spacetoday.net: Mars One delays missions by two years

Posted: Fri, Mar 20, 2015, 8:27 PM ET (0027 GMT)
Mars One base illustration (Mars One/Bryan Versteeg)

A private venture with the long-term goal of sending humans to Mars on one-way missions has pushed back its timeline by two years. Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp said Thursday that delays in lining up private funding for the mission have forced them to delay a robotic lander planned for launch in 2018 until 2020. The rest of the timeline of missions has also been delayed, with a first human landing of people delayed to 2027. It's the second time in less than 18 months that Mars One has pushed back its schedule by two years. The news was included in an interview with Lansdorp released by Mars One where he rejected some recent criticism of the endeavor of the media.