NASA refuses funding Inspiration Mars's manned mission to Mars in 2017

NASA has snubbed Dennis Tito’s proposal to send two astronauts to Mars in 2017.

NASA’s David Weaver revealed that the agency is willing to share technical and programmatic expertise with ‘Inspiration Mars’, but is unable to commit to sharing expenses with them, the Verge reported.

Weaver added that the aim of getting humans to Mars in the planned time-frame is unrealistic and a significant challenge due to life support systems, space radiation response, habitats, and the human psychology of being in a small spacecraft for over 500 days.

The American billionaire’s non-profit Inspiration Mars organization had asked for 700 million dollars in funding along with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) to power his organization's planned mission, which is still under development.

Tito’s organization is pushing for a manned mission to launch between Christmas 2017 and January 5th, 2018, to take advantage of planetary positioning to make the distance between Earth and Mars shorter.