This summer four missions will launch to Mars setting up an extraordinary year for the exploration of the red planet.

My guest this week on the SpaceQ podcast is Chris Carberry, the CEO of Explore Mars, a not-for-profit that engages stakeholders in an effort to make a Humans to Mars mission a reality.

The organizations holds a variety of events to engage stakeholders including its annual Humans to Mars Summit in Washington every May.

Today, Chris will get us caught up on what the organization is doing, the status of a future human mission to Mars, and we’ll talk about the exciting year 2020 will be for Mars.

The four missions are NASA’s Mars 2020 rover which includes the first ever helicopter, China’s HX-1 mission which consists of an orbiter and small rover, the European Space Agency’s ExoMars lander and rover which has Russia and Canada participation, and lastly the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is sending an orbiter on what they’re calling the Hope Mars Mission. The Japanese are providing the launch for the UAE mission.

By my count that’s two new orbiters around Mars, three new rovers, a lander and a helicopter. They join 6 operational orbiters, 4 American, 1 European and 1 Indian, along with 1 rover that’s operational, that being NASA’s Curiosity rover.

Listen in.

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