Human mission to Mars Mars. Many Mars mission concepts propose precursor missions to the moons of Mars, for example a sample return mission to the Mars moon Phobos – not quite Mars, but perhaps a convenient stepping stone to an eventual Martian surface mission. Lockheed Martin, as part of their "Stepping stones to Mars" project, called the "Red Rocks Project", proposed to explore Mars robotically from Deimos. Use of fuel produced from water resources on Phobos or Deimos has also been proposed. An uncrewed Mars sample return mission (MSR) has sometimes been considered to be an essential precursor to crewed missions to Mars' surface
Mars One in 2024, and one in 2026 which would not be returning to Earth. Although the announcement garnered much international publicity, the concept has been criticized by scientists, engineers, and those in the aerospace industry. Mars One is noted as being very short on funding, lacking critical concepts about hardware, life support, electrical power supply, and has been criticized as glossing over logistics, medical concerns, and protection against space radiation. The concept has been called a suicide mission both in academia, spaceflight, and international news. By February 2015, two conceptual studies were done by contractors. Despite the criticism and lack of