I find myself feeling very uncomfortable about this whole thing for many reasons. In no particular order:

1) We can't even take care of our own planet and now we're taking over another one?

2) Human beings were not designed to live on Mars.

3) This will rip families apart - especially since, once on Mars, the people will not be able to return.

4) This isn't being done in the name of science, it's being done in the name of reality TV.

5) Like Crazyheart said, they will bring their Earthly problems with them.

Actually, somegal, it really sickens me.

This plan is going nowhere fast. I am half-inclined to think it will turn out to be a major scam.

Just on a purely technical level, no one has produced a spacecraft capable of carrying even a small group of astronauts to Mars, let alone this bunch. No nation or private space firm currently operates a heavy lift booster capable of carrying components for such a mission into space (though I believe SpaceX has plans for a heavy lift version of their Falcon booster rocket and likely the Chinese are working on one).

Many of those signing on are pursuing a pipe dream and have likely not even looked seriously at the obstacles. How are they going to transport enough provisions for the trip, let alone the arrival? How are they going to shield them from the radiation that is endemic in interplanetary space? How are they going to build the colony itself (realistically, an advanced party needs to go to actually prepare buildings, food production, etc.)?

Colonization of an alien world is not going to happen because a bunch of guys manage to recruit some gullible, or at least idealistic, colonists. It will happen when it is needed for some purpose and will require years, maybe even a decade, of planning and testing. The first one will (or at least should) be a scientific base largely focussed on in-depth study of the planet and determining whether further colonization is both feasible and necessary. Any discovery of life on the planet (it is a longshot but not impossible) should end any plans for anything beyond research bases immediately.

Would I sign for the "colony" proposal mentioned in the OP? Nope, because I don't see it happening and I'm suspicious of the whole endeavour.

Would I sign on for a serious, well-planned, scientific colony on Mars (assuming they needed an IT Manager )? In a heartbeat, but I'm likely too old and I have diabetes which likely invalids me out right there.

Mendalla

I wouldn't go.

Good luck to those who go. They'll need it!

Personally, I would not go.

Honestly, I could easily come up with a list of people I would love to send.

I wonder what the earth looks like from Mars. Would humans get shorter or taller from the lack of atmosphere? Age slower or faster? How would humans look after 1000 years?

I wouldn't want to go, I love the earth too much!

No. I think those people are being used as guinea pigs to their own detriment, and possibly humanity's down the road. We have to look after the planet we're on, and the life on it.

Mendalla is totally correct, just because you have people that are willing to go, doesn't mean you have the financing or the means to keep these few people alive for the rest of their lives.


But for the record, I wouldn't go. Imaging being left totally alone, in a totally barren and hostile planet with just a handful of other people for the rest of your life. Hmmm.. not for me.

I would go in a moment, if one of the other colonists would marry me.      With only 24 people going it would also ensure we would be married for life. lol

That in itself could be a form of hell Alex. Hmm..

I would go if:

they would supply 10 years of food, 

and breathing material.

And a computer with "The Age of Titans" installed.

And a script containing a list of things to be investigated.

tools and equioment to make the investigation.

Ten years. Yep. A nice way to make it to 96,

That being denied me, I'll just have to type out the two novels I've been thinking about for a decade...world fameous material no doubt.... 

 (Did you know Geo, Bernard Shaw wrote plays in his ninties?)

Are u saying being married to me for life is like hell?????

One should not judge me until one has eaten my cheese balls

Ahhhh... gross! No, but I was thinking about living in close quarters with the same person and that it could be a little trying on the nerves.

LOL!

Hi crazyheart,

Given that even a safe return trip would take roughly three years plus it is probably more realistic to plan a one way trip.  Not that such planning makes survival that much more likely.

Most likely they will start a new cemetery.  Someday a colony on Mars is not an impossible dream.  At present I think it is a very remote probability.

Whatever the colonists bring along I suspect. 

They would have to be just to survive the trip.  I'm wondering about their condition when they arrive.  There are health ramifications for extended periods of weightlessness.  Astronauts aboard the ISS feel it after a couple of months.  What would folk experience after 18 months without much reprieve?  

The unifying factor will be survival.  None will survive long alone so it would be in everybody's best interests to look out for one another.  Of course there will be mental/emotional hazards to deal with along the way.  

Not likely.  Being the first person or one of the first people to die on Mars doesn't appeal to me.

Given that such a mission is a few years away from now at best I would think that any family planning on breaking apart now to participate is putting carts way before horses.

Is it abhorrent?

Too early to tell.  Many couples in NL live apart for months at a time as one works the oil fields in Alberta while the other raises the family in NL.  Of course there is always the expectation that when one heads off to AB they will be calling frequently and back with family a couple of times a year.

Still, it would be a decision that a couple should be able to make together.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Living apart for months on end, John, is different than forever.

Well, we have messed (are messing up one planet) . . . so now onto another.  Disposable world we live in - diapers, lighters, containers, etc. etc.  Now disposable planet.

I would not go.  No desire.

Religion - those that go will take their religion with them, whatever it may be.

