fully grown elephants. Block 1B and Block 2 each will be more than 363 feet tall, which is taller than the Saturn V rocket. The Block 2 configuration will provide 9.2 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and weigh 6.5 million pounds.

Marshall manages the SLS Program for the agency and has unique capabilities for the design and testing of different parts of the rocket. Marshall is the hub for work on several structural test articles for both the core and the upper stage of the rocket. Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville is the prime contractor for the launch vehicle stage adapter, which connects the SLS core stage and the upper stage.

Two new test stands also are being built at Marshall to perform structural loads testing for the core stage , which is being manufactured at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Avionics and the flight computer also will be housed in the SLS core stage. Marshall has installed a structure and simulation capability to test the avionics system and model the environments the vehicle will experience during launch. The Boeing Company of Chicago is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including its avionics.

Marshall also oversees RS-25 testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and booster qualification testing at prime contractor Orbital ATK’s test facility in Promontory, Utah. The SLS Program has an inventory of 16 RS-25 flight engines being upgraded for SLS specifications, built by prime contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California.

On the program side, SLS recently completed its critical design review at Marshall. The in-depth review – the first in almost 40 years for a NASA exploration class vehicle — provides a final look at the design and development of the integrated rocket before full-scale fabrication begins. “We’ve picked the right vehicle for the journey to Mars,” said Garry Lyles, chief engineer for the SLS Program Office at the Marshall Center.

More SLS work at Marshall:

Base heating testing

Anti-geyser testing

Hydrogen Burn-Off Igniter testing

Scale-Model Acoustic testing

For more information on SLS, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/sls

Kimberly Henry Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama 256-544-0034 [email protected]

NASA's Perseverance Rover Launches to Mars

[Announcer] The Perseverance rover headed to Mars. Ready to ride on a column of fire and smoke on its way to the red planet.

- [Announcer] And lift off. As the Countdown to Mars continues, the perseverance of humanity launching the next generation of robotic explorers to the red planet.

- [Man] And Atlas TU has gone to closely controlled. Standing by for FRP burnout shortly. And we have successful separation of Mars 2020 with the Perseverance rover.

- [Woman] We now have an acquisition of signals, and the years of blood, sweat, and tears from every person who worked on this mission is now realized as Perseverance makes its way to Mars.

Explorers Wanted on the Journey to Mars

Hike the solar system's largest canyon, Valles Marineris on Mars, where you can catch blue sunsets in the twilight, and see the two moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos) in the night sky.

In the future, Mars will need all kinds of explorers, farmers, surveyors, teachers. Join us on the Journey to Mars as we explore with robots and send humans there one day. Download a Mars poster that speaks to you. Be an explorer!

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Five Things to Know About Mission Space

Mission: SPACE is a motion simulator offering two different ride experiences. The Orange Mission takes you on a wild-ride journey to Mars; the gentler Green Mission puts you in orbit around Earth. Which mission should you choose? Read on to help with your decision! Or if you prefer to blast off straight to the wheres, whys, and hows, here’s your shortcut (or wormhole, if you prefer).

1. You’ll prepare to launch before you get to the ride.

The blast-off excitement for Mission: SPACE begins even before you enter the building. When the sidewalk was redone recently, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory provided Disney with pictures taken by the Mars rover Perseverance. They shared a 3D print file so Imagineers could recreate the tubes used to gather samples on Mars, and even loaned a prototype wheel of the Perseverance rover to create tread marks identical to those made by the rover as it explored Mars.

The building itself has a giant globe of earth with a rocket soaring around it, and giant models of Mars and Jupiter. As a Boomer, it reminds me of an episode of the Jetsons, when the future was full of possibilities and excitement!

When you enter the building, the queue is designed to look like a space training center: there are props from the 2000 film Mission to Mars, spacecraft models, and a replica of a NASA moon rover. You’ll next enter the International Space Training Centers (ISTC), where you’ll see an introductory video from the ISTC’s Capsule Communicator (Capcom) played by actress Gina Torres. (Gary Sinise, who starred in the movie Mission to Mars, was the Capcom until 2017.) And then you’ll be off!

The queues for the different “sides” of the ride may be different in length, so be prepared to say which mission you’ll choose as you enter the building. The Orange Mission is more intense; the Green Mission is less so. The next two sections describe what you’ll find based on your choices.

2. The “Gentler” Green Mission Orbits the Earth.

If you choose to ride Mission: SPACE, the Green ride is the better choice for anyone prone to motion sickness. It’s also the choice if you’re not sure which mission to choose! There’s no spinning on this version, and the movement is less turbulent. You won’t experience strong g-forces or weightlessness. But it’s no slow-moving dark ride; there’s still enough action that, for instance, expectant mothers are advised to not ride.

As you board, you’ll be assigned one of four positions on your flight aboard the X-2 Deep space Shuttle: navigator, pilot, commander, or engineer. You’ll be given two tasks to perform. (Don’t worry, nothing you do – or don’t do – will actually affect or harm the outcome of the journey.) On the Green Mission, you’ll watch through the viewscreen as you experience liftoff and then enjoy a beautiful orbit around the Earth. During re-entry, you’ll have to manually navigate through a thunderstorm over the landing runway following the instructions from Capcom.

3. The More Intense Orange Mission Journeys to Mars

Like the Green mission,  you’ll be assigned one of four positions (navigator, pilot, commander, or engineer) and have two tasks to perform. And again like the Green mission, you’ll have a screen that allows you to watch all the action. On the Orange side, this includes liftoff and your slingshot around the moon for a gravity assist before being placed into “hypersleep” for a couple of seconds before landing on Mars. But when you awaken “things go wrong”, and Capcom will guide you through a series of actions intended to get you safely through a meteor belt and navigate a safe landing on the red planet.

