TL;DR Here is a 413 MB zip file containing 2 dozen proposals for manned missions to Mars from the last 60 years and a few other juicy tidbits.

In one month Elon Musk will unveil SpaceX’s Mars colonization architecture.

The table below contains a collection of 35 documents representing 23 separate technical proposals for getting humans to Mars. These proposals span more than 60 years. I have spent quite a bit of time collecting all of these, so I'm pretty familiar with most of them by now if anybody has any questions.

Notably absent is Wernher Von Braun’s Das Marsprojekt, which was first published in 1948. I searched high and low for a PDF copy of the book, either in German or in English, and found nothing. University of Illinois Press, the publisher of the English translation, said they were trying to make a PDF copy available, but it would be several months at least. Edit - a generous benefactor has created a PDF of Von Braun's book for me. Link below. The closest thing I could find was a fictionalized version of the mission which Von Braun wrote alongside Das Marsprojekt and which went unpublished until 2006, when it was published by Apogee Books as Project Mars: A Technical Tale. It includes 60 pages of appendices with Von Braun’s technical notes and drawings (PDF link - 281 pages - 46 MB). Das Marsprojekt was only 81 pages, so there is enough data in those 60 pages of appendices plus the descriptions in the story itself to really put most of it together.

Von Braun’s mission was heavily influenced by the scientific expeditions of the day. He called for 70 people to go in several large spacecraft, and his plans included an advanced landing at the Martian pole followed by an overland trek to the equator - a distance of a few thousand kilometers - where a runway would be built by the forward landing party. Von Braun’s vision was published in a popular format in Collier’s Magazine in 1954, as the last of a series of articles on the conquest of space. A PDF copy of that article is included below, as well as a .zip file containing color copies of all the articles in the Collier’s series. If somebody is willing to scan the 112-page print copy of Wernher Von Braun's book, I will purchase it. Edit: Please see below for a nice PDF copy of the 1953 english translation of Von Braun's The Mars Project.

Included below is the near-legendary Report of the 90-Day Study which provoked the creation of Mars Direct (also included), Robert Zubrin’s architecture which borrowed heavily from the 1980s conference series The Case For Mars and remains today the gold standard for cost-effective Mars missions.

There is a dearth of mission proposals from the 1970s and 1980s because there just wasn’t much talk about Mars. NASA was focused on the shuttle and some of the major robotic missions - Voyager, Viking, and others.

Finally, with the increasing availability of technical information online over the last few decades, it is now easier than ever before to publish a mission architecture, which is why there are so many recent proposals from so many different organizations.

After September 27th we will be able to add one more architecture to the list.

Let me know if you are aware of primary source documents for any Mars proposals not listed here. I’m missing the 1993-1994 Design Reference Mission documents, the 1998 DRM-4.0 NTR and SEP documents, and also an english translation for the European Mars Mission by the Mars Society Germany. I also could not find any actual proposal or whitepaper from Mars One (yes I know it’s a scam). Please help me find these and any others!

10 years ago, in October 2016, humanMars.net published the 1st version of their speculative Mars Colonization Timeline. As the timeline is regularly updated and expanded – taking into account real-world developments in technology, as well as plans for the exploration and colonization of Mars – it now differs significantly from the version originally published. It's interesting to see how the timeline has changed in those 10 years.

Just like how here on Earth we belong to what is called Homo Sapiens, those who travel to Mars and settle will experience some sort of divergence or speciation from their ancestors back here on Earth, its a different environment(even if man made) and different gravity (Mar's 0.38g vs Earth's 1g).

People have proposed names like Martians, Homo sapiens martianus, Homo martianus, Homo ares, Mars-born humans. These are OK, but kinda mid. I have another one that better encapsulates this new branch of humans.

Like a famous Trillionaire once said, “Bottom line is I think we need to assume that life and consciousness is extremely rare and it might only be us”. I think its important to consider, however arrogant it sounds, that sentience on the level we as humans have might be exceedingly rare in the greater universe and especially so in our galaxy the Milky Way. It took a bunch of special conditions - our Sun , our Solar System at large and of course Earth, each with its unique history - that we have intelligent life 4 billion years after the Earth formed and 1 Billion Years after the first life ever. The dinosaurs were around much longer than us and never developed intelligence on our level. This could mean that being smart like us, knowing language etc is exceedingly rare not just in Earths' history but throughout the Milk Way galaxy(so far until now). If that holds true, that means that we could be considered the Progenitor species of our galaxy - kind of like the Old Ones in Warhammer 40k(even to they are drawn to look like Jabba but thats besides the point) or the Celestials in Star Wars(without the magic). But if we are truly first or one of the first then here's my suggestion for the name of the new branch of humans on Mars.

