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[Fusebox]

So what happens when some important tool breaks down after departure - since these people are apparently going to be on a tight budget?

There will be a public outcry if it all goes to hell during the first week or so and there will have to be some kind of a rescue operation that will costs billions of euros/dollars.

The whole idea is idiotic.

Someone probably said this exact same thing about the first moon landing.

 

[ICKE]

Someone probably said this exact same thing about the first moon landing.

Last time I heard it wasn't a privately funded budget mission with a bunch of reality TV astronauts.

 

[Red Liquorice]

EDIT: Bonus: A 3D animation of the variant described in Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama". Now I want an oculus rift capable version of this where I can do a fly through.

That looks cool, but also absolutely terrifying to imagine standing in it and looking up/out.

 

[E-Cat]

Last time I heard it wasn't a privately funded budget mission with a bunch of reality TV astronauts.

Government agencies no longer have the ability (or funding, rather) to plan such a mission. Obviously, the term "reality TV" conjures up bad associations, but this will not be your ordinary reality show (hint: it will feature intelligent people).

 

[Staab]

I think it's about time we started talking about the applicants, since they're visible on the website (applicants.mars-one.com) :

Aleksei, Ukraine, 27

Eryk, USA, 20

Indre, Lithuania, 23

Some of the videos are hilarious...

 

[1cmanny1]

I can't think why anyone would want a one way ticket to mars. They clearly haven't thought it through.

 

[Dmi3k]

I can see why people apply.

Some would want to leave a mark in history as the first inhabitants of another planet. Others could get a sense of purpose/accomplishment by helping pave the way for for future space travel and a broader Mars habitation.

I'm sure there are pleny of other reasons to do it, and a part of me wants to apply too.

 

[E-Cat]

Elon Musk thinks we could make the first round-trip to Mars as early as 2025, assuming his reusable rocket stuff pans out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDwzmJpI4io#t=29m47s

This is interesting, because I believe SpaceX is one of the suppliers to Mars One.

 

[Beermeister]

The flight is scheduled to leave in Sept. 2022

It will never happen.

 

[E-Cat]

It will never happen.

Thank you for your exquisite and well-thought-out argument from incredulity.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

This is ludicrous posturing of the highest order, not to mention insanely irresponsible. Before we can even consider this kind of mission we have to first have some MUCH longer term missions on the ISS to ascertain the effects of prolonged microgravity on human physiology(one unsolved problem of which seems to be eventually going completely blind after a few years). Even after that, it's far more safe/cost effective to try to colonize the moon first and test techniques for fully self-sustaining habitats there before going somewhere that's a several month trip from the earth, native water/ice deposits or no. We only just sent only our third nonreturnable non-living probe there after nearly 6-7 years of work and planning.

Maybe not quite microgravity, but it's still only a third of earth's gravity. While perhaps the effects would not be quite as drastic, when you're planning to spend the rest of your LIFE on Mars that's plenty of time and a half for something similar to happen. Not to mention that the longest any single human has spent in space is only 1.25 years, there's still plenty of grey area as to what could potentially happen when one has been up there longer. Gotta test, and testing takes a while especially at this timescale. No way we get a permanent Mars settlement in our lifetimes, especially with NASA funding in the dirt. Maybe our children's.

I still think colonizing the moon first is a far more sensible option. While a mars settlement would be able to rely on local resources that the moon doesn't have, ideally whatever equipment/housing that gets sent over there should be as self-sufficient as possible anyway, and troubleshooting is a hell of a lot easier when you're only 356,700 km away as opposed to Mars's minimum approach of over 56 million km...

Thank you for your exquisite and well-thought-out argument from incredulity.

Not to condone crass statements, but care for a rebuttal?

 

[Nilaul]

Yep this guy will go:
http://applicants.mars-one.com/profile/3c4a1f2d-949b-44bb-ac80-d378c4add2c8

and this guy:

http://applicants.mars-one.com/profile/9209cdd2-478c-421f-9d9b-2981918e07de

However Im staying put, the I dont want to die on Mars.

 

[E-Cat]

Not to condone crass statements, but care for a rebuttal?

Sure, I'll take a stab.

An exploration mission of this kind is inherently dangerous—and therefore "irresponsible"—but does that mean we should never go? The most irresponsible thing would be to much longer postpone the prospect of becoming a multi-planetary species, which acts as an insurance for what is, for all we know, a unique phenomenon in the entire Universe.

There are good reasons to go to Mars, rather than the Moon, first. Number one is funding. Even though more costly, a Mars mission will gather much more public interest, because it is a daring prospect without a precedent. When you're essentially operating from a crowd-funding basis, this is important. Mars has an atmosphere that will protect the Astronauts from space debris and radiation. The day cycle is almost identical to ours. Mars is more fit for terraforming. Why is it more ethical to conduct human trials on the effects on microgravity on the Moon? The gravity on Mars more closely resembles the conditions here on Earth.

We're entering a new space age, where the missions are planned and executed mostly through private enterprise. NASA's funding is irrelevant.

So yes, there are dangers. I wouldn't wanna do it. But I think that the potential benefits far outweigh the risks, even if there will be casualties along the way.

