Artist’s impression of a future Mars base. (Image credit: NASA)

Yesterday, we asked you for your opinion on whether or not to send humans to Mars. Today, we’re going to look at the timeframes for such a mission, should humanity decide to go there.

The current most realistic proposals from “mainstream” actors such as NASA or ESA operate on a timeframe that would see a manned mission sometime in the 2030s at the earliest.

However, recent projects have been proposed that aim at bringing humans to Mars much sooner, even within a decade or less. These projects include the Mars One proposal for a permanent colony by 2023, and more recently Dennis Tito’s “Inspiration Mars Foundation” proposal for a manned round-trip in 2018. But at the same time, they have been criticised for underestimating the challenges and involving much greater risks.

What do you think? Should we try to reach Mars as soon as possible, even if the risk of failure, or perhaps even disaster, is greater? Or should we take a more careful approach and wait until the necessary technology has matured, even if this means it may take several decades more?

Let us know at our Facebook poll, and and stay with us for one final Mars-related poll tomorrow!