Millionaire seeks an assist for Inspiration Mars mission

 As the clock ticks toward a 2018 launch, the millionaire who's funding the Inspiration Mars effort to send a man and woman around the Red Planet is reaching out for support from students, from rocket companies — and from NASA.

"We're going to have to do it with NASA, and probably a certain amount of government funding," said Dennis Tito, the investment guru and one-time space passenger who kicked off the Mars flyby project earlier this year. "But probably within the scope of the current budget."

Tito and other leaders of Inspiration Mars provided an update on their plans on Friday at the Mars Society's annual convention at the University of Colorado in Boulder. In cooperation with the Mars Society and NASA's Ames Research Center, they also announced an engineering design contest that gives student-led teams a chance to lay out proposed mission architectures for the 501-day flyby.

The top-rated team gets $10,000, plus an expense-paid trip to next year's Mars Society meeting. There'll also be cash prizes for four runner-up teams. Check out the Mars Society website for deadlines and details.