 

[E-Cat]

With more than 78,000 people already signed up and 17 weeks to go until the deadline, it looks like the project won't be wanting for the Mars-bound - even after weeding out 99.99 percent of the applicants.

Press Release

Snippets:

Mars One has received applications from over 120
countries. Most applications come from USA (17324),
followed by China (10241), United Kingdom (3581),
Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina
and India.

Bas Lansdorp, Mars One Co-Founder and CEO said:
“With seventy-eight thousand applications in two
weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired
job in history. These numbers put us right on track
for our goal of half a million applicants.”

As part of the application every applicant is required
to explain his/her motivation behind their decision go
to Mars in an one minute video. Many applicants are
choosing to publish this video on the Mars One website.
These are openly accessible on applicants.mars-one.com.

“Applicants we have received come from a very wide
range of personalities, professions and ages. This is
significant because what we are looking for is not
restricted to a particular background. From Round 1
we will take forward the most committed, creative,
resilient and motivated applicants,” said Dr. Norbert
Kraft, Mars One Chief Medical Officer.

Mars One will continue to receive online applications
until August 31st 2013. From all the applicants in
Round 1, regional reviewers will select around 50-100
candidates for Round 2 in each of the 300 geographic
regions in the world that Mars One has identified.

Four rounds make the selection process, which will
come to an end in 2015; Mars One will then employ
28-40 candidates, who will train for around 7 years.
Finally an audience vote will elect one of groups in
training to be the envoys of humanity to Mars.

 

[Akuun]

Finally an audience vote will elect one of groups in
training to be the envoys of humanity to Mars.

Having an audience vote to decide this sounds like an idiotic idea.

Is this a real thing or is it an elaborate reality show?

 

[Carlisle]

It's not meant to be a vacation. It's like the original European settlers in North America. Most of them died from exposure and starvation and the rest ate each other to survive. You're giving everything you have to give your people just a foothold. And once that's established, others can build up from there. But you have to start somewhere and you'll probably die, only instead of natives to worry about it's lack of breathable air and air pressure. Also food. And water. Essential minerals and nutrients. Radiation and meteors that the weaker atmosphere can't deflect as well as Earth's. Heat. You'll probably want that stuff more than videogames and e-readers before your most-assuredly unnatural end.

 

[E-Cat]

Having an audience vote to decide this sounds like an idiotic idea.

Is this a real thing or is it an elaborate reality show?

The fun is in finding out! The groups left at that point will be highly selected, anyway.

 

[Vilix]

 

[Naked Snake]

If I thought I had any chance of actually winning/ being selected for this then I'd be tempted to apply, but I know that I don't have what it takes (psychologically/health/skills). Yes it's an almost guaranteed ticket to shortening your lifespan and exponentially reducing your quality of life, but gash darnit it's also an instant immortality ticket into the history books and a chance to actually do what humanity has only imagined for millennia in fictional works before.

You'd be one-upping Neil Armstrong, think about that.

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

I should apply for laughs.

 

[DietRob]

Finally a viable response when melodramatics post that they want off this planet.

Gonna save the url to this thread.

 

[E-Cat]

If I thought I had any chance of actually winning/ being selected for this then I'd be tempted to apply, but I know that I don't have what it takes (psychologically/health/skills). Yes it's an almost guaranteed ticket to shortening your lifespan and exponentially reducing your quality of life, but gash darnit it's also an instant immortality ticket into the history books and a chance to actually do what humanity has only imagined for millennia in fictional works before.

You'd be one-upping Neil Armstrong, think about that.

Meh... being a statistic in a history book is overrated. Ask yourself this: "Would I want to be Abraham Lincoln (i.e., dead)"?

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying."

 

[Naked Snake]

Meh... being a statistic in a history book is overrated. Ask yourself this: "Would I want to be Abraham Lincoln (i.e., dead)"?

I love that Woody Allen quote and often repeat it myself, but you're going to die anyway by staying on Earth and not going to Mars, unless they get really good at prolonging human life or achieving biological immortality by the time the Mars One mission is ready to launch (which I used to feel fairly confident about before, ala Ray Kurztweil, but I don't anymore), in which case then I'd definitely choose to stay on Earth and exponentially extend my life than go to Mars and die... but if the difference is a few years/a decade of life, then "achieving immortality through your work" doesn't sound like a bad deal when the alternative is dying as a nobody a short while later.

Edit: I gotta say that a lot of how I feel about this now has to do with my current state in life; I feel very lonely, unhappy and frustrated with myself. So it's no surprise that the idea of achieving any version of "glory" has an appeal for me. It must be very different and subjective depending on what's going on in your life. For example when I was in a happy relationship some years ago I abandoned my lifelong desire to move to another country because it meant I'd be away from my lover, let alone moving to another planet! What I'm trying to say is that I get where you're coming from.

 

[E-Cat]

A good, skeptical article:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/13/mars-one

The real number of applicants so far is brought under question. Apparently, everyone who did an initial registration is counted as an "applicant". The actual amount of people who completed the process and paid the fee could be anywhere between >600 and 78,000 (probably near the lower end).

In order to calculate the exact figure, we'd need to know what percentage of the applicants let their video be published on the mars-one.com website.