78,000 apply for one-way mission to Mars

[bemildred]

The number of applicants who want to take part in the Mars One project has almost reached 80,000.

Mars One, a Dutch company’s project that aims to fly four people to the red Planet every two years, starting in April 2023 has reportedly received more than 78 000 entries since it announced the mission, reports nbcnewyork.com.

According to time.com, the company is expecting 500,000 applicants by the time applications close on August 31.

Entries have been received from 120 countries across the world including South Africa.

http://www.thenewage.co.za/95497-1021-53-78000_apply_for_oneway_mission_to_Mars

[Turbineguy]

1. Yes,

but everybody who applied said their name was George W Bush.

[burnodo]

2. I'm signing up

I may not be able to fulfill any requirements, but I'll put my name down for consideration!

[RedCappedBandit]

3. I wouldn't go. Imagine what could happen to the community.

People can turn pretty nasty. Nowhere to go, stuck with a given group of people for the rest of your life? No thanks.

[MrScorpio]

4. Hell really IS other people… Imagine being stuck on another planet with them. nt

[RedCappedBandit]

5. I seriously think this is a space-horror movie waiting to happen. nt

[dogknob]

8. It could very well play out that way, but nothing worth having is easy or convenient...

[RedCappedBandit]

17. Oh, I definitely think this is worth doing.

I'm just too much of a wimp to do it myself. LOL.

[bemildred]

6. It drives me nuts, I can tell you. nt

[burnodo]

12. I can't even imagine

Strapping yourself to a rocket that might explode under you, launching into space, away from Earth, in the celestial void, traveling to Mars, another planet, setting your imprint on another world, digging into the soil of a foreign planet!

I'd kill myself if the living conditions got bad, but I would jump at the chance.

[RedCappedBandit]

18. The whole 'never coming back' thing is what gets me.

But man, what an adventure for those courageous enough to do it.

[longship]

39. Four at a time with regular launches of four more.

At least the new arrivals will have food waiting for them. Shades of the Donner Party.

Of course, this is all if the manage to survive the trip. Shielding from cosmic rays and CME's is no little task as shielding means more mass, and there's that pesky Tsiolkovsky rocket equation in which greater mass launched means much greater mass due to the... Fucking rocket equation!! There's no escaping it. Nor is there an escape from the cosmic radiation, except for launching more mass as shielding. Water would work well, as it is a superb absorber; that's why it's used to shield nuclear reactors. But water is fucking massive and then you've got Tsiolkovsky staring you in the face again.

I don't see this happening without a huge "Manhattan Project" level commitment, which isn't going to happen by a private concern. This is something that only whole governments can accomplish, and today would likely only happen by a collaboration of multiple governments.

Oh! Did anybody tell you that the funding for this boondoggle is a reality TV program? That's right. When they all die on Mars -- assuming they make it alive -- it will be broadcast like a warped real life episode of "Survivor".

I wonder if Yau Man Chan has applied. Doubtful. I think he probably is happy at UC Berkeley.

[cprise]

54. So 'reality TV' has degenerated into bloodsport. n/t

[longship]

75. Who knows?

They've got nearly 80,000 applications.

I would love to think that they have their shit together and that this could work out. To build a colony on another body in the solar system is an incredible achievement. I truly think that it must happen eventually if we can stop quibbling about whether everybody on the planet should have the same religious beliefs, or whether everybody should carry deadly weapons all the time, or even something as simple as believing that every human deserves the same dignity and respect as every other. But these things are somehow too difficult for humans. That makes me sad.

What would make me glad is if this project was a real deal and received the support that such a difficult venture deserves. Then, I would gladly set aside my cynical fears that this may be just a publicity stunt.

They certainly have drawn a bit attention to themselves. And fortunately we will know whether my worst fears are a fact or not. There are very smart and experienced people who know all about this shit. If all this company wants to do is to make a reality TV show, we will all know soon enough. But if they are really serious the same very smart people would jump at the chance to be part of it.

I am skeptical that that is what will happen. Landing humans on Mars alive is a fucking difficult task. I don't think we're close to solving the problems of doing so.

The big deal is the one way ticket. It solves having to land the fuel for lift off, but if you're going to stay, you need the equivalent in provisions, and infrastructure. Mars One says that they'll seed the landing site ahead of time. Okay, fine! If you can do that, you can seed it with fuel for liftoff to an orbiting craft for the return journey. Again, it's that rocket equation. If you can send provisions ahead, you can send fuel.