Disney explains that the Orange Mission uses a centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate the speed and G-forces of a spacecraft launch and reentry and momentary weightlessness. The result is a “highly turbulent motion simulator thrill ride that includes intense maneuvers that can cause nausea, headache, dizziness, and disorientation” – even if you have never experienced motion sickness before. For this reason, Disney emphasizes repeatedly that anyone choosing the Orange Mission should be in good health and free of high blood pressure, heart, back, or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this ride. And again, expectant mothers should not ride (this should not be a surprise since they were advised to avoid the Green side as well).

4. The fun doesn’t end once you’re back on earth.

Once you disembark, you’ll go through the Advanced Training Lab interactive play area and the Mission Space: Cargo Bay gift shop. The ATL is a great place for littles or ride chickens (like me) to pass the time while others leave the planet. There are four interactive space areas to enjoy. Space Base is a playground area where kids can climb, go through “wormholes” and use up some energy.

In Expedition Mars, you have four minutes to use a joystick and jet-pack button to search Mars for four astronauts. Postcards from Space lets you create and send an email video postcard to anyone. Lastly, Mission: SPACE Race Puts you in a race with others to see who can reach Mars first. It takes about 15 minutes to play and up to 56 astronauts can participate at once.

As you pass through the gift shop with all its space-themed items (but no Star Wars stuff here), check out the freeze-dried astronaut ice cream. The packaging reminds you that freeze drying removes water from items, so your saliva actually re-hydrates the ice cream as you eat it. Shelf-stable for years without refrigeration, freeze-dried foods are perfect for space travel – and earthlings who want a snack.

5. The Nuts and Bolts.

Mission: SPACE is located in the World Discovery section of EPCOT, between Cosmic Rewind and Test Track. Since it’s indoors, the weather doesn’t affect it. The ride itself is about 4-5 minutes, but from start to finish including the preshow you should expect to take about 15 minutes.

Each ride vehicle seats four people in individual padded chairs with armrests and an over-the-head padded shoulder restraint. Before the ride begins, the ride vehicle closes around guests and moves them closer to their screens and the lights dim; some guests have found this claustrophobic. The seating and restraints may prohibit guests of certain body shapes or sizes from riding.

The warnings for the Orange Mission bear repeating here: Guests should not ride if they are uncomfortable with dark, close spaces or even slightly prone to motion sickness as this attraction is a spinning simulator that creates g-forces. Some guests experience nausea, headaches, dizziness, disorientation, and even motion sickness even if they have never experienced it before. Motion sickness bags are available inside the vehicle.

There’s a small step up to board the ride vehicle. Guests must transfer from a wheelchair/ECV to ride. Children will find they must be 40″ to ride the Green Mission and 44″ to ride the Orange Mission. Like all rides with a height requirement, Mission: SPACE offers Rider Switch . Service animals are not permitted on this attraction. Video captioning is available.

Mission: SPACE is open for Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. It’s popular enough that when crowds are high, your best bet for a short wait is early in the morning or late at night. You can also snag a Lightning Lane via Genie+.

The Bottom Line.

If you have the constitution and determination to ride, we rate this attraction as not to be missed. The level of theming, the attention to detail, and the actual ride itself make Mission: SPACE a truly unique and immersive experience. Motion sickness bags and all.

Have you been on Mission Space? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.

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Bob Jacobs lives in Wisconsin where he retired as Editorial Director for a well-known catalog company. He and his wife Cristie have four children, seven grandchildren and a cocker spaniel named Penny the Dog. They’ve visited Walt Disney World regularly since 1992.

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Watch NASA's Perseverance rover journey to Mars in real time

The little robot still has some ways to go — and you can go with it.

In July 2020, a car-sized robot began an intrepid journey to another world. NASA's Perseverance rover is currently on its way to Mars, traveling through deep space and set to land on the Red Planet by February, 2021.

NASA released a new tool that lets you go along for the ride, following the rover's journey to Mars in real time.

The tool is called Eyes on the Solar System , and users can log on to see the distance between Perseverance rover and Mars at any given moment, as well as the rest of the robot's trajectory to the Red Planet.

The interactive website also lets you see where the rover is located in terms of the entire Solar System, and the current view from the spacecraft.

"Eyes on the Solar System visualizes the same trajectory data that the navigation team uses to plot Perseverance's course to Mars," Fernando Abilleira, the Mars 2020 mission design and navigation manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement . "If you want to follow along with us on our journey, that's the place to be."

The Mars 2020 rover is currently on its way to Mars, and you can follow along for the journey.

The Perseverance rover launched at 7:50 a.m. Eastern on July 30. The timely liftoff took place at the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where the rover was strapped onto a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket.

Perseverance isn't venturing to Mars on its own. The Ingenuity helicopter hitched a ride with the rover, and it will allow NASA to test out flying a helicopter on a planet other than Earth for the first time.

An hour into its flight, and Perseverance separated from the rocket and officially began its journey to Mars. The rover also sent a signal, or 'phoned home,' shortly after separation through the Deep Space Network, which manages communication with the spacecraft.

Perseverance is scheduled to reach the Red Planet on February 18, 2021.

The robot will land on the Jezero Crater , a 28-mile wide, 500-meter-deep crater located in a basin slightly north of the Martian equator. Jezero Crater once housed a lake estimated to have dried out 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago.

Once it lands on Mars, Perseverance will begin hunting for clues of past microbial life that may have existed during the Red Planet's early history. The robot will collect samples of rocks and soil and set them aside for the first ever sample return mission from another planet. The rock samples will be stored away in tubes in a well-identified place on the Martian surface, and left there to be returned to Earth by a future mission to the Red Planet.

NASA's Eyes on the Solar System tool gives a closer look at Mars, as well as other objects of the Solar System, using real-time data and imagery from NASA ' s fleet of orbiting spacecraft, and older data that goes back as far as 1950.

