A house committee chair pushes for a crewed "flyby" to Mars on 2021 to reduce costs, making the mission achieved its goal 10 years ahead of schedule.

Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, the body which supervises NASA says that the 2021 flyby to Mars is the chance to test the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle.

The deep-space rocket to be used can bring only two astronauts. It will not land on the Red Planet's surface. It would also include a flyby of Venus.

In 2021, Earth and Mars are closely aligned so the original three-year Mars mission trip on 2031 will be cut in half thus saving fuel. The next favourable alignment will be on 2031.

The flyby will attract more lunar exploration and inspire more successful space programs, as well as give the country pride and security. Smith said to USA Today, "We are not the only nation interested in extending humanity's reach into the solar system," he said at a hearing Thursday. "One of the three major space-faring nations will reach Mars first. The question is whether it will be the U.S. or China or Russia."

Scott Pace, a former NASA administrator and now the head of Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said the trip will be an important way station to more deep-space missions and would definitely benefit America's attempt to return to the moon. However, the Obama administration has shown no interest for more moon missions.

On the other hand, experts say it is a risky move and NASA gives no interest about the proposal.

Smith drew many critics to his proposal. The panel's top democrat Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas said to USA Today, "I doubt that a flyby of Mars will ultimately be considered to be an appropriate first shakedown of a flight for a new crewed spacecraft, given the risk involved."