Mars!

[Quesi]

Human settlement of Mars in 2023

Mars One will establish the first human settlement on Mars in 2023. A habitable settlement will be waiting for the settlers when they land. The settlement will support them while they live and work on Mars the rest of their lives. Every two years after 2023 an additional crew will arrive, such that there is a real living, growing community on Mars. Mars One has created a technical plan for this mission that is as simple as possible. For every component of the mission we have identified at least one potential supplier. Mars One invites you to join us in this next giant leap for mankind!

http://mars-one.com/en/

Wow!

Any Kim Stanley Robinson fans getting ready to re-read Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars?

[Nick]

(1) How are they going to make the air to breath for a lifetime?

(2) Whats the purpose of this?  Do they have oil?

(3) We can't even keep the Earth clean and welcoming.  How long will it take for us to mess up Mars?

(4) If I can get away from the nuts like Rush Limpballs and FOX I might consider it.

[Quesi]

They've got an FAQ Nick, but I'm not sure that they answer most of your questions.

They are planning on having a lottery for slots to be among the first to go, and the lottery winners will get to do a competition sort of thing.  They will probably televise at as a fundraising strategy.  A reality show sort of thing. 

Have you read the Kim Stanley Robinson books?   The three books in the series are probably all in my top 20 favorite books of all time.  They deal with your questions.  And more. 

[Backspace]

Since days (and nights) are longer on Mars, would moving there increase or decrease ones lifespan?

[joebbowers]

Even if they could terraform mars and produce breathable air, the radiation would kill you. People living on Mars will have to wear suits whenever they go outside.

[Graybeard]

People living on Mars will have to wear suits whenever they go outside.

That seems a little formal, are you sure that casual clothes are forbidden?

[kcrady]

One big downside: it's a one-way trip.  If the Mars One company runs out of money, or the life-support system breaks down, the astronaut/settlers are SOL.  Also, their timetable is wildly optimistic.  They're expecting to land hab modules in 2016, when they don't even have a heavy-lift launch vehicle yet?

[HAL]

Mars One will establish the first human settlement on Mars in 2023.

My prediction: Won't happen.

[Quesi]

Mars One will establish the first human settlement on Mars in 2023.

My prediction: Won't happen.

Fear you might be right.  Hope you are wrong. 

[Nam]

I'd go. But only if it didn't cost me anything. I hope they have 3-breasted women like advertised in that Schwarzenegger commercial I saw awhile back.



-Nam

[mrbiscoop]

Interesting website. If you are going to dream you might as well dream big but I think this falls into the pipe dream category.

[Kimberly]

I'm not optimistic about the success of this mission. I also would not want to be first!

[Ambassador Pony]

Those tin cans look like one dust storm would be sufficient to eradicate our invasion force.

[kcrady]

I'd go. But only if it didn't cost me anything. I hope they have 3-breasted women like advertised in that Schwarzenegger commercial I saw awhile back.



-Nam

I dunno...I love the idea of space exploration and I'd be tempted... But, I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be all that long before "I'm on MARS!  AWESOME!" would wear off, and the fact of being cooped up inside the equivalent of a single-wide trailer and not being able to go outside without a spacesuit, the nearest blade of grass is 60 million miles away, and my next shipment of food and replacement air seals depends on the ratings of a reality TV show sucked away all the cool.  Notice how the site refers to the astronauts arriving on "their new home planet."  There's no trip home.  No ticker-tape parade, no adoring fans of the desired gender, no book deal... 

These guys would do much better to team up with Planetary Resources and send their astronauts to a near-earth asteroid, with fuel for the return trip.  If they've got the delta-V to send all that stuff to Mars, I bet they could get a capsule to an "Earth-grazer" asteroid and back. 

WRT Mars exploration, I wish somebody would launch a drone aircraft to the Valles Marineris (largest canyon in the Solar System--has to be awesome!) instead of the endless, flat, rock-strewn deserts that make good places to land rovers or astronauts.