"With all our orbital assets circling Mars as well as Curiosity and InSight on its surface, there is new data and imagery coming in all the time about the Red Planet," Jon Nelson, visualization technology and applications development supervisor at JPL, said in a statement. "Essentially, if you haven't seen Mars lately through Eyes on the Solar System, you haven't seen Mars."

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Gopi Thotakura becomes first Indian space tourist: What is space travel — and how much can a journey cost?

Thotakura flew aboard a spacecraft of blue origin, one of the few private space companies offering a joy ride to people wanting to venture into space. the whole journey, from take off to landing lasted only about ten minutes..

On Sunday (May 19), India-born aviator and commercial pilot Gopi Thotakura along with five other space tourists became the latest set of individuals to make a short recreational trip to space. Thotakura, who is based in the United States, is the first space tourist from India but about 50 others have made such trips, most of them in the last three years.

First Indian space tourist

Thotakura flew aboard a spacecraft of Blue Origin, one of the few private space companies offering a joy ride to people wanting to venture into space. The whole journey, from take off to landing lasted only about ten minutes, during which the spacecraft attained a maximum height of about 105 km from the Earth. The passengers — among them a 90-year-old American — got to experience weightlessness for a few minutes and observe the Earth from a height.

It was one of the shortest and quickest trips to space. Space travel begins at about 100 km altitude from Earth, after crossing the so-called Karman line, which is widely accepted as the boundary line separating the Earth’s atmosphere from outer space. Anything flying below this altitude is called an aircraft while those crossing this line get classified as a spacecraft.

Thotakura’s journey was what is called a sub-orbital space flight. The spacecraft did not get into an orbit around the Earth. It crossed the Karman line, stayed there for some time, and then descended back to Earth. Most space tourism flights on offer are of this nature only.

Longer journeys

But longer joy rides in space are also available. Space tourists have orbited around the Earth, and even spent a few days on the International Space Station (ISS), the permanent space laboratory that goes around the Earth at an altitude of about 400 km.

In fact, the first space tourist, Dennis Tito, an American who paid to travel on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2001, spent over seven days on the ISS. Between 2001 and 2009, the Russians took seven tourists to the space station, and one of them, Charles Simonyi, travelled twice.

However, there was a lull in private space tourism after 2009, till the year 2021 when suddenly it became hyperactive.

Entry of private space players

Three of the leading players in private space tourism — Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX — executed their first missions in 2021. Within 10 days of each other in July of that year, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin launched their respective bosses — Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos — into space. Both these flights were suborbital missions, lasting a few minutes just above the boundary line of space, giving their passengers, four of them on each spacecraft, an experience of weightlessness.

SpaceX did not have a mission of its own, but its Crew Dragon spacecraft was chartered by billionaire Jared Issacman to go into space. Issacman and his three co-passengers circled the Earth for three days, becoming the first set of people to orbit the Earth without the help of professional astronauts.

That same year Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, and two others, boarded the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to reach the ISS where they spent 12 days.

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These first flights, which were used either by the owners of the space companies or were chartered by other billionaires, opened up space tourism for anyone willing to pay. Virgin Galactic carried its first paying customers in August last year. Blue Origin has executed seven such flights till now, carrying 37 tourists in all.

SpaceX has not had a space tourism flight till now, but it is accepting bookings from interested people, not just for orbital flights or the ISS, but also for journeys around the Moon and Mars. SpaceX is not the only one eyeing deep space manned missions. Almost everyone in the competition is planning to carry people to destinations around the Moon, other planets or asteroids. But these are still some distance away in the future.

These missions, and even those going into an orbit around the Earth or to the ISS, require sophisticated training, much like regular astronauts. Passengers opting for sub-orbital flights need to undergo minimal training, which is usually offered as part of the ticket price.

Blue Origin has not disclosed the price that its latest set of passengers paid for a seat on this journey. But according to space.com website, a similar journey on a Virgin Galactic spacecraft costs about $450,000 (about Rs 3.75 crore). A journey to the ISS is now estimated to cost anything between 20 to 25 million dollars (about Rs 160 to 210 crore). A recent NASA paper mentions that space companies SpaceX and Space Adventures were planning to offer a journey around the Moon for about 70 to 100 million dollars (about Rs 600 to 850 crore).

Clearly, space tourism is accessible to only the super-rich right now. But some other, more affordable options, are also coming up, though these do not exactly qualify to be called space travel. Some balloon companies have been offering high-altitude rides, at heights greater than the flying zones of normal aircraft.

These balloons, with enclosed seating arrangements, take their passengers to altitudes of about 100,000 feet (about 30 km), typically three times higher than those attained by commercial airliners, and cost about $50,000 for six to 12-hour flights. Passengers do not get to experience weightlessness but are able to see the curvature of the Earth.

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Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

For 20 years, Robots Have Inhabited Mars. What Keeps Them Humming?

NASA’s robotic exploration team has proven they have the right stuff

Matthew Shindell

This year marks a significant milestone in the exploration of our solar system. NASA has had wheels on the ground of Mars every day during the last two decades. Beginning with the landings of the  Spirit  and  Opportunity  rovers in January 2004, a lineage of increasingly sophisticated mobile and stationary robots— Phoenix, Curiosity, InSight,  and  Perseverance —have explored the Red Planet, pushing themselves to their operational limits.

These missions have changed our perceptions of the Red Planet, says space historian Matthew Shindell in his recently published book,  For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet . Shindell, a curator of planetary science and exploration at the National Air and Space Museum, says that the “Red Planet went from being an extreme desert version of Earth to being a planet that a seemingly separate evolutionary path had rendered still and lifeless.’’

