NASA refuses funding manned mission to Mars in 2017

New York: NASA has snubbed Dennis Tito`s proposal to send two astronauts to Mars in 2017.

NASA`s David Weaver revealed that the agency is willing to share technical and programmatic expertise with `Inspiration Mars`, but is unable to commit to sharing expenses with them, the Verge reported. Weaver added that the aim of getting humans to Mars in the planned time-frame is unrealistic and a significant challenge due to life support systems, space radiation response, habitats, and the human psychology of being in a small spacecraft for over 500 days. The American billionaire`s non-profit Inspiration Mars organization had asked for 700 million dollars in funding along with NASA`s Space Launch System (SLS) to power his organization`s planned mission, which is still under development. Tito`s organization is pushing for a manned mission to launch between Christmas 2017 and January 5th, 2018, to take advantage of planetary positioning to make the distance between Earth and Mars shorter.