Asteroids proposed as possible transport to Mars

Chronicle of Higher Education : To protect them from the harmful effects of cosmic rays, future astronauts may travel to Mars on asteroids. In a paper published in the MarchApril issue of the journal Acta Astronautica, Gregory Matloff, an adjunct associate professor of physics at the New York City College of Technology, suggests that astronauts could hitch rides on Mars-bound asteroids and burrow into the surface for the duration. As the asteroids neared Mars, the astronauts would unbury themselves and blast off for the rest of the trip. Matloff’s coauthor, Monika Wilga, identified at least five potentially viable near-Earth objects whose orbits will take them near Mars between 2020 and 2100.