In the following excerpt from his book, Shindell looks back at the accomplishments of the past 20 years, when NASA’s plucky robotic explorers became the new heroes of the Space Age and paved the way for future human exploration of Mars.

On February 12, 2019, a team of engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, sent one final set of commands to the Mars Exploration Rover (MER)  Opportunity.  Affectionately nicknamed “Oppy,” the rover had been exploring Mars for 15 years. It had proven itself to be a resilient robotic adventurer, surviving broken wheels, sand traps, and the harsh Martian climate. But now it had been unresponsive for months. Its final message to Earth arrived on June 10, 2018, on the eve of a giant dust storm that darkened the Martian sky.

The storm, which Oppy had first detected at the end of May, grew dense enough to cut off sunlight to the rover’s solar panels. The mission team hoped that Oppy could ride out the storm in hibernation mode, using minimal power to keep itself warm. But the final downlink indicated that the rover’s battery was close to dead. To those who worked with her, Oppy wasn’t an “it” but a “she,” and they knew that without battery power, she would have no way of protecting her aging circuits from the cold.

The final transmission from the rover noted that the high levels of dust in the atmosphere had turned the sky dark. The dust storm lasted for two months, and during this time JPL received none of the automated pings from Oppy that mission controllers were expecting.

They didn’t give up all hope, but they knew that her battery had most likely died. They watched as robotic spacecraft in orbit around Mars tracked the storm, waiting to see the surface features of the planet emerge from the cloud of dust. As the Martian sky finally cleared toward the end of June, JPL engineers expected that it could take months for Oppy’s solar panels to recharge her. But one final problem presented itself: Oppy’s solar panels were blanketed with dust, unable to generate sufficient power to bring the rover back online. Though they tried for eight months to revive her, the mission controllers eventually had to let her go.

When the news spread that NASA was giving up on reaching Oppy, the science writer Jacob Margolis translated the rover’s last bit of data (with some poetic license) into the message, “My battery is low and it’s getting dark,” and posted it on Twitter (now known as X). Oppy’s “last words” were quickly made into memes and cartoons that were tweeted and posted widely on the internet. Along with these came heartfelt thank-yous for the many years of exploration and discovery. The well-wishings came not just from those who had designed, built, or operated the rovers, but from people who had enjoyed hearing about the discoveries made on Mars.

For some who had grown up with Oppy on Mars, losing the rover was like losing a piece of their childhood. Margolis remembered first being shown the rover’s images as a kid: “I was enraptured by the promise of NASA’s most ambitious rover mission yet and that we could potentially confirm that water, and maybe even life, once existed there. It’s one of my favorite science memories.”

Many of Oppy’s mourners perhaps knew very little of the esoteric knowledge the rover helped collect, but nonetheless were impressed by Oppy’s seeming tenacity. They were probably inspired by the dramatic horizons captured by her panoramic imaging system or they had enjoyed her occasional selfies atop rocky outcrops. As NASA had learned over the previous quarter century, the public engages with rover missions in ways not inspired by flyby or orbiter missions, and the desert-like landscapes of Mars, even if devoid of alien civilizations, can be used to evoke romantic notions of exploration and discovery. The public mourning of Oppy speaks to an expectation that robotic exploration of Mars is connected to the human future—to human exploration of Mars, or even human settlement.

Intrepid Explorers

When a rover lands on Mars, it demonstrates the incredible feats nations can accomplish when government funding, political will, and technological know-how are aligned with national priorities. Among other things, it demonstrates an impressive level of technocratic ability and organizational power. For the United States, sending missions to Mars has typically been an occasion for great fanfare. These occasions are by design meant for global consumption, as are the events surrounding arrival at Mars and the descent to the surface.

During the Cold War, these moments were one way of providing a civilian face for space technology and infrastructure while demonstrating the capabilities of these technologies through peaceful means. Even though the Cold War context for space exploration no longer exists, these displays of techno-scientific gymnastics have not become irrelevant. The U.S. continues to use space as an arena in which to show off its economic and technological might, to build alliances, and to compete with adversaries. These moments are still used to legitimate political claims of global leadership—in space and on Earth.

Since 1997, because of longer-lived spacecraft and a mostly continuous stream of missions, Mars exploration has been a largely uninterrupted activity introducing a new cast of orbiters, landers, and rovers. This enterprise has produced more data, in more spectral wavelengths and at higher resolution, than was achieved in the first decades of exploration. It has transformed Mars into a known world—one that still holds questions, to be sure. The orbiting missions have done the lion’s share of the science, at least when it comes to geographic coverage and description of planetary-scale phenomena.

But it’s the landers, and especially the rovers, that have engaged the public imagination. The fact that this exploration has been done robotically, without human “boots on the ground,” has not, by and large, dampened the public’s appetite for exploration—an appetite fed by new media that provide constant access to images and stories and which encourage followers to imagine themselves in the Martian landscape.

The robots themselves are often presented as intrepid explorers, reminiscent of an earlier era of terrestrial exploration and the romantic notions that went along with it—one in which human explorers risked their lives to reach the inhospitably extreme environments of the North and South Poles. 

Oppy’s “last words” recall those of the seasoned adventurer Lawrence Oates, who died on Robert Scott’s Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole (1910–13). Suffering from frostbite and gangrene, Oates knew that his lingering on was only putting the other members of the expedition at risk. He walked out of his tent into a blizzard, telling his crew, “I am just going outside and may be some time.” Scott interpreted this act of self-sacrifice as the ultimate example of a British army officer’s bravery and resolve.

Or consider another arctic explorer, Alfred Wegener—famous today as the originator of the theory of continental drift—who died in Greenland in 1930 while attempting to resupply his expedition. He had insisted that exploratory science demanded heroics. Clues to the inner workings of the universe were, he believed, much more significant than himself. His men built an ice-block mausoleum around him, with a large iron cross to mark the grave. Like Oates and Wegener, Oppy now rests in the spot where her exploration ended. Rovers and their imaging systems have made Mars seem closer than ever before and have allowed even greater fidelity in our imaginings of humans on Mars.

