200,000 People Signed Up for a One-Way Mission to Mars
I’m pretty skeptical about Mars One, a project which promises to set up a colony on Mars in 2023 with the help of civilian space flight outfit, Space X. I’d love to believe it’s going to happen, but I’ve sort of lost faith in our planet’s desire to explore the galaxy as we’re too preoccupied with our own terrestrial squabbles.
But if they did it? Amazing. And 200,000 other people think so too. That’s how many applied for the mission to Mars, so there are a lot of would-be explorers out there.
The catch?
It’s a one-way trip.
That’s right. While it may be possible to get to Mars, it’s not in the cards for them to come home. And 200,000 people still want to do it. Would you?
A few years ago, I would have probably said yes in a heartbeat. I’m more than obsessed with space, and you would become an eternal legend as a Mars martyr. But now that I’m married, and looking to start a family at some point, it’s a lot harder to put glory and adventure before those who count on me.
What I don’t quite understand is how long this mission lasts? I’m guessing they’re not going to die of old age out there. When they run out of food, water or air, they just what, take a cyanide pill? As amazing as it would be to have humans land on Mars, it might crush the world’s spirit to watch them commit mass suicide afterward.
That said, I hope this happens, I really do.
[Salon via Geekologie]
Man, there’s gonna be a lot of bad movies made about this. Hopefully one or two good ones, too.
Did you actually read up on this? If they can actually get to Mars, they have shipments planned for every ten years after that to renew supplies.
Yup, and they’ll be sending new people every four years if I’m not mistaken.
I wish I applied for this, but my parents would kill me first.
It’s a rather tempting notion to live out the rest of our lives and eventually die in space where it all began.
I would go in a heartbeat. It’s Mars. It’s colonizing space. It’s the next step. How could you not go? Seriously, if I thought there was the slimmest chance they’d take me – there’s not – I’d sign on the dotted line. I have a hunch they want someone with some, what do you call them, real-world skills. Somehow I don’t think my encyclopedic knowledge of etymology is going to do the trick.
Actually, I signed my kid sister up for this. I hope they send her.
I would go, but the Internet speed is too low there. And the ping of 830000 ms is too much to handle.
Nope. Wouldn’t do it. I’d be upset if I wouldn’t get to play Grand Theft Auto V next week. Imagine if I had to wait for 4 years for it to arrive with the next supply shipment!
And then some new arrivals will be all “Oh? You don’t have PlayStation 5 here yet? It’s been out for 3 years back on Earth!”
Actually they are going to Mars to live. There will be plenty of supplies and habitats already on Mars before the first group of 4 launches. There will be power, green houses for food and water and oxygen extraction going on before 1 human launches. Each group of 4 will actually be bringing the supplies for the next 4 and will have them set up before the next group gets there. The people going to Mars will have a lot in common with the Europeans that left home and country to settle in America.
Hi Paul. I’m a 45-year-old ER doc, no kids, husband supports my dream, so I’m a Mars One applicant. I think that the whole mission is a long shot, but if the supplies, rovers and habitat are successfully landed on Mars as planned prior to the first crew landing in 2013, I think the odds go up significantly that we can survive for decades.
The Mars One plan is to send 4 additional people every 2 years for several years, with the ultimate goal being a sustainable colony. If we make it to the 2030 or 2040s, there should be additional missions to Mars either by other private organizations or governments (hopefully including NASA).
Yes, there is a chance we could die on launch, during transit to Mars, on landing, or myriad ways once there. However, we have successfully sustained the ISS for almost 13 years and will continue to do so for at least another 7, so it is not inconceivable that we could sustain a small group of people on Mars for decades. I believe someone has to try sooner or later, why not me and why not now? Even if Mars One fails, others can build on what we have done and move humanity to the stars.
**edit** prior to the first crew landing in 2023
People tend to get hung up on the idea of dying alone on an alien world, but another way to look at it is Mars One astronauts will be making room for more people to come. Not only will four additional Mars One astronauts arrive every two years (http://www.mars-one.com/en/roadmap2024), but others intend to follow in their footsteps as well. Elon Musk of SpaceX wants to send 80,000 people to Mars (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/elon-musk-mars-colony/). The first inhabitants of Mars will have it pretty rough, that’s for sure, but they’ll have a lot to look forward to as well.
http://www.mars-one.com/en/faq-en should answer the many questions you have about it or you can ask people on http://www.facebook.com/groups/aspiringmartians/ about it, then you can write a really interesting blog!
