Mars One - One way commercial trip to Mars

[Phalanx300]

This might actually be real. Sure sounds like it could work.

http://mars-one.com/

[6644kp]

I certainly hope they are succesfull.

If this actually works and they pull it off it will lead directly to a Planetary Republic of Mars.

[MathiasOfAthens]

Thats the point 6644kp: http://mars-one.com/en/mission/is-this-really-possible

Astronauts or should we say Marnauts? IDK... will Emigrate to Mars for an indefinite amount of time to settle on Mars for good.

The central point to this Mars mission is that the participants emigrate – living and working on Mars for the rest of their lives. This is the most important reason that this plan is feasible. It goes without saying that we are taking care of the living needs of the settlers, but more on that later. First, we must elaborate on why a 'return ticket' is pretty much impossible when talking about the Red Planet.

Should you want to offer your astronauts a flight back to Earth, you would have to have a completely tested, fuelled and fully operational rocket for the return journey waiting for the astronauts on Mars, before a single human leaves Earth orbit. You can imagine the logistical issues when you don't have people there to help with that. What if a system breaks down, and there is no way to solve the problem? Do you start again? Send the astronauts to Mars anyway, hoping that they can repair the faulty mechanism? What if the return rocket is destroyed just before the astronauts land? Do you prepare two return rockets – just in case?

All of the issues above are solved by having emigrating participants. Now the challenges are limited to providing the astronauts with provisions and a healthy living environment on a planet that does not offer these essentials itself. Don't get us wrong, this sounds and is complicated, but it is far from a futuristic projection. This science not only exists, it is available to us now. Another feat of human achievement, the International Space Station, has been manned and orbiting our Earth for over a decade now and makes full use of the very same tried-and-tested technology required for a manned mission to Mars.

In addition to this, the elements needed for a viable living system are already present on Mars, so we can keep the number of launches down. For example, the location Mars One has chosen contains water ice in the ground which can be extracted through heat and used to drink, bathe with, or used to feed crops, but can also be manipulated to create oxygen. Mars even has natural sources of nitrogen, another element of the air we breathe. Certainly, we will always send up supplies like new computers or complex spare parts, but we will also provide the pioneers with machinery that will make them increasingly more independent from Earth. A machine that makes bricks could be one, to construct their own buildings, or an appliance that allows them to make their own plastic components.

That would be a hard thing to sell to most people. To settle on a rock for good. To basically live a Spartan existence for at least 20 years? Maybe your be allowed to bring a book and a laptop... but space will be critical on the journey there. And the fact that the atmosphere on mars is in no way similar to the moon it will be nearly impossible to provide a return journey.

Besides, emigrating does not have to mean permanent residence on Mars. Once the settlement is populated, we can sent components for a return rocket. With people on Mars the occupants can build, fuel and check the return rocket.

But the plan does say residence does not have to be permanent... just that for the first few crews there it will be. No return journey is planned until components can be sent.

The one thing I didnt understand was food and the point?

Will they be able to build a greenhouse to grow food? What about meat? Will animals be sent over later? You cant really ship over a cow... or provide the land needed to raise them. So meat will have to be sent over frozen in space in yearly supply trips.

Another thing, besides research is the point of this. Will there be some sort of mining on the planet? Prob nothing worth mining and shipping home.

But one interesting thing mentioned in the link above is the reality tv program. I can see the owners making a lot of money from a reality tv show. A LOT OF ING MONEY. Who would not want to air this show on national television broadcasting the adventures of mars settlers. It would be bigger than New Jersey Shore. Hopefully it would be big enough to fund this mission. But prob not.

I think they should invest heavier in an actual ship to send to Mars. If the crew will spend 7 months in a ship there it better at least be a freaking cargo vessel... I mean most people would go insane in a small environment for 7 months. Thats the biggest fail I see in this. If the ship is too small it will be a journey to live through.

I would like to see them build a rectangular ship full of supplies and and large enough for the crew to at least live a comfortable 7 months in 0 gravity.