Managing Martians

The  Spirit  and  Opportunity  rovers survived much longer than expected, and in the process were able to cover much more ground and do a lot more science than originally anticipated.  Spirit  traveled five miles over its seven years on the planet, while  Opportunity  covered just over 28 miles over 14 years.

Launched on November 26, 2011,  Curiosity  landed in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The landing site, a 96-mile-wide impact crater, was selected on the basis of infrared data that indicated the crater might once have held a large lake. At the site, science teams using  Curiosity ’s instruments confirmed that the floor of the crater contained clays and sulfates. The rover spent several years ascending a three-mile-tall mound of sedimentary debris nicknamed Mount Sharp (officially named Aeolis Mons) and studying its mineralogy one layer at a time.

The science teams speculated that the base of the mound was the remnant of sediment laid down over perhaps as many as two billion years by a lake that once filled the crater. Some have proposed that the lake was a temporary but recurring body of water created by a series of flash floods. The minerals and their presence in Mount Sharp speak to a time when Mars’ climate was saturated with water. The science teams are still trying to get these layers to tell them when and why Mars became the dry world we know today.

Other spacecraft have followed. InSight arrived in late 2018 carrying instruments to detect Marsquakes and subsurface temperatures. Most recently, in February 2021, NASA’s  Perseverance  rover landed in Jezero crater, another site on Mars suspected to have held an ancient lake. The feature that most attracted scientists when selecting this landing site was what appears to be a river delta where sediments from water flowing into a lake within the crater were deposited.

Perseverance , similar to  Curiosity  in many ways, is specifically tuned to look for biosignatures—signs that life might once have enjoyed Mars’ warmer, wetter past. For the first time, it carries a drill that can collect rock core samples that NASA plans to retrieve and send back to Earth in a series of future robotic missions. It also carried a successful technology demonstration: a small autonomous rotorcraft, or Mars helicopter, named  Ingenuity  (see  “The Little Copter That Could” ), which captured the imagination of a world still in the throes of a pandemic. We may see increasingly capable helicopters sent to Mars in the future.

Landers and rovers enable humans to replay the history of terrestrial exploration on another world. These spacecraft are tools, of course—not explorers in their own right. The explorers are on Earth, in large teams of scientists and engineers from universities and research centers around the world.

Who are these Mars explorers? Within the story of Mars exploration, Donna Shirley, who joined JPL in 1966 as one of its few women engineers (and the only one with an engineering degree), served as development lead of the Pathfinder mission and then went on to become the manager of the lab’s Mars Exploration Program. In 1998, Shirley published  Managing Martians , a memoir of her time at JPL, which describes her path from engineering student to leader of a team of 30 engineers designing  Sojourner  and making the rover a reality.

The charismatic scientists who managed to catch the public’s eye in the 1990s put forward an image of Mars exploration that was a far cry from the “cool militarism of the old Cold War space program” and instead presented the new model of “nerds in love.”

At their best, Mars memoirs convey a level of enthusiasm about exploration and the production of knowledge that is difficult to find in more academic histories or ethnographies of Mars exploration. They’re also much more personal than those academic accounts. The astrobiologist Sarah Stewart Johnson’s  The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World  (2020) delivers a well-curated chronology of previous eras of Mars exploration and recounts the stories of those whose passions and research have informed her own thinking about the Red Planet, as she applies the still young science of extremophiles to the question of life on Mars.

The people she describes in her book are kindred spirits: Some are from past eras, peering at the fuzzy red disk of Mars through observatory telescopes or from hot-air balloon gondolas, and others are contemporaries working alongside her in university laboratories or at far-flung field sites. In their stories she finds the “great strides forward, the longing for answers.” Johnson’s account is one of a participant in history, of being among the first cohort of women to explore Mars.

Two Futures

Toward the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, at least two futures for Mars seem to lie ahead. One path leads to a Mars that remains distant from human activity. Scientists and engineers will likely find new ways of exploring this Mars and drawing from it the secrets of its past. Perhaps they will find some form of Martian life or evidence that it once existed. Perhaps they will uncover planetary knowledge or new technologies that will help abate or alleviate the impacts of climate change. It’s even possible that this extended period of interest in Mars science will wane, replaced by missions to the icy ocean moons of the outer planets. All of this can happen without one human ever setting foot on Mars.

The other path leads to humans on Mars. We don’t yet know exactly what this future will look like—whether it will be small-scale scientific expeditions, an orbiting Mars station, or full-scale efforts to build new communities or even cities on Mars. Perhaps all of these things can happen, and perhaps one will lead to the others.

At present, however, there is no solid plan for such endeavors. It’s possible that the success or failure of the currently planned Artemis missions to the moon will at least partially determine the fate of a human Mars. Will NASA and its partners succeed in building a sustainable presence on the moon? Or will we find ourselves living through another Apollo: another impressive technological spectacle that is abandoned when the goal is reached and the price has grown too high? There is no agreed-upon answer to the question of what ends these efforts at the moon, let alone Mars, will serve. Who will benefit from a human presence on Mars? Will these journeys serve a larger purpose, such as developing new technologies that help us live better on Earth? Or will they be used to extract new wealth from a new environment? Will they lead to a utopia, a dystopia, or something in between?

Meanwhile, NASA’s most recent Mars rover,  Perseverance,  is meant to pave the way for human exploration of Mars. Not only is it collecting rock samples to be sent back to Earth by follow-on robotic missions for laboratory analysis—work that will no doubt help in better characterizing the Martian environment and in determining what will be required to keep humans alive there—but it also carries experiments directly related to human needs.

