Time for a ~1 year in update.
Mars is looking good. More and more we find evidence that benefits the existence of life living in the distant past. I definitely think there's some good discoveries we can find there soon. One problem though is the Mars InSight lander was delayed by two years. It'll now arrive on Mars in 2019 which cuts my prediction close if it's the one to find life.
However while InSight slipped, other projects are pushing forward. ExoMars was successfully launched on March 14 with the primary goal of searching for Exobiology on Mars. When it arrives in October, we could get some good data about life on the planet.
Out of left field SpaceX announced it could start sending rockets to Mars in 2018. The Curiosity rover and probe are currently the heaviest payloads ever sent to Mars at 3,893 kg. Meanwhile SpaceX's Falcon Heavy will be capable of sending up to 13,600 kg to the red planet. NASA is working with SpaceX on this and has plans to potentially even bring back Martian soil samples.
Sadly the rest of the solar system isn't looking as good. Congress cut budgets for the Europa mission so it's slipping into the late 2020s. Might still be an awesome mission, but way too late for my prediction.
Overall I still feel somewhat confident with my OP. The SpaceX sample return missions will be crucial to us directly observing alien cells by 2025.
Mars is looking good. More and more we find evidence that benefits the existence of life living in the distant past. I definitely think there's some good discoveries we can find there soon. One problem though is the Mars InSight lander was delayed by two years. It'll now arrive on Mars in 2019 which cuts my prediction close if it's the one to find life.
However while InSight slipped, other projects are pushing forward. ExoMars was successfully launched on March 14 with the primary goal of searching for Exobiology on Mars. When it arrives in October, we could get some good data about life on the planet.
Out of left field SpaceX announced it could start sending rockets to Mars in 2018. The Curiosity rover and probe are currently the heaviest payloads ever sent to Mars at 3,893 kg. Meanwhile SpaceX's Falcon Heavy will be capable of sending up to 13,600 kg to the red planet. NASA is working with SpaceX on this and has plans to potentially even bring back Martian soil samples.
Sadly the rest of the solar system isn't looking as good. Congress cut budgets for the Europa mission so it's slipping into the late 2020s. Might still be an awesome mission, but way too late for my prediction.
Overall I still feel somewhat confident with my OP. The SpaceX sample return missions will be crucial to us directly observing alien cells by 2025.
