NASA and the European Space Agency are collaborating on two Mars missions, using an Atlas rocket to propel a lander to the red planet and then a rover, ultimately to remotely control a return mission bringing soil sample back to Earth, by 2026.

The human factor in the Mars project is the single most challenging aspect of the plan. NASA is planning to send robots first, to build the landing base for the humans to inhabit but there are some significant issues with sending humans to Mars.

Exploring what we know about Mars, from the water (ice) concentrations, to the methane gas, to the earth - and goes into the reason why Man might be interested in the planet at all - as a possible colony supplying natural resources back to Earth.