Remind me not to sign up for this

[RenaissanceLady]

Though there are a few people I'd love to volunteer:

A Dutch Company called Mars One has just announced a series of ambitious plans for sending humans to the Red Planet by 2023, far ahead of what NASA is aiming to do with its mid 2030s goal. The catch with the Mars One missionit is a one-way trip that will send colonists to Mars, never to return to Earth.

According to Mars One founder Bas Lansdorp, Mars One has already received interest from people who are willing to become permanent Martians. According to Lansdorp, Mars One will be holding a worldwide lottery next year in order to select 40 astronaut trainees, who will then be whittled down to 10 for the actual mission itself, which aims to launch facilities and then people to Mars over the course of several years.

Full article here:

It goes on to say that that at this time, the Dutch company lacks the technology and funding to accomplish this task but is still working toward the 2023 goal. One of the primary reasons this would be a one-way trip is because it's just too darn expensive to bring the colonists back home.

If this isn't what bake sales are for, I don't know what is.

Supposedly, the mission would be to set up a permanent Martian colony with the resources to sustain life. As other articles have pointed out, the way this whole thing will be accomplished sounds like a reality TV series:

The key to this whole scheme is, as founder Bas Lansdorp says, to turn the entire thing into an enormous “media event.” The company is a bit vague on what this means, but it sounds like the entire mission would be funded by corporations and broadcast live to the world like reality TV. All he needs is $6 billion.

For those of you playing along at home, this isn’t the first one-way Mars trip that’s been proposed. The equally insane, though more audaciously named, “Spirit of the Lone Eagle” was touted back in 2006. All of these plans solve one of the largest technical problems with a Mars mission — the return trip — by simply ignoring it. On paper, a one-way trip requires less material, fuel, and flying thus making it “easier.”

So, let's just brush aside that whole pesky exploration stuff and jump straight into colonization of a planet that, on its own, cannot sustain life - and let's do this with a company that lacks the means to do this, thereby being dependent upon corporate sponsors and the whims of a viewing public. What's the worst that can happen?

As someone who's still waiting for flying cars to become a reality, I suspect this is also going to die the ignoble death of an unattainable pipe dream, at least for the foreseeable future. (For that matter, back in 1987, wasn't NASA supposed to have sent Buck Rogers on the last of their "deep space probes." Have we done any "probing" since Voyager? I guess space exploration went out of fashion during the moon landings and Voyager's launch. The spirit of exploration has given way to the spirit of corporatization; instead of discovery we have reality TV. This is how we watch the dreams of our childhood shrivel and die.)

 

[campbell71]

I have a list as long as your for for folk I'd like to volunteer for this mission .....

 

[mike]

I'd go
In a heartbeat.

 

[dyingsun]

Where do I sign up?

 

[RenaissanceLady]

I'd hate to go and discover that an otherwise simple problem (such as a tooth infection) is suddenly a potentially fatal condition. It's a long way back to earth, assuming there's even an escape capsule. If the first colonists are building everything, I doubt there would be doctors, dentists and medical technology. I also wouldn't trust with my life a company that only cares about ratings and whose financial obligations are tied to the whims of a viewing public. The death of a colonist might actually be good for those ratings, thereby giving this company a good reason not to serious help and safety standards. Remember this when the emergencies arise and the accidents happen. I've learned how dangerous it can be living even an hour from a hospital when having an emergency and I know that people up here have died when they couldn't get to a hospital quickly. Then think of having your crew mates trying to save your life and limbs without the means to do so. Early colonists died after arriving here even though they were on a continent that could obviously sustain life, had medicinal plants and often had the help of indigenous cultures. Moving to a planet that cannot sustain life on its own, while being dependent upon a company that is dependent upon corporate sponsorship and public whims is a recipe for disaster. I'd hope the people on this forum would feel their life is worth more than a few good soundbites and the bottom line of some faceless entity.

 

[SPX]

I'd hate to go and discover that an otherwise simple problem (such as a tooth infection) is suddenly a potentially fatal condition.

Well from what I can tell, you're basically signing up for a suicide mission anyway.

That's not to say that you'd live forever if you stayed on earth. But if you volunteered for a one-way ticket to Mars then you should go expecting to die prematurely. That doesn't mean it's not worth it, though.