There will be a new crew of four people,& more supplies sent every 26 months,due to planetary alignment.
Wow, leave it to Paul to write about something he knows very little on. First off, why can’t it happen? It is a private organization. Governments deal with “squabbles”. Secondly, why would they run out of food, water, and O2? Why? I suppose once we eat, breath and drink the resources, they just magically disappear? You must be right. There is no way for them to convert the waste back into useable resources, which means I suppose all life on earth will die soon since we are running out of food and water (by your logic). Do all of us a favor, and do a quick search on Bio domes. They DO work, only reason why they fail is the psychological need for the “extras” in life (pizza, cake, TV etc.). Living on Mars can work. The “mission” is to colonize the planet which means there is no end. They will continue to send resources to expand the colony every 2 years (probably more frequent in the beginning). Now, I’m not saying they could not all be killed by an atmosphere leak in their camp, or a worker that has been pushed over the edge decides to take down the project. It’s very fragile.
Terraforming would be the BEST idea, but I do not see it working, at least not for a couple hundred years. First reason, the core is essentially dead. It’s no longer molten, and is not spinning which creates the magnetic field, protecting the atmosphere from solar wind, which strip away the first layers. Also, the atmosphere is very thin compared to Earth, as well as low gravity, which means, after seveal generations of breeding has occurred, their body structures will begin to change no matter if they are living in Bio domes, or in camps.
I’m with Tom on this one. This article is very poorly thought out.
Though I don’t think the goal is to terraform Mars,at least not yet. The first settlements will be built on the surface, and probably underneath it as well, to protect the colonists form the solar radiation.
I imagine they’ll be taking some nifty things we call crop seeds with them. Martian soil has been analysed and thought to be capable of growing plants. They just need tot take some fertiliser and some prefab buildings to put up and they can probably grow food. They’ll take tanks of oxygen and huge food and water stores anyway, not to mention thousands of movies, songs, ebooks and porn with them. The people behind this will make sure they won’t go stir-crazy.
I think the biggest problem the colonists will face is that there will only be four of them at first, as they will send them over in teams of four, so it will take years to even build up a small colony.
Exactly, and this is not the first time Paul has demonstrated how NOT to write an article.
Their primary objective of Mars One is to build a colony on mars to promote further space travel. They did discuss terraforming, but that is not their focus, I was just saying it would provide the best living conditions. If this is successful, you can expect to see other colonies popping up around our solar system. The Moon is already being looked at for a camp, and others are looking at Titan. The main obstacle is finding a new source of energy, primarily for long distant travel, perhaps a distance measured in years. I am not sure if a space craft can run on solar energy alone while moving at high speeds, although that would be fantastic. Perhaps nuclear energy would be the best option? I know submarines can run on nuclear energy for years. and If this is supplemented with solar, then it may be able to go even longer. Once we master space travel, we can look else where for more resources to build from (asteroids, comets, etc.), or even add to existing planets as a way to terraform. Despite Mars not being habitable, a colony living inside of confined spaces can be made comfortable once made large enough. Just think of a large complex built primarily for recreation (like a mall) yet spacious enough to prevent a claustrophobic feel, losing the realization of boundaries. After the generations pass, the new culture will adapt to their habitat. As far as “running out of food” resources can be reused, but the founders of Mars One have plans to refine what is already on Mars (ice in the soil, nutrients, very little O2 in the air, etc.). If you go to their website, it is very well thought out. Also, you DO NOT need soil to grow food, as I am not sure how much nitrogen is in the Martian dirt. I wonder what type of other life (animals, fungi, bacteria, etc) they will intentionally bring.
Some cyanobacteria have been able to survive in a Martian simulation climate for over a month. If we keep at it, by the time Mars One gets there they’ll have evolved to suit the environment a lot better and can survive and spread. The photosynthesis will help terraform Mars over centuries (anything faster is highly unlikely), but they won’t be taken along until Mars has been declared free of all traces of bacterial life, which won’t be for a long time.