There's a lot of shit that just doesn't add up on this. I think they just want to make a reality TV series. Too bad Tammy Faye Bakker died. I would bet that she would at least have been an entertaining candidate. I understand that she was pretty good in her reality TV show.

Regardless, I remain skeptical, but hopeful. I would be less skeptical if the destination was the moon. But I guess Newt Gingrich already has a flag planted there.

[cprise]

77. Colony?? Its a reality TV show.

The last time I looked over their website months ago, there was no mention of a "colony". I got the impression is was to be more of an entertainment / guinea pig outpost.

A colony means there is an expectation of survival at least into middle-age *and* growth through childbirth.

Who wants to watch real children develop in 1/3 Earth gravity?

[longship]

80. Hence my two posts in this thread.

But I would also like to think that this isn't a publicity stunt merely for the televisionary set.

There are some very smart people who think a occupied mission to Mars is within reach, like Robert Zubrin. Here's an autotune synopsis of his argument courtesy of Symphony of Science.

Alas, I am skeptical of Zubrin's claims. But the moon is a mere three days away, not many months. Landing on the moon is easier, much easier. Plus, that mean old rocket equation can work for you when gravity is only 1/6 of earth's. Mars is better than twice that. The best is that the moon doesn't have to be a one way mission and that once a permanent residence is established it can be a great platform to launch humans to anywhere else in the solar system. It's that old rocket equation again. Plus a bit of advantage from the Interplanetary Transport System, often called the interplanetary super highway, which provides very low energy transfer orbits between any two locations in the solar system.

We've used the ITS for satellites to the outer solar system for years. But it takes a stable base at a location with low gravity to make it really pay off. For instance, the moon.

Mars One missed their mark. It should have been Moon Base Alpha!

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. Mandatory in-flight reading will be "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch".

[bemildred]

11. Or Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy.

But Mr. Dick is worth the trouble any time.

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. What would motivate someone to want to do this?

[ZombieHorde]

24. Anyone who has ever eaten brussel sprouts has a good reason to leave this planet. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. !!

Well, there is that.

[BlueStreak]

29. Go ahead to Mars. That leaves more Brussesl Sprout for me. :)

[awoke_in_2003]

49. I must disagree with you this time...

Brussels sprouts are great.

[ZombieHorde]

50. Yes, they're great

for torture and hate.

[awoke_in_2003]

51. Well, when I eat them...

I think I torture those around me

[ZombieHorde]

52. Even Dick Cheney squirms at the thought of feeding others brussels sprouts. nt

[Jamastiene]

55. And anyone who has had to endure the gas of anyone who has eaten brussels sprouts

has a good reason to want to leave this planet too.

[Fumesucker]

73. Now imagine wearing a space suit after having eaten Brussels sprouts

[yawnmaster]

40. There can be many motivations...one being motivated for the possibility of one's life...

to make a huge difference with regard to exploring and living beyond this planet.

[Blue_Tires]

86. Really hawt Martian women

(the space agencies have been keeping it top secret)

[Shampoobra]

10. Mars will be populated by the most antisocial people imaginable

Think about the type of person who would be okay with never again having personal, face-to-face contact with any friends or family.

I can think of a few examples of people I know personally who would find this an appealing proposition, and they're not happy people.

The way the population is being chosen seems almost designed, in advance, to have negative results.

[randome]

14. I think there will be some psychological screening going on during the selection process.

[hr]
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[burnodo]

15. and what have the "happy people" done to solve things?

just askin'

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. "The way the population is being chosen seems almost designed, in advance, to have negative results"

Much the way immigrants to the US were chosen.

My first us descendant arrived here in 1632 on the ship William and Francis. Many of us are descended from exactly this type of person.

[Shampoobra]

74. But in many cases, they brought family members, didn't they?

I don't know. But I've always thought most (or many) of our ancestors came here with other family members, or at least a spouse. The plan proposed by Mars One seems to exclude that option entirely.

[Ruby the Liberal]

26. Or a toilet, fresh water, or food.

Just to name a few.

[Fumesucker]

30. Sounds rather like getting divorced, at least for a man anyway

Lose your friends and family in one swell foop, particularly if you've really committed yourself to family and have no friends outside the ones you had as a couple.

I've watched kids these days text each other when they're sitting in the same room, face to face contact isn't as popular as it used to be.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. I would, out of the sense of adventure

But hey.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. Will the accomodations on Mars have mini-bars and spas? Frequent flyer miles?

[randome]

16. At least a Starbucks and an iPhone. We're not savages.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[bvar22]

19. On THAT basis alone,

I would question the mental fitness of those 78,000.
As it stands today, they are volunteering for a Suicide Mission.

