Speaking as a part-time science fiction writer, I've always believed that real breakthroughs in space travel will come not from governments, but from the private sector. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, with their SpaceX and Blue Origin programs, respectively, seem determined to prove me right.

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In the latest such episode, Bezos' New Glenn rocket lifted off Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying two NASA probes that will be bound, eventually, for Mars. That's pretty cool.

Blue Origin launched its huge New Glenn rocket Thursday with a pair of NASA spacecraft destined for Mars.

It was only the second flight of the rocket that Jeff Bezos’ company and NASA are counting on to get people and supplies to the moon — and it was a complete success.

The 321-foot (98-meter) New Glenn blasted into the afternoon sky from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending NASA’s twin Mars orbiters on a drawn-out journey to the red planet. Liftoff was stalled four days by lousy local weather as well as solar storms strong enough to paint the skies with auroras as far south as Florida.

In a remarkable first, Blue Origin recovered the booster following its separation from the upper stage and the Mars orbiters, an essential step to recycle and slash costs similar to SpaceX. Company employees cheered wildly as the booster landed upright on a barge 375 miles (600 kilometers) offshore. An ecstatic Bezos watched the action from Launch Control.

The Mars probes won't be heading for the Red Planet right away, but when they do arrive, they will be in orbit, examining Mars' atmosphere, or what there is left of it, as well as the planet's weak, shifting magnetic field. Mars' lack of a strong magnetic field, like Earth's, is a primary reason for Mars' atmosphere having been gradually blown into space.

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The identical Mars orbiters, named Escapade, will spend a year hanging out near Earth, stationing themselves 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away. Once Earth and Mars are properly aligned next fall, the duo will get a gravity assist from Earth to head to the red planet, arriving in 2027.

Once around Mars, the spacecraft will map the planet’s upper atmosphere and scattered magnetic fields, studying how these realms interact with the solar wind. The observations should shed light on the processes behind the escaping Martian atmosphere, helping to explain how the planet went from wet and warm to dry and dusty. Scientists will also learn how best to protect astronauts against Mars’ harsh radiation environment.

This is information that will shed a lot of light on how difficult it might be to eventually send people to Mars.

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One of the big problems with putting humans on Mars, especially in a colony, can't be fixed or fudged, and that's Mars' gravity, which is roughly 38 percent of Earth's. People can be shielded from radiation, and domes can contain atmosphere, but the gravity is what it is. Any human colony on Mars, should one even be viable, would over time be very different from humans on Earth. The low gravity would mean that the second and third generations, should there be any, will have different growth; likely longer long bones, less muscle mass; they would look pretty odd to us, and then there's the problem that Martians, regardless of ancestry, may never be able to return to the home world.

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That's all a long way off, though. First, we have to determine if putting people on Mars is even practical with current technology, and that's in part what these probes are intended to do, and it's looking a lot like if we do go to Mars, it may be a private-sector ship that takes people there.

One final note: If any eventual manned mission to Mars isn't led by a Captain John Carter from Virginia, I will be mildly disappointed. I expect Princess Dejah Thoris will be disappointed as well.

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