Christmas Card to Mars? Here's How Much It Will Cost You!

The NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida figured out that sending a Christmas card to Mars will cost more than $17,000. The center took into account the 567 million kilometers from Mars to the Earth, the cost of the rocket fuel and the weight of the Christmas card, which could be up to 100 grams.

The idea of sending a Christmas card to Mars was floated by a five-year-old kid from London. Oliver Giddings want to become an astronaut in the future, but first he would like to find out what it would cost him to send his season greetings to the red planet. He sent his query to the Royal Mail of UK.

"We always like to answer every query we get from our customers," Andrew Smout, senior customer advisor at Royal Mail, told Mirror UK. The company sought the help of the NASA Kennedy Space Center. The team of astronauts to whom they have spoken, told them that to send a normal letter to someone living on Mars, would cost £11,602.25, approximately $17,000. The amount comprised 18, 416 first class UK stamps or 21, 466 second class UK stamps.

Giddings was thrilled that Royal Mail was able to answer his query. But as to whether he will send his letter, the kid said: "Wow! That's a lot of money. It's expensive to send a letter to Mars. You would need so many stamps!"

The Kennedy Space Center in Florida is NASA's Mars outreach unit. On Dec. 1, NASA released a 36-page report titled NASA's Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration. The report detailed the agency's plans for human exploration of Mars in the next two decades. The report outlined the mission in three phases: Earth Reliant, Proving Grounds and Earth Independent. In each of the phases, the problem involving transportation, living and working space, and astronauts' health during the mission in Mars are discussed.

The Earth Reliant phase will involve research from the International Space Station or the ISS. With the ISS, NASA will test new technologies and conduct important human health and performance research. ISS will be ready by 2024, the report said. The Proving ground Phase involved conducting deep-space missions that will make it possible for the astronauts to return to Earth in just a matter of days. The Earth Independent phase will have NASA review the results from the first two phases. NASA hopes that after the three phases, astronauts will successfully reach the vicinity of Mars and then eventually the surface of Mars.