I don't like the idea of separating families.  They should not separate, or even consider, separating spouses.  But other family members will be separated.  I think of my mom's family who left Poland and all their family behind, knowing very well that they would never see one another again . . . so people have experienced this is the past.

Hi crazyheart,

And yet there are police officers, fire-fighters and military service people who could be separated from their spouses forever in the blink of an eye.  Every astronaut's spouse has lived with the very stark reality that their loved ones may never return to them.

If a couple is prepared to make that choice it is theirs to make.

Grace and peace to you.

John

I guess

Will there be medical facilities and staff out there on Mars, a policing system? Courts? Or will they set up their own 'tribe' with it's own set of rules? What if people go stir crazy? How will they divy up food, supplies? Sounds like a very scarey experiment to me. Lord of the Flies on an alien planet. Yikes. A real no-mans land if there ever was one. If one could go on a weekend trip and back again relatively safely, I might go...but that's not the case. Maybe someday space travel will be like that, but it's a long way off, and right now there's no way I'd want to do it. I think we have better things to focus on here on Earth than spending all that money to ship people to Mars. I wonder if those selected have thought this through or they are just enamoured by the thought of a space adventure. I read about a 60 something Canadian science prof being excited just to be able to tell his daughter he's a 'Martian'. Doesn't sound like a good enough reason to leave one's family behind. If anyone should go, I think they should be single people, and trained astronauts.

But why do humans need to go? What's the point? Why do we have to put our footprint everywhere? And then stake a claim on it? We have photos from the Mars Rover. More than good enough for me. I'd rather take a trip to Drumheller (a humbling reminder of just how susceptible we are) to see dinosaur bones (huge, not at all humble, violent powerful creatures who could not escape their fate), or the Grand Canyon, or a desert in New Mexico. It's warmer. There's food and lodging nearby- human settlements in closer proximity- indiginous tour guides, search and rescue crews and air ambulances if needed, and me and my family and friends could get together to see each other much more easily. I don't think this Mars idea is wise. We're pushing our good fortune. I can't say exactly how yet- I guess we shall see- but I feel this is another example of brazen humans pushing their limits too far and not focusing on important problems already existing.

I wouldn't be signing up, but I don't think it's completely pointless to go.  Humans aren't special in terms of trying to use the resources available.  Some organisms made it to previously uninhabited islands and populated and evolved there.

I think we're still a long ways off though, and some of the 'planning' is a bit ridiculous considering the stage we're currently at.

Yeah. They're 10 steps ahead of themselves. I suppose it's not pointless for those who want to go. Just seems more of a nightmare than a dream to me. If Mars looked like the lush planet from 'Avitar' I could see people wanting to possibly live there ;) but a cold bleak barren planet of red rocks and desert and just a few other people? Yeesh. I'd rather move to a rock quarry, and I don't want to move to a rock quarry. If they sent up miners used to that kind of environment, they could probably handle the surroundings without going nuts. Well, there'll be no fruit trees for them to be tempted by out there. ;)

As a geoscientist, I would dearly love to visit and examine Mars.  Not to mention the coolness factor of being one of the first ones there.  However, as others have pointed out, this planning is all very, very premature.  I'm curious about the "abhorrent" part though.  Chemgal, wouldn't the ramifications of separating a marriage be something best judged by the individuals involved, rather than by you or me?  Do you also find every single divorce that occurs to be an abhorrent thing, too?

To me, trading human relationships, and time spent by rivers oceans, trees... to stare at cold lifeless rocks on Mars, sounds very bleak. But, whatever floats people's boats, I guess. As long as they know, that if they get there, their boat's not coming back. They may end up resenting their decision. And will they evolve into benevolent people by the time they populate Mars and find a way back here...in that harsh, bleak, environment? Will they become savage, or kind? What will that mean for us, still here, if they're not? Will they be giant, radiated, angry Martian-Humans?

They'll be going only with whatever supplies they can take with them. There's NOTHING there. Worse than being stranded in Antarctica. At least there are penguins there. It's a baffling decision and I don't know if it could be called a sane (if they're screening for emotional fitness) one by anyone who's not totally devoted to the science of understanding Mars- because escaping Earth on a one way ticket to Mars says to me that they really don't like people much, or any other life forms for that matter. To go just because it would be something different as a personal experience....I question. But I'm not the one signing up. I guess Australians made the best of it when they were shipped off to penal colonies there, and not by their own choice- pretty harsh circumstances to live in, in some places, and they did okay. Same for those who settled the barren prairies and built communities. People probably questioned their decision to settle there, too- and they're vital communities now. And those who built desert communities...I suppose it's doable. Maybe it'll be okay. I just have my doubts. I think we've made a mess of one planet already, and I'm not comfortable with the idea of humans getting our grubby paws onto another one. Unless we work on repairing some of what we've done to this one, we'll mess that one up in no time.

Or, maybe it'll turn out to be a beautiful place and they'll learn how to help us earthlings fix our problems. It's just very strange to think about. I was never big into sci-fi so it creeps me out just a bit.

