Mars One - the private spaceflight firm that has unveiled its ambitious plan to send humans to the red planet in 2023 has recently revealed that its plans of installing a community of humans on the Red Planet will be delayed by several years. In their recent interviews, Mars One claimed that it is now set to launch its first crew of four astronauts to Mars in 2031. However, reports have also been revealed saying that the organizations initial target for sending the first unmanned mission to Mars has also been delayed by four years, setting the launch time to 2022.
Mars One Project: Delayed, Why Is That?
According to reports revealed by Science World Report, the organization is under a new financial strategy to raise more money. In one of their statements made by Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp, Mars One project would only be able to implement the mission to Mars if the company would also be able to afford it, while adding that they need to have their investments to get going.
It was found that the delay is allegedly being linked to Mars One's sale to InFin Innovative Finance AG, which is a Swiss financial services company. Currently, the alliance is known to have been made up of two entities, namely the British public limited company Mars One Ventures and the Dutch not-for-profit Mars One Foundation.
Furthermore, the International Business Times further reported that prior to the launch of the crewed mission, Mars One envisions sending a communications satellite to orbit the planet by 2024, followed by the launch of a rover in 2026. A second rover, along with the equipment needed to support astronauts on Mars, will be sent in 2029.
Meanwhile, recently last 2014, a team of graduate students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was found to have evaluated the company's plans, and consequently found them to be "overly optimistic."