[LoriPinkAngel]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a damn waste of money?  Are they going to learn anything on Mars that will feed the hungry on earth, help us fix what we've screwed up in our atmosphere, replace what we've used up & wasted, cure any diseases??  Anything fricken useful for real anyone other than scientists and academics??

[Samothec]

^^^ You're probably not the only one, sadly. It will be someone with clout and your attitude who will kill such missions.

Consider for a moment that the idea is to send people farther than we've ever travelled before. To a place less hospitable than the peak of Mount Everest. Where they will need to have new or improved technology to be able to eat and breath.

Could all those same technolgies then be used on Earth? Yes. Just as many other things developed for the space program have benefitted us.

[nogodsforme]

I'd go. But only if it didn't cost me anything. I hope they have 3-breasted women like advertised in that Schwarzenegger commercial I saw awhile back.



-Nam

No es bueno tener tres senos. I taught my daughter and nephew that when they were babies. They still say it and crack up.

If I was single and kidless I would be all over the Mars deal. After all, Mars-needs-women. Kick it!

 

[wright]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a damn waste of money?  Are they going to learn anything on Mars that will feed the hungry on earth, help us fix what we've screwed up in our atmosphere, replace what we've used up & wasted, cure any diseases??  Anything fricken useful for real anyone other than scientists and academics??

No, you're probably not the only one. But for the long-term prosperity of the human species, I believe establishing a permanent human presence in space (on Mars, Luna or elsewhere) is vital.

For instance, unless we learn to curb our consumption of resources, we are going to run out of things we need to keep our civilization going: certain metals, cheap oil and so on. Our highly advanced, highly populated, highly wasteful mode of life (particularly in the "first world") can't be sustained indefinitely.

It would / will take time and incredible effort to reach such resources in space and make their exploitation economical. But doing so would give the human race options for long-term survival that right now we don't have, not if we want to keep the astounding progress we've made in the last thousand years and improve on it.

kcrady mentioned exploiting Earth (orbit)-crossing asteroids; here's a thread that deals with that. Links there for explaining the idea in greater depth. http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/forums/index.php/topic,22332.0.html

You're in the medical / health profession; can you see the scientific implications of discovering independently-evolved life on Mars or elsewhere? The applications for research, comparing such life to ours, gaining insight into biology in general?

Also, the money spent on exploring our solar system and investigating astronomy off Earth is a pittance compared to most other national expenditures, at least in the US. But because of it's high profile and perceived low-return, space exploration / exploitation is sadly a convenient target for political / economic scapegoating.

Lastly... the hovertext in this cartoon:
http://xkcd.com/893/

[kcrady]

As long as we've got money for Stealth bombers, killer drones, bank bailouts, and making the Kardashians rich, we've got money for Mars missions.  

[nogodsforme]

As long as we've got money for Stealth bombers, killer drones, bank bailouts, and making the Kardashians rich, we've got money for Mars missions.

How much money is in offshore accounts again?

[kcrady]

Enough to build a Ringworld, I think...

[inveni0]

Even if they could terraform mars and produce breathable air, the radiation would kill you. People living on Mars will have to wear suits whenever they go outside.

If Mars was "terraformed", it would have an atmosphere and geology that would protect us from the radiation.  If the core, however, is too far gone to become active again, Mars' atmosphere may never stick in the first place, and thus terraforming would be impossible.  I'd imagine that the colonies we place on Mars would be "pod" colonies...like what is seen in Total Recall.

[naemhni]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a damn waste of money?

No, there are others, but I'm not one of them.

Are they going to learn anything on Mars that will feed the hungry on earth, help us fix what we've screwed up in our atmosphere, replace what we've used up & wasted, cure any diseases??  Anything fricken useful for real anyone other than scientists and academics??

