One way to Mars NO return trip

[veremchuka]

Who the hell would opt for this? There's a lot to bitch about here but really!

"Colonists would stay on the red planet for the rest of their lives, eliminating the challenge of returning them to Earth"

More Than 78,000 Apply for a One-Way Trip to Mars | NBC Bay Area

 

[timo2]

Who the hell would opt for this? There's a lot to bitch about here but really!

More Than 78,000 Apply for a One-Way Trip to Mars | NBC Bay Area

That would be a great congressional junket!!

 

[Dawg52]

That would be a great congressional junket!!

Yeah, I can think of a boat load I would like to see take that trip.

 

[travelover]

Yeah, I can think of a boat load I would like to see take that trip.

Me, too. For some, I'd pay.

 

[Bikerdude]

That would be a great congressional junket!!

Beat me to it.

 

[Chuckanut]

Until such time as we have a superior propulsion system, long trips through space are a dangerous thing. There is the long term exposure to solar radiation, along with no real way to abort the trip and return to Earth quickly should a serious problem arise. I believe NASA is working on better propulsion systems that will reduce the time to reach Mars from months to weeks. But, they are many years off. Until, then its best not plan on a speedy return.

 

[harley]

I'd go.No question.

 

[Arifriekinel]

Until such time as we have a superior propulsion system, long trips through space are a dangerous thing. There is the long term exposure to solar radiation, along with no real way to abort the trip and return to Earth quickly should a serious problem arise. I believe NASA is working on better propulsion systems that will reduce the time to reach Mars from months to weeks. But, they are many years off. Until, then its best not plan on a speedy return.

Guess that's why they're planning on no return

I know quite a few people interested in trying it out. Could be my generation isn't as attached to this place, but it seems like something fun and interesting to do. I'm not a fan of the reality show aspect of how they want to fund it, but that's pretty much the only reason I wouldn't want to be of the first four

 

[BigNick]

The application process extends until August 31 and charges a fee from $5 to $75, depending on the country.

Obvious scam is obvious, as the young people on the Internet say. I'm going to assume that the US is the most expensive country and maybe China is $10. So they've already pulled in well over $1 million. Not bad for a bunch of jokers, none of whom even has a PhD, who built a website and got some free publicity by being outlandish. They say themselves, they're on target for half a million applicants. Ker-chingggg!

 

[Brett_Cameron]

I am disappointed that only 78,000 applied.

 

[MichaelB]

Can we sign up others? I'll pay the way for a couple of siblings and even offer up a few of my own darling offspring (in the best interest of advancing science and humanity, of course)

 

[HFWR]

If an effort was made to establish infrastructure, i.e. several cargo-only trips to provide living quarters and food production capabilities and such for the Mars colonists, this might be practical. Just going to go seems, well, dumb.

 

[Fermion]

Most people will do very little to advance the human race...texting your latest bowel movement on your new i-phone or recording the latest episode of the voice just doesn't accomplish much. If people want to become new pioneers and contribute to our understanding of long term colonization of other planets, I say go for it.

Trips to the new world were considered one way for most people in the 1500s...

 

[heeyy_joe]

And if you act now, you'll get a star named after you in the International Star Registry!

 

[kyounge1956]

Who the hell would opt for this? There's a lot to bitch about here but really!

"Colonists would stay on the red planet for the rest of their lives, eliminating the challenge of returning them to Earth"

More Than 78,000 Apply for a One-Way Trip to Mars | NBC Bay Area

I don't think they are so crazy...didn't many Americans' ancestors do essentially the same thing? They left their country of origin for a hard and uncertain life in an unknown land, with probably little or no assistance from the home country. The only thing they were sure of is that they would never again see their birthplace or the people they left behind.

It would take several months to get from here to Mars, with a significant chance of dying on the way there. Wasn't the same thing true of going from England to the New World in the 17th Century, or from St Louis across the Great Plains in the 19th?

 

[veremchuka]

didn't many Americans' ancestors do essentially the same thing? They left their country of origin for a hard and uncertain life in an unknown land, with probably little or no assistance from the home country. The only thing they were sure of is that they would never again see their birthplace or the people they left behind.

It would take several months to get from here to Mars, with a significant chance of dying on the way there. Wasn't the same thing true of going from England to the New World in the 17th Century, or from St Louis across the Great Plains in the 19th?

Come on! There's is no comparison. Those people did not leave the planet they left their homeland but they were still on a planet where there is food and other people. Times were much more difficult yet simpler then, can you really imagine leaving everything that you have available here for nothing? Dying on another planet. Food you like. Oh the list is endless I could type for an hour but I have other stuff to do. Seriously there is no comparison to what the colonists did and going to Mars.

 

[Amethyst]

We had a fascinating conversation at work about this a couple of years ago. The 18- and 22-year-old team members said they would go! We middle-aged people chided them a bit about having their whole lives in front of them, so why go where there's no air, let alone likely members of the opposite sex ...but the youngsters seemed quite excited about it all. They are pretty smart young people, so it's not as if they don't recognize it would be dangerous. I just think it illustrates how differently we perceive things as we age.

Amethyst

 

[scrinch]

Here's an interesting novel about an engineer/astronaut who became stuck on Mars.

 

[tuixiu]

Haven't these people seen Total Recall? I don't want my eyes to bulge out.

 

[clifp]

Obvious scam is obvious, as the young people on the Internet say. I'm going to assume that the US is the most expensive country and maybe China is $10. So they've already pulled in well over $1 million. Not bad for a bunch of jokers, none of whom even has a PhD, who built a website and got some free publicity by being outlandish. They say themselves, they're on target for half a million applicants. Ker-chingggg!

If this was Elon Musk Space X venture, I sign up in a minute. Probably think about for a week if it was NASA, or Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. But these jokers not a chance.

 

[kramer]

Here's an interesting novel about an engineer/astronaut who became stuck on Mars.

This Kindle book looks interesting. But at the link I am getting the message "This title is not currently available for purchase" and it only gives a price for the audio version, not the Kindle version.

Maybe because I am in the Philippines? I have not had such a problem with Kindle books before.

 

[scrinch]

This Kindle book looks interesting. But at the link I am getting the message "This title is not currently available for purchase" and it only gives a price for the audio version, not the Kindle version.

Maybe because I am in the Philippines? I have not had such a problem with Kindle books before.

I guess it has been sold to a major publisher and withdrawn from the self-published market. Let me check my copy and see if I can lend it to you. I'm in Indonesia. I bought it here with no problem. I've never lent a Kindle book before...I'll have to check to see how it is done.

 

[Arifriekinel]

If an effort was made to establish infrastructure, i.e. several cargo-only trips to provide living quarters and food production capabilities and such for the Mars colonists, this might be practical. Just going to go seems, well, dumb.

When reading about this recently, I remember that that was their plan. Multiple cargo trips for a few years, while successful applicants were trained in the desert.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

PDF version is here: The Martian

 

[Chuckanut]

From what I have read the exposure to solar radiation will probably knock about 10-15 years off the life of a traveler to Mars. It would also create problems with reproduction.

Some experts suggest in view of that only older folks 45+ be sent. They would exchange 15 years of life, on average, for the chance to be one of the first inter-planetary explorers. I imagine many people might jump at that.