[SuperTechmarine]

Thats the point 6644kp: http://mars-one.com/en/mission/is-this-really-possible

Astronauts or should we say Marnauts? IDK... will Emigrate to Mars for an indefinite amount of time to settle on Mars for good.





That would be a hard thing to sell to most people. To settle on a rock for good. To basically live a Spartan existence for at least 20 years? Maybe your be allowed to bring a book and a laptop... but space will be critical on the journey there. And the fact that the atmosphere on mars is in no way similar to the moon it will be nearly impossible to provide a return journey.



But the plan does say residence does not have to be permanent... just that for the first few crews there it will be. No return journey is planned until components can be sent.

The one thing I didnt understand was food and the point?

Will they be able to build a greenhouse to grow food? What about meat? Will animals be sent over later? You cant really ship over a cow... or provide the land needed to raise them. So meat will have to be sent over frozen in space in yearly supply trips.

Another thing, besides research is the point of this. Will there be some sort of mining on the planet? Prob nothing worth mining and shipping home.

But one interesting thing mentioned in the link above is the reality tv program. I can see the owners making a lot of money from a reality tv show. A LOT OF ING MONEY. Who would not want to air this show on national television broadcasting the adventures of mars settlers. It would be bigger than New Jersey Shore. Hopefully it would be big enough to fund this mission. But prob not.

I think they should invest heavier in an actual ship to send to Mars. If the crew will spend 7 months in a ship there it better at least be a freaking cargo vessel... I mean most people would go insane in a small environment for 7 months. Thats the biggest fail I see in this. If the ship is too small it will be a journey to live through.

I would like to see them build a rectangular ship full of supplies and and large enough for the crew to at least live a comfortable 7 months in 0 gravity.

Was thinking about that actually.

We could send a HUUUUUUUUUGE Ship full food supplies, everything needed to for daily life, they could bring along their relatives friends, etc. In less than a century, blam, We colonized Mars.

Ditto. I don't really care if I die on the trip. THIS is exactly the kind of things mankind should be pursuing with flagrant intensity, instead of siting all day in front of a tv to see how a bunch of promiscuous steroid/silicon filled jerks with the intelligence of 5 years olds fight and .

Same here, this is what Humanity should be striving for. Earth is dying. But the governemants, in their greed and arrogance ,instead of funding the project, decide, "Its not worth it."

[Phier]

Outside of being able to say "FIRST!" why would you want to move to Mars?

It would be nerd cool, but without a true viable economic reason, it would never work.

[Enzo]

Outside of being able to say "FIRST!" why would you want to move to Mars?

It would be nerd cool, but without a true viable economic reason, it would never work.

You wouldn't have to pay taxes, you wouldn't have to work you would just have your farm there, plenty of wide open space, you could climb up mount Olympus Mons the tallest mountain in the solar system. So you could enjoy yourself there. In the future space tourism would be the main economy of Mars when it becomes easier to get there and back.

[Lord Baal]

You wouldn't have to pay taxes, you wouldn't have to work you would just have your farm there, plenty of wide open space, you could climb up mount Olympus Mons the tallest mountain in the solar system. So you could enjoy yourself there. In the future space tourism would be the main economy of Mars when it becomes easier to get there and back.

You could also move horrible industries that pollute like there's no tomorrow there, if governments start to put economic pressure (taxes and such) for polluting industries in the end it could be more economically viable to take operations outside such jurisdictions. But for them to move there there's a need to at least a open path there. Civilian colonies there could be a base for all that.

Also, this is not only for piss there first, but for the survival of our species in the long run, a goal we all should have first in our minds.

[MathiasOfAthens]

Agree Phier... besides research I dont see any actual economic reason. It would be cool to get a fully functioning colony working... producing their own food and whatnot but without a proper environment, breathable air outside... fields of grass and water then it would be a very limited colony unless there was a reason to live in a harsh environment and I see no major resource we need to mine just now.

Too bad Mars isnt flowing in grass fields and seas of water. People would be flocking there in mass if so. The website says they are still looking for sponsors so I dont think they have one and I dont think they will get one.

[Ulyaoth]

The main fault I see in this plan is that you'd need experts and educated people, people who wouldn't have a great reason on average to want to throw their lives away.