Now, I DO understand someone wanting to go out a HERO in a Blaze of Glory,
but I don't really trust someone like that to drive my car.

[Fumesucker]

20. Life is a terminal condition

Columbus and his crews had no guarantee they were going to come home, most of the common sailors were afraid of falling off the edge of the world. In fact the only reason they didn't die is because the New World, about which they had no clue, was in the way, Columbus had used a too small estimate for the circumference of the Earth although a surprisingly accurate estimate was around since Eratosthenes.

[cprise]

57. Thanks for glibly defending Medieval attitudes about life and death.

And we do know a lot about what Mars is like already.

Enjoy the snuff videos...

[Fumesucker]

63. Bless your heart

Did you feel the same way about the crews who died on the two stricken Shuttles?

Do you think they didn't know they were taking an extreme risk?

[cprise]

79. NASA astronauts have a substantial expectation of survival

The missions are engineered to return them safely, accidents notwithstanding.

Sending people to live in a non-colony outpost simply until they die, with absolutely no prior experience in that environment, is a sure recipe for snuffing out the subjects' lives in short order. Doing this without manned exploratory (round-trip) missions first is insane.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. Not unlike the early colonization of the Americas

[bvar22]

35. You DID hear this week that archaeologists uncovered ....

....evidence of cannibalism at Jamestown?
They ate a 16 year old girl.
Still want to volunteer?

There IS a difference between a Leap of Faith and Suicide.
The early colonists had some expectation of survival,
and the indigenous Human inhabitants of North America were doing well.
The North American continent was LUSH with life and the promise of RICHES.
What is the promise of Mars,
IF one survives the trip?
Death Valley is a Paradise compared to the lifeless, hostile, unable to support life surface of Mars.

I've never been shy about taking a Leap of Faith,
but I'm going to do the all the prep and Due Diligence research
BEFORE stepping off the edge.

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. Yes, and when we finally send people to mars

this will be the equivalent.

And I fear to say, indentured servitude and all

[cprise]

53. Corporations are now in the business of marketing suicide pacts.

If anyone wondered whether modern society could degenerate into bloodsport for entertainment, then this is it!

We have no experience even colonizing Antarctica's interior, and surely these candidates have no chance of surviving for long on such a world as Mars.

Your point about the difference between a leap of faith and suicide is spot-on.

[yawnmaster]

41. Then LIFE itself is a suicide mission! They will be building and living out the rest of their...

lives on Mars. How is that different from other ancient explorers?
Did the original Polynesians who found Hawaii embark on a suicide mission? It was most clearly one way.

Some might think it better to take this chance, have a huge part in building something, even if one dies in a foreign place.
With the premise that we all die, what makes dying on this planet so much better than anywhere else?

[bemildred]

23. IMHO we are yet far from being able to do this.

But it hurts nothing much to work on it, and it does seem feasible, and in the long run wise too. We have our eggs all in one basket, and the basket is fraying. I would hate to see the human project fail.

[cprise]

66. A TV-land stunt that is setup to fail seems more like it.

The damage this could do to society is at least equal to what globalization is causing.

[Hugabear]

68. Exactly. This is basically killing people for entertainment

Send people to Mars, televise the trip, who cares if they die en route.

[cprise]

78. Oh, but there would be lots of "caring"

heartfelt commentary from the show's hosts among the up-to-the-minute updates on their "interesting circumstances" (physical degradations).

I can barely imagine living on Earth with throngs of people devoted to the program and lapping the morbidity up throughout the day; its actually painful to do so.

[bemildred]

85. And isn't that just typical?

But I think you are taking this far too seriously.

[Buns_of_Fire]

28. Mars Needs Women!

If they'll guarantee beer, Internet access, and pepperoni pizza, I'll consider it.

[PATRICK]

31. Does anyone remember

that mars has to rendered habitable first? Four people are expected to live in a small station resupplied, or the corpses replaced every two years?

There are some pretty basic details even a moron should want to know. Sending a cockroach over and seeing if it lasts more than a minute might be an interesting Youtube video but too expensive. this is just as nutty, much more so actually than all the people who bought tickets on the future spaceliner to the moon. We can't even make a viable environment for a self sustainable enclosed environment on earth. if you wanted to get away from it all without suffering the unknown deteriorization living in lower gravity, etc.
and still have air to breathe, not thin stuff that comes at you hundreds of miles per hour, you could set up a merry crew in the middle of the world's worst desert and much cheaper and a better chance of getting out even if it meant walking.