One experiment, the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), first proposed in the early 2000s, has shown that oxygen can be produced from the planet’s carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. Oxygen is, of course, required for humans to breathe, but it is also a component of rocket fuel that could be used for the return journey to Earth. Spacesuit materials can also be found on the Perseverance rover, and another experiment is recording how those materials hold up to the Martian elements over time. While these components don’t add up to a fully realized map to Mars, one can imagine how each is an incremental step toward the planet.

We can call Mars the most Earth-like planet in our solar system. And yet Mars remains distinctly uninhabitable—or at least very inhospitable. The surface is cold and constantly bombarded by radiation; the atmosphere is incredibly thin and made up mostly of carbon dioxide. The soil, if we can call it soil, is toxic to anything we would want to grow there, and the dust storms that occasionally cover the entire planet carry a very fine powder that would damage skin, eyes, and lungs. In short, for the first astronauts on a return trip to Mars, the Red Planet would be one of the most hazardous worksites ever attempted.

For anyone who tried to live on the planet in the long term, Mars would present more challenges than the most remote and hostile places on Earth. And yet so much of the discourse surrounding Mars today treats the planet as a new frontier—a territory filled with nothing but wide-open spaces waiting to be transformed by the human hand.

Right now, the idea of going to Mars does not dominate our culture. It mostly belongs to small communities of experts and enthusiasts. It has a larger cultural resonance, as it has for centuries, because it allows us to tell stories about ourselves that engage the imagination. This is as true about technical plans for Mars expeditions as it is about science fiction novels, films, and television series.

If and when we do go to Mars, it will by necessity be such a massive undertaking that it will become one of the largest technological and cultural projects of its time. It will both shape and enact ideas about ourselves and our relationships to each other, our world, and the cosmos. For this reason, I think the most important question we can ask now is not “How will we get to Mars?” but “Who do we want to be when we become Martians?”  

Reprinted with permission from For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet by Matthew Shindell. Published by the University of Chicago Press, © 2023. All rights reserved.

Matt Shindell  curates the National Air and Space Museum’s collection of spacecraft, instruments, and other artifacts related to the exploration and study of the solar system.

This article is from the Spring 2024 issue of  Air & Space Quarterly , the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today.  Explore the full issue.

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May 2024 Horoscope: what Gemini season means for your sign

On may 20, gemini season begins. the sign of the twins craves stimulus, detests boredom and ensures that we are in for an entertaining ride.

Grace McGrade is an intuitive astrologer and priestess based in Los Angeles. She is the host of the podcast “ Bitchcraft: Spirituality for Bad People .” For more astrology, read her guide to risings signs and moon signs . Read an overview of what 2024 has coming up for us this year here .

After the flair-ups and fall-outs of Eclipse season, we finally have the time to slow down, rejuvenate and smell the roses. May opens in Taurus season and we are seeking security and simplicity, refining our most heartfelt desires for the month ahead. The Sun in the sign of the Bull amplifies our senses, making us artistically inclined, romantic and occasionally lazy. An inherent curator, the sign of Taurus assembles a life worth living, opting for fancy fabrics and flattering lighting, seeking out surroundings that enrich our experience of the physical. Like sinking into a plush bed after a hard day, May offers us momentary respite and the room to establish our roots.

Last month, a slew of new beginnings were incited as we embarked on new terrain, occasionally overwhelmed by new probabilities and potentials. The Solar Eclipse brought new environments, jobs, relationships and projects into our lives, kicking off a six-month cycle. Thankfully, Mercury is direct this month, and we can utilise the groundedness of Taurus placements to determine the potential projects worth executing. If Aries begins things, the sign of Taurus finds the most fruitful field and stays put, using the power of attraction, artistry, sensuality and taste. While Aries energy starts, Taurus sustains, and May is the time to decipher which manifestations we want to see come to fruition. 

Mars continues to activate the changes we started last month, traversing the Eclipse territory in the headstrong sign of Aries. We continue to crave independence, calibrated to new personal missions, practicing forthright honesty and assertion. Venus entered Taurus on the 29th of April, and we continue to find pleasure through touch and aesthetics this month, which bodes well for beauty rituals, strong stylistic choices and delicious dinners. Venus makes important conjunctions to the nodes of destiny mid-May, ensuring that we stick with those who share our values and make us feel worthy. Our focus is tuned towards beauty, both natural and material, and we crave creature comforts.

A New Moon in the sign of the Bull on the 7th encourages us to play with the principle of attraction, inviting prosperity towards us through written or spoken intention. Although Taurus is a stubborn, slow-moving sign, change awaits on the 25th, when Jupiter (planet of faith and luck) graduates out of the sign of the Bull and moves into Gemini. Jupiter’s transit through Gemini promises excitement, as we are restless and hungry for information, and more flexible to changes. This bodes well for learning new things, switching up our environments and seeking out diverse experiences. 

Gemini Season begins on the 20th, illuminating the themes Jupiter in Gemini will expand upon, and showing us the areas we can anticipate luck in over the course of this next year. Our appetite for diverse experiences and intellectual satiation increases, as we strive to implement change. The sign of the Twins is known to follow curiosity over feelings, seeking situations that tell a good story, rather than supply us with safety or security. We should be wary of getting caught in a crossfire of conflicting information, senseless gossip and teenage antics. The sign of Gemini craves stimulus, detests boredom and ensures that we are in for an entertaining ride. Mercury soon follows suit, sparking lively conversations and stimulating new ideas. 

A Full Moon in Sagittarius on the 23rd amplifies opinions, making it a rough day to discuss politics or religious outlooks. We are encouraged to eliminate outdated ideas from our world view, and remain open to the surprises Jupiter in Gemini brings. Our vantage points are in need of a revamp, and we are encouraged to remain flexible to other people’s perspectives, learning and listening with open minds. May continues to solidify our need for personal changes, as we continue to crave more independence, assert honest opinions and move in the direction of our deepest desires.

