It takes 260 days to get to Mars and NASA wants to cut that time in half

When the orbits are just right, it currently takes 260 days to travel from the Earth to Mars — that requires an 8-month mission overall. This could all change soon if NASA manages to slice the travel time in half. The imperative comes from the promise to send a manned mission to the red planet by 2020 — something far more realistic if it takes less time to get there, which means fewer resources required to sustain life for a return journey.

In statements reported by Space, com, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden suggested that, while the agency no longer makes rockets, it is committed to further propulsion technologies:

We don't build rocket engines; we depend on our industry partners. My job is to try and keep things stable for them, to let them know that we are committed to in-space propulsion.

You've got to be specific. If I say I want game-changing in-space propulsion, everyone will go back to [the idea of] moving cargo. I want industry to focus on getting people to move really fast. I think we can do far better than we are doing today, but we've got to show our commitment by putting some money into it.

It's unclear how much money would be needed for propulsion technology that can halve travel time. And maybe the point is moot, as this money is going to be harder to find. NASA doesn't usually receive the total requested funding and is only asking for incremental growth as far as budget. Halving travel time to Mars isn't going to be cheap — can NASA accomplish its goal while also staying within its comparatively modest budget? We do hope so, because we missed the first man walking on the moon and want to see some space history.