[Phier]

Penal colony has a nice ring to it.

[6644kp]

Clearly the first missions would be just the 'base builders' after a few decades the population could become atleast self suffcient and grow their own food and use their own water resources. At the same time Carbon Dioxide factories can pump CO2 into the air to increase the temperature and finally trees and grass can be planted to stabilize the atomsphere and allow natural breathing.

It would take a century atleast but you could end up with an entire self sufficient Mars that trades with itself and buys what it cannot produce from Earth nations.... until the Imperial Martian Army decides it needs more lebensraum and set their sights on Earth

[Claudius Gothicus]

Penal colony has a nice ring to it.

Well, even penal colonies need educated people and managers to keep the colony as such(everyone from dying).

So, yeah... the main problem is getting people who have actual chances of living well off on Earth to sacrifice their lives for the(supposed) benefit of the entire human race.

[mrmouth]

Penal colony has a nice ring to it.

The new Australia. Given a hundred years or so they will finally discover good food.


This is the exact reason the US shouldn't be tossing silly money at NASA. A lot of what NASA does in terms of actual exploration, really doesn't have much of an impact on quality of life. Tt's the side effects. Things like Teflon and Tang. Or even the adoption of Velcro, which made it popular, and gave us the Velcro shoe closures that trendy knobs can go back to wearing.

The aerospace industry has closed the gap. They can make advancements in these areas just as fast and well as NASA can. Piggybacking off of them works just fine. They piggybacked off NASA and the government until now.

[MathiasOfAthens]

The main fault I see in this plan is that you'd need experts and educated people, people who wouldn't have a great reason on average to want to throw their lives away.

Not necessarily. Hard men or those without a life here can be trained and taught to perform whatever tasks exist on Mars. From building a habitat to treating wounds. Its only the research aspect that requires the educated scientists and I agree there they might not be willing to live a spartan existence for a few rocks. Well some might... but a permanent life, idk. Some certainly explore the artic in harsh conditions but its not permanent and they are not that far from civilization.



Penal Colony would be a HUGE drain on resources Phier, unless the Penal Colony mined some valuable resource.

[Phier]

Penal Colony would be a HUGE drain on resources Phier, unless the Penal Colony mined some valuable resource.

Lets say there is an economic reason for a Mars Colony. Even with that sending people there would be something of a life sentence. Even if they were payed astronomical sums of money for being there, what the hell could they spend it on? As such the good old fashioned penal colony would be in order. You can spend life in prison on Earth, or you can be free on Mars. Obviously they would have to be carefully selected.

[AqD]

The main fault I see in this plan is that you'd need experts and educated people, people who wouldn't have a great reason on average to want to throw their lives away.

Why not? It'd be a great adventure!

[MathiasOfAthens]

Oh I think there will be enough land on Mars for the next couple centuries. Martians wont need to invade Earth. But I like the sound of the Imperial Martian Army. The army of Mars. Mars Army. The God of War. Has a nice ring to it dont you think. Sign me up 6644 you have convinced me this project is possible. That the air can be made breathable and trees can sprout in the cold barren ground.

[6644kp]

Oh I think there will be enough land on Mars for the next couple centuries. Martians wont need to invade Earth. But I like the sound of the Imperial Martian Army. The army of Mars. Mars Army. The God of War. Has a nice ring to it dont you think. Sign me up 6644 you have convinced me this project is possible. That the air can be made breathable and trees can sprout in the cold barren ground.

Dont worry we will import fertile ground OR the minerals needs to turn Martian soil fertile and then the Martian Army will reign supreme! That was until the dastardly sneaky Imperial Venusian Army carried out a suprise attack on Olympus Mons starting the First Celestial War

But we'll show those Venusians what happenes when you mess with the God of War.

[MathiasOfAthens]

It wont be like Red Faction. Odds are the Mars colony will never be self-sufficient or capable of building rockets much less ships.

[molonthegreat]

If it is launched it will probably fail spectacularly, I mean just think about the early colonies in the Americas and then imagine an entirely different planet.