This article was first published 1 May 2024.

ARIES// ARIES RISING

With Mars active in your sign, you are rectifying the mishaps brought by Eclipse season, driven and determined. A surge of energy strengthens your resolve for greatness, as you continue to speak up, asserting yourself and assembling the masses as the holy harbinger of the revolution. Every sign has something to learn from your bravery, your dedication for exploration and creative vision. Now is the time to emphatically inflate your self-esteem to the point of delusion, only observing the probability of success. 

Taurus season is a revamp of self-worth. It is a call to inspect your talents, strengths and security. What do you need to feel safe? What strange skills can you take ownership of? How can you increase your revenues of earning? Examine which comforts you simply can’t do without, and create new and inventive ways to attract them towards you. As you continue to build a life of your own invention, you have to coddle your vision, curate your vibe and get back to the drawing board. You are the main character of your movie, so decipher the genre and be stubborn about your aesthetic ideals. 

Aries Beauty Recommendation: Topicals Slick Salve Mint Lip Balm

TAURUS//TAURUS RISING

Happy Birthday Taurus! It’s a money month, a season of prosperity, as you navigate new timelines with a newfound sense of worthiness. Last month, a powerful alignment between Uranus and Jupiter brought you heightened self-awareness and a new sense of faith. Uranus is the disruptor, inciting new things, rearranging your routines. You are ready for an upgraded life, taking unconventional routes to abundant, fruitful territory. As you navigate these new environments, carry a sense of deserving to be wherever you land, with high self-esteem and an optimistic attitude. 

Outdated beliefs, off-putting environments and draining dynamics are all subject to change in the coming season. Use the New Moon on the 7th to trade the old for the new, and set intentions for your upcoming birthday year. While Venus is gracing your sign with romantic attention, you have the ability to magnetise things towards you – so set your sights high. As Jupiter prepares to leave your sign, luck and abundance lands in your sector of finances, inciting a monetary upgrade. This is a byproduct of the changes you have made, since 2020, as you sought simplicity and summoned strength in the face of global adversity. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Taurus Beauty Recommendation: Dr Barbara Sturm Glow Cream

GEMINI//GEMINI RISING

Your time to shine is on the horizon, as Jupiter, planet of blessings and growth, prepares to ingress into your sign. But before that, the Sun is radiating in your sector of the subconscious, emphasising a need for seclusion. Use this interval to purge buried emotions, expunge outdated ideas and evict people from your headspace. Intuitive messages may appear in dreams or from time spent alone, particularly in nature. On the 23rd, Jupiter moves into Gemini, thrusting you into the celestial spotlight. This promises to be one of the luckiest junctures in 12 years, as Jupiter bestows blessings wherever it goes. 

You may feel called to explore alternative faiths, as your worldview expands beyond the norm. It’s the perfect time for self-realisation and self-discovery, as well as sharing your bubbly personality with anyone who can keep up. The Full Moon in Sagittarius may bring relationship issues to a tipping point, as it falls into your sector of partners, inflating egos and sparking tempers. As this next phase of your life promises to be a prosperous one, use this Full Moon to decipher who you want accompanying you on the journey. 

Gemini Beauty Recommendation: Niod Copper Amino Isolate Serum

CANCER//CANCER RISING

May brings your attention to your tribe, as you recalibrate after the tumult of eclipse season. It’s time for you to seek out like-minded individuals, your soul team, compassionate warriors with a heartfelt purpose. This month, it is easy for you to find people who appreciate your artistic sensibilities, who want to engage the senses and experience life’s varied pleasure. You have little patience for fair weather friends, and instead seek to commit to creative projects and joint efforts, all leading you to sharing a valuable message. 

This is an ample time to daydream about your ideal direction and collaborate with others. Jupiters ingress into Gemini signifies a slew of spiritual messages for you, as it falls into your sector of the psyche, opening you up to higher realms. You may have animated dreams, surreal psychic downloads or an urge to explore spiritual subjects. Let yourself lean into curiosity and take intermittent breaks from the world at large. 

Cancer Beauty Recommendation: SimiHaze Beauty Skin Suede Melting Bronze Balm

LEO//LEO RISING

May emphasises your professional sphere, as the Sun and Venus move through Taurus, helping you reap rewards for whatever you have been working diligently towards. It’s an ample time to set long-term goals and focus on a picturesque version of your life, imagining how you want it to feel. Whether you want to become a Royal, a Rockstar, or a mere CEO, Taurus season is about generating more confidence. This way, you can attract what you need, from a space of deservingness. 

Sure, some days you have to fake it ‘til you make it, but over the past year you have battled imposter syndrome and gotten better at asserting your worth and skillset. New responsibilities and jobs may be on the horizon, particularly collaborative or humanitarian efforts, as Jupiter prepares to anoint your sector of networks. Delegate responsibilities when you have to and don’t be afraid to dream big. This coming month is all about developing a larger vision for yourself, and connecting with co-conspirators on the road to happy destiny.

Leo Beauty Recommendation: Huda Beauty Habibti Eye and Lip Set

VIRGO//VIRGO RISING

Eclipse season may have brought hidden information to the surface, as it incited a rebirth in your sector of intimacy, severing some ties and ushering in new connections. This month, you are pivoting, prompted to depart on a personal journey. Even if you aren’t prepared for a physical “Eat-Pray-Love” moment, metaphorically, it’s already happening. You are seeking out information, changes in vantage points, a renewed perspective and sense of faith. Take this time to explore new beliefs, and opt for rose-tinted glasses. 

