{"id":285322,"date":"2025-07-23T13:43:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/285322\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T13:43:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:43:16","slug":"three-year-trips-to-mars-in-2030s-spaceship-holidays-budget-rocket-trips-to-race-around-earth-uk-space-hero-predicts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/285322\/","title":{"rendered":"Three-year trips to Mars in 2030s, spaceship holidays & budget rocket trips to race around Earth, UK space hero predicts"},"content":{"rendered":"

SPACE isn\u2019t just for scientists and celebs \u2013 it\u2019ll be a hot holiday destination and will offer a shortcut to slash flight times too.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re just some of the predictions from British space hero Tim Peake<\/a>, who sat down with The Sun for a chat about our off-Earth future.<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/a><\/p>\n

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Space hero Tim Peake was Britain’s first European Space Agency astronautCredit: Getty\"Astronaut<\/a><\/p>\n

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Peake, who hails from Sussex, spent half a year on board the ISSCredit: Publicity – Getty<\/p>\n

Tim, 53, spent about 186 days in space, returning from the ISS on June 18, 2016.<\/p>\n

But when humans start making the first trips to Mars in the next decade or so, they\u2019ll be in space for a lot longer \u2013 potentially for three years.<\/p>\n

It sounds nightmarish, but Tim says we\u2019ve done it all before, hundreds of years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people today forget about what we used to do in terms of exploration, the hardships, the torture, the kind of risk that was taken,\u201d Tim told The Sun at Goodwood Festival of Speed\u2019s Future Lab earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in the early 1800s, nothing was thought about disappearing off on a three year expedition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was pretty standard if you were in the Royal Navy<\/a>. You say goodbye to your family and your mum.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou say goodbye. You don’t really know where you’re going or what you’re going to be doing, but you’re just going to be away for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when I talk to people about in the mid 2030s, we’re going to be on a three year mission to Mars and they kind of have this shock and horror that, well, that’s so long, you’ll never get people to go away for that long.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you will. We’ve done this before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s only in the last 150 years that it hasn’t been normal to have a three year expedition away, finding new lands and discovering new things.<\/p>\n

Nasa reveals mesmerising footage of Northern Lights from ISS<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we’re going to kind of go back into that kind of mindset. It’s just that it won’t be on Earth<\/a>. It will be out into space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nasa<\/a> hopes to make manned trips to Mars as soon as the 2030s, although no firm date has been set.<\/p>\n

But whenever those first visits happen, the astronauts will likely be a lot more comfortable than explorers of the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe levels of resilience and self-sufficiency they needed was unbelievable. I mean, again, when we do Mars, the crew will have enough food, they’ll have enough water, they’ll have enough life support,\u201d Tim said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

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Six-month trips to the ISS will be nothing compared to a three-year Mars trekCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cWe’ve mapped the surface, we’ll have habitation modules for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it’ll probably be a lot more comfortable than it would be setting off on endurance or HMS Wager back in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

SPACE STAYS<\/strong><\/p>\n

For now, going to space is largely the preserve of professional astronauts, celebs and the ultra-wealthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But in the future, Tim thinks that this will soon change<\/a> \u2013 and Elon Musk<\/a> is partly to thank.<\/p>\n

Tim credits Musk\u2019s company SpaceX<\/a> with making space travel a lot cheaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve brought the cost of getting to space down so much, which is really exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause that opens up whole markets of things you didn\u2019t think were possible because they were cost-prohibitive five or 10 years ago, that are now economically viable.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s really exciting, but SpaceX is just the Uber<\/a> that gets you there and back.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration<\/a><\/p>\n

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A return trip to and from Mars will be long and arduous \u2013 but Tim says explorers will be more than capable of surviving the time away from homeCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s even more exciting is: now what can you do when you\u2019re up there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim tells me that space tourism has been around for a long time \u2013 but it\u2019s becoming more frequent.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a trend that will only grow with time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of the democratisation of space,\u201d Tim told The Sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think fast-forward 100 years and there\u2019ll be an awful lot of people going to space for a variety of different reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome for science<\/a>, some for exploration, some for entertainment, and some for a different holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, Tim reckons that we\u2019d all be better off if we\u2019d taken a trip to space.<\/p>\n

He says it gives you a different view of the world \u2013 and not just literally.<\/p>\n

WHO IS TIM PEAKE?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here’s what you need to know…<\/p>\n