Mars - Pathway to the Stars

Mars has and will continue to play a key role in our exploration and conquest of the Solar System. Within the context of the creation of humanity's extraterrestrial civilization, the major technical features of the following Mars programs are reviewed: the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter; the Mars Aeronomy Orbiter; the Mars airplane; the Mars Penetrator Network; Mars surface rovers and mobility systems; human exploration of Mars; and permanent Martian bases and settlements. Mars properly explored and utilized opens the way to the resources of the asteroid belt and the outer planets; supports the creation of smart machines for space exploration and exploitation; and encourages the creation of autonomous niches of intelligent life within heliocentric space. All of these develop­ ments, in turn, establish the technological pathway for the first interstellar missions.