Come mid-May, professional matters pick up and you will find yourself daydreaming about foreign tides. Jupiter is hanging out in your midheaven, making his mark in your professional sector, ensuring that you will reach professional peaks in the upcoming year. Gemini season encourages you to adjust your schedule, making changes that keep your work-home balanced and comfortable, whilst still going for the gold.

Virgo Beauty Recommendation: CurrentBody LED Face Mask

LIBRA//LIBRA RISING

Taurus season brings the energy you have shared with others to the surface, and you are craving somatic release. Dance, indulge in something delectable and take yourself somewhere scenic. You are resurrecting yourself, going through a rebirth, reminded about your innate ability to find the beauty in everything. Your gift of being able to turn dingy moments into cinematic vignettes is enhanced, as you alchemize the unbearable into the poetic, wearing your scars as exotic tattoos. 

Although Eclipse season shot a wrecking ball through your relationship region, new dynamics are being formed. Have patience and perseverance, and try to cultivate a sense of inner stability. A new love language, one of shared values, sensory appreciation and mutual respect, is being born. It’s time to stop undervaluing yourself, and find evidence from within that you are easy to love.

Libra Beauty Recommendation: Topicals Like Butter Hydrating Moisturiser

SCORPIO//SCORPIO RISING

As Jupiter in Taurus opened the floodgates for new friendships and relationships this past year, you may have picked up a few too many acquaintanceships and find yourself flustered. It’s time to deepen genuine bonds and depart from ones that seldom satiate your need for intense connection. As Taurus rules over your sector of partnership, one-on-one dynamics are highlighted this season. You’ll be seeing coworkers, friends and lovers in a new light. With Mars, your coruler, moving through Aries, you won’t hesitate to assert your opinions when faced with fake friends. 

As Venus ushers in more comforting dynamics, Jupiters’ ingress into Gemini lights up your sector of soul-binding intimacy, ending the month in steamy, serendipitous liaisons. The Full Moon in Sagittarius on the 27th encourages you to think critically about your pocketbook, curtailing your propensity to overspend. Look for collaborators and investors who can come to your aid, particularly creatively. You don’t have to work alone.

Scorpio Beauty Recommendation: Marlou Ambilux

SAGITTARIUS//SAGITTARIUS RISING

Taurus season grounds you back into your body, encouraging you to strengthen your roots, and assemble a nourishing daily routine. If you can imbue your day-to-day with a sense of romance, infusing mundane tasks with beauty, and you’ll find it easy to stick to a regime. You crave variety and adventure, so sticking to anything for long periods is not your forté, but the Taurus placements can help you reconvene with your body and balance your creative vision with applicable daily action. Try to relax, rejuvenate your nervous system, and take it easy. 

Jupiter prepares to ingress into Gemini, your region of partnerships, promising to open doors towards new connections. For the next year, you will find luck and prosperity in your dealings with others, gravitating towards the right contacts at precisely the right time. Akin to having a guardian angel overlooking your region of relationships, finding others to share your journey with will be effortless, as you find those who broaden your horizons. This bodes well for romantic relationships, but also assists you in finding friends, collaborators and happy helpers that share your expansive mindset. The month culminates with a Full Moon in Sagittarius on the 23rd, aiding you in transforming your self-image, so you can enter new dynamics with renewed confidence. Be wary of getting into lively debates on this date, as tempers may be running high. You are learning when to assert your proud opinions, and when to hold back, remaining ambidextrous in your outlook.

Sagittarius Beauty Recommendation: SimiHaze Matte Lipstick Balm

CAPRICORN//CAPRICORN RISING

May is your period for pleasure and play, so assemble your own artistic retreat. Themes of self-expression and romance permeate throughout the month, as you lean into leisure, giving yourself permission to indulge in gourmet dining, creative pursuits and romantic liaisons. Rather than guilting yourself about getting back to work, try to utilise this season as a bridge towards connecting with your inner-child. Prioritise playfulness and give yourself permission to invent new forms of fun. 

Late May, the focus shifts to wellness and self-improvement, as Jupiter ingresses into Gemini, relaying information on how to find lasting healing in your life. As the Full Moon removes psychological blockages for you, you may find yourself more limber in your approach to new healing modalities, eager to experiment with unconventional methods. 

Capricorn Beauty Recommendation: Huda Beauty Wild Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette

AQUARIUS//AQUARIUS RISING

May is your moment to find restoration and reprieve from the world at large, as you seek out a safe space to revitalise your genius. Last month, unexpected changes and information about your home or early childhood may have caused a stir, and now is your time to rectify disruption, by committing to comfort. Let yourself savour simple pleasures and cultivate a deeper connection with your immediate surroundings. If you have recently moved, redecorate, and if you haven’t, do it anyway. Your immediate environment is a reflection of your inner world. Make it beautiful. Prosperity will come easier this way. 

Jupiter is preparing to ingress into your sector of pleasure and play on the 25th, beginning an important transit for inner-child work, creative expression, and even true love. Use the upcoming season to create a container that will allow you to nourish your heart. 

Aquarius Beauty Recommendation: Pai Rosehip Cleansing Oil

PISCES//PISCES RISING

May offers you a chance to meander on creative visions and ideas, increasing your artistic inspiration, encouraging you to communicate through curation. After a hectic Eclipse season, this is your chance to clear your head, regroup and reground, whilst making important decisions about your direction. With Saturn still stationed in your sign, you are learning time management and the importance of hard work, discerning a purpose that utilises both your intuitive faculties and powerful imagination. This month, rewards are reaped. Writers block dissipates. You know how to perfectly package an idea. 

Look out for Jupiter’s ingress into Gemini on the 25th, as it enters your home sector, assisting you in finding your dream-living situation, and lightening the mood with family members. The month culminates with a Full Moon in Sagittarius, alleviating your work schedule, encouraging you to spend more time at home.

Pisces Beauty Recommendation: Dries Van Noten Rock The Myrrh