Is there some information about this scam that makes it sound less absurd?

[yawnmaster]

42. They are not terra-forming Mars. They are creating livable areas, most likely underground...

I see it starting as a small station and then expanding.
Its a chance many are willing to take to get this going.
Long life is not the goal or metric of life success for many, but instead the actions one does before death.

Some will die doing this, as it has been throughout human history with regard to exploration and living in new lands.

[Incitatus]

34. As tempting as it sounds...

"Those who make it through the application process will undergo training before shooting off to another planet with little chance to no chance of returning."

I think I'll pass.

[Ilsa]

36. I wonder if Hubby put my name down.

Not his, too, just mine.

[PD Turk]

37. A one way trip to Mars?

Take my wife, please!!

[RebelOne]

43. I'd go. It has always been a life-long dream

to go to outer space, but I am too old now. I will never live until 2023.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

44. How many of those 78,000 were signed up by someone else?

[duffyduff]

46. It sounds like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. n/t

[lovemydog]

69. To Serve Man

was the name of the book the martians were reading (on that twilight zone episode). Turned out it was a cookbook!

[duffyduff]

72. You read me perfectly.

I can just see people loading up into a spaceship like lambs to the slaughter.

The only thing missing would be Richard Kiel.

[lovemydog]

71. I signed up 78,000

republicans.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

81. What do you call 78,000 republicans on a one way spaceship?

A good start.
(to borrow an old lawyer joke)

[lovemydog]

82. haha!

[lumberjack_jeff]

83. Republicans are a problem begging for the Golgafrincham solution.

http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Golgafrincham

[KamaAina]

88. So it really will be the Red Planet!

[lovemydog]

89. Yes, populated by alien creatures

[MineralMan]

45. I signed up Rand Paul.

Ron is too old.

[flamingdem]

61. good job! nt

[bemildred]

84. I like the way you think.

Finallly a place where the Conservatives can build their utopia without the rest of us getting in their way all the time.

[mick063]

47. Will it have privatized prisons?

Home schooling is a "no brainier"

What if you got on board and found out that the other three were devout Tea Party lovers convinced they were chosen disciples spreading their belief system to the universe? Remember, a one way trip.

[cprise]

59. Better than that...

Privatized bloodsport is built into the deal.

[duffyduff]

70. I wouldn't trust any privatized outfit as far as I can throw it.

It'll be decades, if not centuries, for something like this to be successful, if it ever is.

Forget that shit.

[cprise]

76. I'm with you.

I don't think Mars colonies are impossible or bad per se; just certain to fail with any technology we're likely to have in the next 20 years.

And its the <i>terms</i> under which those people are being sent that is perhaps the biggest problem: That society would condone such terms. It would be far healthier for humanity overall to start with exploratory missions meant to bring people back.

No... this is a Grade-A, bona-fide corporate sociopath idea. I hope it never gets off the ground.

[Incitatus]

62. That is much later.

As long as people are willing to go on a suicide mission on their own, their is no need for prison labor.

[randome]

48. A one way ticket.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="

?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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[hr]

[Hugabear]

56. Pure insanity

We don't even know if humans would survive the trip to Mars.

Then there are the harsh conditions, which is putting it lightly. Extreme cold, high winds, sandstorms, radiation, etc.

[Incitatus]

65. Even if they do, what are the first 4 people supposed to do?

Assuming there enough food and oxygen for them to survive until the next ship, what will they do to make the planet better for the next arrivals? The logical goal should be for each ship to make the planet more habitable. They are accepting applications from everyone, not just engineers or physicists.

When a ship with 4 people lands on Mars, then what? The ultimate goal should be to make the planet self sustainable. This idea makes no sense, unless they just want guinea pigs before more serious research and planning is done.

[Jamastiene]

58. I will just wait for the movie/reality tv show about the aftermath

of such a crazy expedition.

SyFy would be perfect to make the movie. Lord of the Flies in Space. Starring Erik Estrada, Damon Wayans, Gary Busey, and Jeff Bridges with a cameo by Christopher Walken.

[NealK]

60. That's really cool.

I hope that something good will come out of it.

[Dash87]

64. I hate to say this, but many will die before we are able to colonize Mars.

The way this always seems to go is, people die, we learn from the mistakes that lead to their deaths, and this process continues until we get it right.

[JVS]

67. Sounds like a tall poppy harvesting operation.

[MisterP]

87. Okies in spaaaace!

[Art_from_Ark]

90. Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids

In fact, it's cold as hell...