SPACEPHOTOS

Artist's concept of the landing of the first human mission to Mars in the year 2019. In the foreground, astronauts conduct scientific observations, recording wind speed with an anemometer and planetary features with a hand-held camera. A dust storm is approaching the cratered area near the landing site. The Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos are visible in the twilight sky. The Mars excursion vehicle in the background serves as crew quarters for the mission. An interplanetary transfer vehicle carried the crew to Mars, with the excursion vehicle launched independently to rendezvous with the transfer vehicle in orbit around Mars. The excursion vehicle will return the crew to the transfer vehicle, parked in Mars orbit, for the return trip to Earth. Crews on later missions will construct surface habitats using Martian materials.