Proposed Mars Flyby in 2018

Former space tourist and astronaut Dennis Tito called for a 501 day Mars flyby mission by January, 2018 when Mars will be at its closest approach to Earth.  Tito was a guest speaker at the Humans To Mars summit in Washington, D.C. last week when he called for the 2018 flyby mission with two astronauts in a short sprint to demonstrate capabilities and possiblities with current technology available for human spaceflight.  Other guest speakers at the summit included current NASA administrator Charles Bolden and former NASA astronaut and moon walker from Apollo 11 Buzz Aldren.  According to the organizations web site the Human2Mars Summit's goal is two fold:

H2M is a comprehensive Mars exploration conference, organized by Explore Mars, Inc. to address the major challenges that need to be overcome to send humans to Mars by 2030.

Tito emphasized that a flyby was essential to maintain enthusiasm for a "boots on the ground" misson envisioned by NASA's current timeline as a first step toward the colonization of Mars.  To read the entire article covering Tito's presentation click here.