NASA's Audacious Goal: Manned Mission to Mars by 2040.

NASA officials have said that sending astronauts to Mars by 2040 is an "audacious goal" due to the short time frame to develop the necessary technologies. To achieve this, humans would have to establish a presence on the moon in the early 2030s, using NASA's future space station called Gateway to run mock Mars missions. The agency also faces hurdles, including the need for SpaceX's Starship to launch and be successful for the first lander, and the development of advanced radiation protection technology. NASA officials emphasized their dependency on ongoing partnerships with commercial, academic, and industry partners.