This will be the profile of the very first Martian astronauts if multimillionaire Dennis Titos plans to launch a capsule on 5 January 2018 actually lead to fruition The capsule will take the crew to about 160 km above Mars The spacecraft will use the gravity of Mars to allow it to return to Earth without burning any more fuel for fuel efficiency is a priority  the 2018 deadline has been fixed since the next launch window when Mars and Earth align again isnt until 2031 Its a normal order but the race is on to develop systems involving totally new technologies Given that these can be put in place soon enough the spacecraft might just make it But even if it never leaves Earth the efforts to achieve these ambitious goals will not be in vain as they will lead to valuable advances for future missions 