2035 A bright flash streaks across an orange sky. It is a spaceship on its way to Mars. It’s almost there. Eight crew members sit inside the


spaceship. Tey’re strapped in their seats. It’s noisy in here. Tey hear a muffled explosion.


“Heat shield away,” the commander says. “Stand by for the parachutes.” Te parachutes open. Tey slow


the spaceship down. “Firing retro rockets,” says the pilot. Six rockets fire under the spaceship. Tis slows the ship even more. Now the crew is excited. Tey can


see the Martian landscape through a window. Tey can hardly believe it. Tis has been a very long trip.


Now it’s almost over. Tese astronauts will be the first humans to land on the Red Planet!


“3...2...


FIRE!” ...


1


Today Flame and smoke shoot out of a huge rocket engine. Tere’s no rocket yet. For now, it’s just an engine two stories tall. Scientists are building it. Someday, they hope this engine will take people to Mars. Around the world, scientists are


working together to put humans on Mars. It won’t be easy. Going to Mars isn’t a short trip. At


its closest, Mars is 150 times farther away from us than our moon is. Using the fuel in today’s rockets, it would take about six months to get there. Tat’s a long trip.


JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2014 13


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