They may very well learn such things, in fact.  There are quite a few useful technologies in use today that came about as a result of the space program but that no one was expecting.  Even if they do not find anything pragmatically useful, however, that does not invalidate the value of the effort.  Pursuit of knowledge is not only a means to something else, it is an end unto itself.

[One Above All]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a damn waste of money?  Are they going to learn anything on Mars that will feed the hungry on earth, help us fix what we've screwed up in our atmosphere, replace what we've used up & wasted, cure any diseases??  Anything fricken useful for real anyone other than scientists and academics??

Does religion do any of those things? The answer is "no", yet I don't hear you complaining about believers and/or religion.

[Nam]

nogodsforme,

I am single and kidless. See, seems ideal for a guy like me. But women better be there, I can abstain from sex fore awhile but masturbation'll get boring after awhile.



wright,

That's blasphemous! Biblegod will provide even in the desolate world of those who truly believe! Do not speak ill of the provider. Afterall, Mars is a godless terrain. None shall be provided for!

-Nam

[LoriPinkAngel]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a damn waste of money?  Are they going to learn anything on Mars that will feed the hungry on earth, help us fix what we've screwed up in our atmosphere, replace what we've used up & wasted, cure any diseases??  Anything fricken useful for real anyone other than scientists and academics??

Does religion do any of those things? The answer is "no", yet I don't hear you complaining about believers and/or religion.

http://www.childfund.org/sponsorship/sponsorshiphomepage.aspx?https://secure.operationsmile.org/site/Donation2?http://www.habitat.org/
http://www.jesussite.com/ministries/charitable.html
http://www.guidestar.org/nonprofit-directory/religion/buddhist/1.aspx
http://www.thinkatheist.com/notes/Secular_charities

Uh... yeah, that would be called charity. I put links for charities for all kinds of causes sponsored by all different religions and to be fair I put a link for charities sponsored by secular groups & atheists, too.

[One Above All]

Uh... yeah, that would be called charity. I put links for charities for all kinds of causes sponsored by all different religions and to be fair I put a link for charities sponsored by secular groups & atheists, too.

Uh... yeah, that would be called nothing compared to what they actually own. The Pope, for example, rides around with a gold crown on his head while he goes around telling people to pray for food.
And none of those would be needed if religion had simply stopped trying to slow down scientific development. It tells people that their situation is their fault; it tells people not to use methods developed by science that would save their lives, et cetera, ad infinitum.
Religion may not be the cause of all of our problems, but it sure as hell owes us for most of them.

[nogodsforme]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a damn waste of money?  Are they going to learn anything on Mars that will feed the hungry on earth, help us fix what we've screwed up in our atmosphere, replace what we've used up & wasted, cure any diseases??  Anything fricken useful for real anyone other than scientists and academics??

Does religion do any of those things? The answer is "no", yet I don't hear you complaining about believers and/or religion.

http://www.childfund.org/sponsorship/sponsorshiphomepage.aspx?https://secure.operationsmile.org/site/Donation2?http://www.habitat.org/
http://www.jesussite.com/ministries/charitable.html
http://www.guidestar.org/nonprofit-directory/religion/buddhist/1.aspx
http://www.thinkatheist.com/notes/Secular_charities

Uh... yeah, that would be called charity. I put links for charities for all kinds of causes sponsored by all different religions and to be fair I put a link for charities sponsored by secular groups & atheists, too.

I know that most people who give to religious charities mean well. But the fact is that if their religion worked as advertised, there would be no need for such organizations. Think of all the donation money that could be freed up to help people if the churches didn't take a bunch for their own benefit and to send missionaries out to convert. At least they could pay taxes like other businesses.

And secular groups like the UNHCR and the WHO do good things for people without orders from any god.

[LoriPinkAngel]

I agree a lot of horrible things have been done in the name of religion and I could certainly live without the pope.
Sometimes the bad intentions had some good results, Columbus came here in part to spread christianity -- discovered a new world (new to them), the syphilis -- uncool.