Astronauts traveling to Mars and beyond in the future could encounter radiation that negatively affects brain functioning, results of a recent study out of the University of California, Irvine suggest.

Next summer, NASA will launch its fifth rover to Mars to look for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. But the latest robotic mission, simply dubbed Mars 2020, has another goal: figuring out how to sustain human life in the harsh and unforgiving environment on Mars. Hitching a ride on the rover are devices to convert the abundant carbon dioxide on Mars into oxygen and a ground-penetrating radar to hunt for underground ice as a future water supply.

Sending humans to Mars could leave astronauts with neurological problems, according scientists who studied mice in conditions which they claimed replicate deep space.

Although space travel exposes astronauts to forms of radiation that are uncommon on Earth, and that are linked to cancers and heart problems, a U.S. study suggests this doesn’t significantly shorten their lives.

When SpaceX launches Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his eight traveling companions for a trip around the Moon in 2023, the company will be undertaking an unprecedented step toward the future of civilian space flight. But with being the first to attempt this feat comes a number of technical and safety challenges that less ambitious expeditions, like Blue Origin's treks to the Karman Line, won't have to face. So, just how will SpaceX ensure that its first trip to the Moon doesn't turn into a real-life Gravity?

There are many good reasons to contemplate leaving Earth. Global warming. The threat of nuclear war. The promise of a sequel to “Justice League.”

Nearly 50 years after we went to the Moon, Mars is in our sights.

Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the revived National Space Council, wrote today in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that "America will be the first nation to bring mankind to Mars." These plans follow Elon Musk's announcement last week that a small group of astronauts will be ready to leave Earth in 2024 and head to Mars. But is all this possible in just seven years as a continuation of the technological advances we've seen, or are significant science and engineering breakthroughs needed to reach their goals?