I suppose if you assume there was a massively larger push than is currently being made, it could be feasible, but it's only 20 years in the future.
Andy Weir said:
|
For the curious: Ares 3 launched on July 7, 2035. They landed on Mars (Sol 1) on November 7, 2035. The story begins on Sol 6, which is November 12, 2035.
|
Source
Also, I think the claim that we currently have ways to get humans safely down is questionable
at best. Perhaps we can get a human being onto the surface in one piece, but I highly doubt we could do it while providing them with the things they would need to survive once they get there, which I would personally consider a requisite for "safely" landing on Mars. The largest thing we've landed on the surface of Mars is the Curiosity rover which is only a single ton. An expedition to Mars would require significantly more mass than that, estimated at around 15 to 20 tons of equipment.
The way things are trending regarding NASA's budget, I'd say we'll be lucky to even be returning our samples from Mars by 2035, much less safely landing
and returning people from Mars. I think it's absurd to suggest that we could safely land humans on Mars anytime soon (as in, within the next 10 years, much less today) with the way things are going, even if we don't intend to return them anytime soon after.