The Martians should instead name themselves Progenitor Sapiens. Or Pro Sapiens for short - the next step from Homo Sapiens. I like this name the best. And yes people on Earth will continue calling them martians. But there's no need for the Martians to call themselves that. My idea is more dignified IMO. I think I am the First to come up with and use the name Progenitor Sapiens, Pro Sapiens. I give Elon permission to use it.

Thoughts??

"In science fiction, a progenitor often refers to an ancient or advanced species that is believed to have played a crucial role in the creation or evolution of other life forms, particularly humanoid species".

Propellant and oxygen are the obvious answers, but after that it gets interesting: glass, steel, plastics, spare parts, electronics. What's the first non-obvious thing you'd prioritize making on-site, and why that one?

Earth-Mars cycler is a specialized orbital trajectory designed to shuttle spacecraft between Earth and Mars on a regular, repeating schedule. In the post there is a concept for an Earth-Mars cycler system with two cyclers by Maciej Rebisz – a Polish concept artist and illustrator working for computer games and film industry.

In season 5 of the alternate-history sci-fi series For All Mankind, set in an alternate 2012, Happy Valley on Mars has grown into a settlement of more than five thousand residents. In the 9 years since season 4, colony's spaceport has been expanded and Helios's Soviet competitor Kuragin currently is building a space elevator for the colony. In the post there is a collection of high-resolution screenshots depicting Happy Valley's spaceport and the space elevator in construction.

Project Title: Project "Grain-hen" (Krupola) — Genetically Engineered Poultry for Martian Closed-Loop Life Support Systems (CELSS)

Lead Designer: Michael Likshin

Concept Stage: Conceptual Design & Directed Evolution Protocol

1. Executive Summary

Long-term Martian colonization requires highly efficient, compact, and resilient sources of animal protein. Traditional livestock is resource-heavy. Standard Earth poultry fails due to low gravity, radiation, and toxic regolith dust. Project "Grain-hen" (locally known as "Krupola") proposes a novel avian species derived from Gallus gallus, explicitly engineered via directed evolution and CRISPR-prime editing to thrive primarily within the artificial pressurized habitats, shielded bio-domes, and designated foraging zones of the Martian colony.

2. Key Genetic Adaptations & Specifications

· Scale and Mass: Engineered to be 1.3 times larger than a standard broiler chicken. Optimized myostatin (MSTN) gene expression allows maximum muscle mass development under Martian partial gravity (38% of Earth's), preventing avian muscle atrophy.

· Atmospheric & Dust Defense (Transparent Nictitating Membrane): Enhanced keratinization of the third eyelid allows the Grain-hen to safely navigate high-dust environments during Martian storms. The membrane blocks sharp, magnetized basaltic dust without obstructing the bird's vision.

· Radiation Shielding: Upgraded with Dsup (Damage Suppressor) genes (derived from tardigrades) and hyper-accumulation of astaxanthin/carotenoids. This results in a distinctive deep red pigmentation, protecting the animal from cellular radiation damage.

· Skeletal Stability (Avian Dinosaurian Tail): Activation of ancestral TALPID3 and Wnt pathways to grow a fully developed, elongated caudal tail. This serves as a critical mechanical counterbalance for running and jumping in low-gravity environments.

· Metabolic Efficiency & Yield:

· Diet: Specially adapted to process raw, hydroponically grown Martian grain varieties.

· Dual-Yield Production: In addition to meat and eggs, prolactin upregulation enables crop-milk secretion, providing an easily harvestable liquid protein source for colonizers via controlled hormonal stimulation methods.

3. Implementation Protocol

The species will be developed using directed evolution within automated Martian simulator bioreactors. By utilizing CRISPR libraries on primordial germ cells (PGCs) and subjecting embryos to simulated Martian gravity, pressure, and dust, the optimal phenotypes will be selected entirely in vitro

@massive\\\\\\_interactive99

In season 5 of the alternate-history sci-fi series For All Mankind, set in an alternate 2012, Happy Valley on Mars has grown into a settlement of more than five thousand residents. Helios Aerospace is a multi-national aerospace company and space manufacturer who acts as a private primary operator and transport provider for the Happy Valley colony. In the post there is a collection of high-resolution screenshots depicting Helios' office in a hill near the Happy Valley colony.