A NASA astronaut who is afraid of heights revealed a “gateway” to Mars for future exploration, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Astronaut Joseph Acaba, 50, who returned from a mission at the International Space Station Feb. 28, stated there is a possible gateway for future travels to Mars from the moon, according to the AP. The astronaut said the goal for NASA is to send a human to space and a route through the moon might be the answer to this journey.
“It’s a logical first step to go back to the moon,” he said. “And while we’ve been there before, it was a very limited time-frame and we have new technologies that we want to test, not only on the lunar surface but just orbiting the moon, getting some kind of a gateway so that we can go to Mars from there.”
NASA is looking to send someone to Mars by 2030 and also send someone to the moon sooner, Acaba said. (RELATED: NASA Captured 3D Scans Of Jupiter’s Cyclones And They’re Terrifyingly Awesome [VIDEO])
Acaba previously shared a surprising fact that despite spending at least 300 days in space, he has an unwavering fear of heights.
“If you look at the pictures, I’m holding on to the railing,” the astronaut said to a crowd at the Stennis Space Center on Thursday. “It does take a little bit of work while you’re doing a spacewalk to realize, okay, it’s okay. You are not going to fall.” (RELATED: NASA: The First Person Who Goes To Mars Should Be A Woman)
Acaba went to outer space three times after being chosen by NASA in 2004, according to its website.
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