Hi All,

Just last night on the NASA Channel.  There was some discussion about the project.  Apparently there is work being done on a plasma drive which would significantly reduce travel time between Mars and Earth.  The speculation between the individual heading up that research was that travel to Mars by a manned team will happen in roughly 50 years or so.  Sooner if they make some technological break-throughs.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/researching/aspl/index.html

He doesn't think anything is right around the corner though.

Nor is he looking at it being a one-way trip.  The good thing about NASA is that bringing people back alive appears to be something of a priority.

Grace and peace to you.

John

And what if only one person survived the trip?

Hi waterfall,

I have seen no evidence that NASA counts any human fatality as success.  They no longer are in the habit of sending primates up as guinea pigs so it appears they now consider any death of any living creature on a mission something of a failure.

They do learn why things went wrong and seek to avoid repeat disasters so it would appear that no deaths have been in vain.  

Grace and peace to you.

John

Post edited.

Would I want to go? Never in a gazillion years. I'll watch Gravity if I get the urge.

revjohn - if I'm not mistaken, the above plan involes the use of plasma propulsion. Could be wrong.

I also think the dollars going into such projects are private. Not a single tax dollar should be wasted in this extravagent fashion. There are much greater concerns right here that need financing.

That's the kind of project I was talking about in positive terms, though. It's NASA's plan and it is a much more realistic one (and plasma drive will open up more than just Mars).

I think CH was posting about this one. They claim they can start sending colonists in 10 years using current tech.

Mendalla

Thanks for providing the link, Mendella. It's the one I was looking for.

Who says I'm judging?  Of course I don't find every single divorce to be abhorrent, I'm very proud of a relative for her divorce.

What kind of effort do you think would be required to make Rapture-believing Christians think that this trip to Mars is the Rapture and they need to buy tickets now?

Ship 'em off to Mars, eh? Excellent idea!

I know! It came to me when I heard it was a one-way trip.

Chansen, is that how we want to start off religion on Mars?

Well, if they really are God's Chosen People, then they will survive and thrive on Mars, and Mars rather than Earth will become God's Chosen Planet.

I'll take that chance.

Hi ninjafaery,

If it was a return trip and I fit the profile I'd consider going.  It would be quite an experience.  I'm not interested on going to another planet just to eventually die.

Since plasma drive is not a reality at present any plans to leave would be based on existing technology.  Which is why NASA isn't saying anything and some private folk are.

The plan to go to Mars is a private enterprise and private money will be used from building the rocket to provisioning the trip.  There would also need to be significant monies in providing technical support from construction to launch and beyond.

Most of what NASA does is tax dollar funded.  It will be NASA that most likely comes up with any significant breakthroughs first.

Extravagence is a matter of opinion.  You and I are communicating through a medium that is a beneficiary of the space race.  This technology is the result of wanting to do things better and more efficiently.  

Governments could do a better job of looking after their citizenry than they are doing currently.  Whatever resources and strategies are currently being employed are often the result of years of expensive research.

Grace and peace to you.

John

I do think a significant private Mars project will come along at some point. In early s-f, space travel was almost entirely private and there are still good many engineers and enterpreneurs who are inspired by that.

Mars One, however, just seems too ambitious and too marketing-driven to be a good one and I fear that them rushing their timeline and suffering a catastrophic failure could kill private space exploration and even hurt NASA's plans.

Someone like Elon Musk, who already owns the necessary technology in the form of the Falcon rocket and Dragon space capsule and who would likely would take a more realistic approach, would be a better choice to run a private Mars program. I would take a ride in his gear with no qualms at this point, though Dragon isn't quite rated for human use yet.

My other concern is that 2024 is too soon for the unmanned explorations currently underway to definitively rule in or out the existence of native Martian life. Even if it is just microbes, we need to proceed carefully if it is found and I think a government effort or more science-driven private one would be more likely to respect that. NASA's longer horizon gives more wiggle room to address those sorts of issues.

Mendalla

Marvin the Martian declares that this would be considered an act of war.

Mendalla

Take a look! Marvin already has crosses out like some kind of welcoming party! That must be the landing zone!

It IS the Rapture! Godspeed, Christians!

It appears to me to be a one-way trip ... sort of monotheistic ... like there aren't any others to concern yourself with ...

An extensive effort to avoid a marriage of hell here on earth?

Seems to me there'd be easier ways out of failed attempts at conjugation and conjecture of love existing between two disaggreable humanoids prone to divine error! Forgive and move on and don't forget the err .. so you won't do it again as in one burned twice shy? That goes for the two-a-dem ... close to a diadem as overhead glowing example of domestic battle?

With the failure of God's marriages why do we need war and Mars? Pears some make monis at ID ...

[quote=Arminius]

Well, if they really are God's Chosen People, then they will survive and thrive on Mars, and Mars rather than Earth will become God's Chosen Planet.

_____________________________________

chansen

Oh no! Time grows short! It's just like those used car dealer ads! A low mileage 1999 Mercury Cougar for that price won't be around forever!

Many apologizies, chemgal!  I used your name when I meant crazyheart.  I saw "somegal" below that and somehow, the names "somegal" + "crazyheart" ended up being "chemgal" in my head.

Come to think of it, "someheart" and "crazygal" are much better usernames.

lol Anyone dated crazygal before?