Following the example of World of Warcraft, which features collaborative, user-generated environments, we could create a Universe of Physics, where students work as teams to learn science principles by developing a mission to Mars.
We have the technology and ability to exploit the resources found on the moon and in the asteroid belt as well as sending a manned mission to Mars to set up a permanent base.
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Many sceptics will undoubtedly question why any country would choose to invest in future space exploration, including a manned mission to Mars, while there are so many unsolved problems on our planet, from HIV to malaria to poverty.
At the same time we are trying to solve climate change, police the world and send a manned mission to Mars.
Currently, Nasa has small-scale studies but no plans for a manned mission to Mars.
The scheme has also attracted interest as a possible long-term power source for a manned mission to Mars.
In 2010, when Mr Obama outlined his ideas, he spoke, somewhat vaguely, of a manned trip to a near-Earth asteroid, to be followed at some unspecified date in the 2030s by the ultimate space-cadet dream a manned mission to Mars.
It might sound like a weird cross between a hollywood storyline and a Craigslist personal add, but non profit organization Inspiration Mars Foundation is seeking a man and a woman to take part in a 501-day mission to Mars.
The George W. Bush-era Constellation project, for instance (later cancelled by Mr Obama), was supposedly going to be a return mission to the moon followed by a trip to Mars.
The organisers have not stated how much the mission will cost nor how much they need to raise, saying only that it is much cheaper than one would imagine a Mars mission to be.
Nasa has also identified 2014 as a possible launch date for the first human mission to Mars in a 1997 study.
With respect to a manned, one-way mission to Mars, I suspect such questions will fall on deaf ears.
That's a proposed mission that would send a robotic airplane to Mars to fly over the surface looking for the chemical signs of life.
At the moment a shift in priorities that would lead to a direct Mars mission seems unlikely.
Rover mission managers named the outcrop as a tribute to Mars scientist Ronald Greeley (1939-2011), who served as a mission team member and taught planetary science at Arizona State University.
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After weeks of fruitless attempts to raise the lander by radio, JPL mission controllers appeared resigned to their second major failure on a Mars mission in three months, following the September loss of the Mars Climate Observer.
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And it would help the mission to land humans on Mars because it "looks a lot like sending a crew to Mars and returning them safely, " Grunsfeld said.
The group wants to launch a supply mission that will land on Mars in October 2016.
The Mars Science Laboratory is a precursor mission to sharper technology that could do life detection, Grotzinger said.
The group wants to launch a supply mission that will land on Mars as soon as October 2016.
And, for those space-cadets who still dream of a manned mission to the planet, there is also the Mars radiation environment experiment.
We discussed that question with Melissa Ede, who describes herself as a transgender woman, and has signed up as a contender to be selected for the Mars One mission - "failure isn't in my vocabulary", she told us before the webcast.
Even with 50 years of technological advances and assuming adequate cash and political will, a Mars mission would be harder than the ones to the moon.
Edited and scored with the dramatic tension of a summer blockbuster trailer, NASA's put together a gripping short clip that dresses down Curiosity's mission to Mars for the layman.
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If there were organic molecules on Mars, a sample-return mission might head to the planet after all if not in 2016, then 2018 or 2020.
In the past few weeks the space station has been purposely simulating communications delays and downtimes to see how the crew on a future Mars mission would handle the interruptions, NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said.
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Some space experts have said that any manned Mars mission using existing rockets probably would need to have a capsule dock with some type of booster in orbit.
Even so, the Mars Society, an organisation set up to lobby for such a mission, plans to contribute a field laboratory to the Devon Island station.
The Mars Inspiration team believe that it is technically possible to launch such a mission in five years' time.
Later today, scientists are expected to complete a full color panorama of the landing site of the Mars Phoenix mission.
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