With the new VASIMR engines and Skylon space plane Britain is developing it will become much faster and cheaper to get to Mars and they will be able to take a lot more with them. The first Skylon prototype will be tested in 2020, so there’s no reason it won’t be used in the Mars One flights, or at least the later ones. The Skylon uses a new Sabre engine to get it into orbit easily and can carry 12 tonnes of cargo, which makes getting supplies over a lot easier.
In a few decades, travel to Mars should be a lot cheaper and more feasible.
If cyanobacteria can handle the Martian environment, I doubt they reproduced very rapidly (if any at all). The most common method of killing off colonies of cyano is the us of radiation, which is very high on the surface of Mars compared to Earth. I’m sure there is a species that can survive extreme radiation. Assuming they are still able to live on Mars, that is one of the last steps that needs to be solved. We need protection from harmful radiation, which the magnetic field Earth naturally has provides, but Mars lacks. The next layer, Ozone provides more protection along with water vapor and other gases for reflection. With out the field, all of these other layers can be stripped away, lost to outer space. There have been ideas of ways the core can be reheated, but none have been plausible. Also, the Martian atmospheric pressure is extremely low. There is O2, nitrogen, and other gases trapped in the icecaps, but I am not sure if there is enough ( or enough gravity) to create a habitable atmosphere. Basically it just creates a more complicated puzzle, which is right now it is best to plan on creating an enclosed colony ( one that can spread to other moons and planets), rather than a 2nd earth. Perfecting the art of Terraforming is far from our reach right now. There are no fossil fuels on Mars, so oil based machinery is out of the question as far as energy.
They tested the cyanobacteria in Martian-like conditions, including varying levels of radiation, such as extreme UV light, for 34 days. Obviously they will reproduce slower, but bacteria are so adaptable that a few years in those conditions and they will be fine. It will be decades before any bacteria are actually taken up to Mars, so plenty of time for them to suit up. Some bacteria can live in conditions with a pH of 0.3. Compared to that, Mars is positively welcoming.
I would think carbon fibre prefabs are the most likely course of action. Large solar panel arrays would be the most reliable ways to get power (although they won’t generate as much as they would on Earth), at least until we can build nuclear reactors.
My first thought for exploring for good colonisation locations would be a rover covered in solar panels releasing little airborne drones, given the low gravity, but then I remembered the atmosphere is 1% of Earth’s, so they wouldn’t be able to fly. That means planes would be useless on Mars for centuries, so the most likely form of long-distance travel between colonies would be rail-roads, just far more advanced than any we have on Earth right now.
Manual generation of electricity might be a viable option, but only for small amounts. Wind Power would also be inviable even with the dust storms, again due to no atmosphere. Hydro-electric is similarly out of the question.
Until nuclear power is utilised, I don’t think Mars will be able to support a large amount of people.
I just think, as far as terraforming, there are much bigger problems to solve than bacteria right now llike the core). Sure some can live on Mars, but we can’t, it doesn’t really change anything. If we put cyano over there, which raises the O2 content, that’s great, but the atmosphere is still too thin to breath, and the radiation is still extremely high, but I see your point. Once we get to the step of introducing life, we will begin with the basics. I am sure that they definitely will be taking bacteria ( purposely) in 11 years when the first team goes, although this is for their camps, not to be introduced to the planet’s outside. As many fail to realize, human life is impossible with out bacteria. It will be many decades, probably centuries before they try to introduce life to the planet’s outside surface.
As far as energy, the only plausible one, as you stated, is solar and nuclear. A small train can be run on solar energy, and with a lower gravity, there is less weight and friction resulting in a lower demand for power as far as movement. I do not think they will need “trains”, or larger, faster vehicles to connect colonies for a very long time as there is no reason to set up several colonies right now, unless another organization follows the lead of Mars One. As far as sending rovers to locate preferred colony site, I think that is exactly what they are doing. Once the initial rovers are finished with mapping the terrain, they will send larger ones to set up the outpost, and it’s life support so when the first team arrives, everything is ready. I am not familiar with Mar’s weather, but I assume each sector has it’s own type of dust storms. I wonder how this will affect the solar panels? How frequently will they need to be cleaned off? I’m sure this is not a huge problem, since NASA has already solved it with their rovers, but it does leave for some pondering. Also, there is a rumor that they will be turning the project of Mars One into a TV show for entertainment and to help in financing the project.