Michael Collins flew his first space flight mission as pilot of Gemini 10 in 1966, and three years later he was the command module pilot of the historic moon-landing mission, Apollo 11. Now, with Mission to Mars, Collins offers a provocative new plan for the much-debated American space program. With compelling arguments and contagious enthusiasm, Collins shows that the most effective way to revitalize space exploration (and NASA) is to resolutely focus our planning, research, and development on one major goal: human exploration of Mars, with the long-range objective of establishing a permanent colony on the planet.

He approaches this enormously complex expedition by mapping out a trajectory for the flight that would depart on June 3, 2004, and return twenty-two months later after a forty-day stay on Mars. He leads the reader on a fascinating and pragmatic examination of the host of physical, technical, and psychological demands that will have to be met before we can walk on the surface of our nearest neighbor planet. Should both sexes fly on the mission? What will be the effects of radiation and weightlessness - and other factors we don't yet understand - on the health of the crew? How will they cope with the long months of confinement? What will the mission cost - both in dollars and in national commitment? These and many other questions are addressed in Collins's riveting scenario of the space flight and his ground plan for a Mars colony.

In keeping with his accelerated schedule, Collins rejects the current plans for setting up a preliminary outpost on the Moon, suggests simplifying the space station Freedom to accommodate the Mars project, and advocates joining with the Soviets to develop space technologies together. Mission to Mars calls for bold governmental leadership, multinational collaboration, and an energetic pursuit of this great challenge, and gives us a detailed, dramatic, and exciting picture of how it can be achieved.