You Can Go To Mars, One-Way Ticket Only

Lollers

http://business.inquirer.net/77510/dutch-treat-one-way-ticket-to-mars

I would be up for it. And you ?

MistyCheese

I dunno, will I be able to work, rest and play there?

CreepingDeath

No, but the project will start to get interesting when they can fit the entire Fianna Fail party in the ship.

Most definitely.

Dravokivich

Will it be BYOB, or will booze be provided?

endacl

Not into it meself, but there's a few people I'd gladly sponsor...

Lollers

Dravokivich wrote: »

Will it be BYOB, or will booze be provided?

We will all be high enough anyway, but more booze is welcomed.

D.Q

CreepingDeath wrote: »

No, but the project will start to get interesting when they can fit the entire Fianna Fail party in the ship.

Jesus Christ. Was this ever funny?

It's my one pet hate of boards.ie and afterhours especially. You can't go one page without someone trying force an awful political "joke" onto literally any subject.

I mean, take this, the topic is Mars for fuck sake, and still a fianna fail reference is wheeled out.

CreepingDeath

Dravokivich wrote: »

Will it be BYOB, or will booze be provided?

Due to weight restrictions you can only bring Coors Light or Bud Light.

nibtrix

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Due to weight restrictions you can only bring Coors Light or Bud Light.

I'm out.

Biggins

If I was single - or after the kids are grown-up and able to fend for themselves, I'd go no problem.

1ZRed

And WTF would could I do there?

ejmaztec

MistyCheese wrote: »

I dunno, will I be able to work, rest and play there?

For a couple of hours until you become the first occupant in a Martian cemetery.:(

Biggins

1ZRed wrote: »

And WTF would could I do there?

Live in peace!

No wars, no politics infighting or with others, no noise pollution, no garbage celeb sensationalism rubbish, no trashy newspapers, no household or car, road, rubbish... charges, no junk mail, no MacDee's rubbish (yet ...but give the buggers time!), no one to tell you you can't watch porn , no fear of drowning!

Just a few mad notions!

When can I go again?

Sleepy

That reads like a pitch for a "Monster of the Week" Doctor Who episode...

Duggy747

Get my ass to Mars?

Definitely, I'd rule the planet with an iron fist...............even if I was the only thing there.

im invisible

i think i've been here before...

Sleepy

Sleepy wrote: »

That reads like a pitch for a "Monster of the Week" Doctor Who episode...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waters_of_Mars

Hande hoche!

Yep would definitely go. Someone has to turn insane and try to destroy the settlement in an attempt to appease the gods.

bluecode

At least they're up front about it. No coming back. In fact that's the likely result even if they send properly trained astronauts.

It's all fantasy anyway. The costs would rapidly escalate as the technical issues mount. The idea of a Mars colony is laughable anyway. Look how difficult it is to keep a colony supplied in Antarctica and that's Earth. No one been back to the moon in over forty years and that's in our back yard and last done with relatively primitive sixties technology.

the culture of deference

CreepingDeath wrote: »

No, but the project will start to get interesting when they can fit the entire Fianna Fail party in the ship.

PIGS IN SPACE

How Cowen would look in 1/4 earth gravity.

http://bigmentaldisease.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/brian-cowen-fat.jpg

Grayson

bluecode wrote: »

At least they're up front about it. No coming back. In fact that's the likely result even if they send properly trained astronauts.

It's all fantasy anyway. The costs would rapidly escalate as the technical issues mount. The idea of a Mars colony is laughable anyway. Look how difficult it is to keep a colony supplied in Antarctica and that's Earth. No one been back to the moon in over forty years and that's in our back yard and last done with relatively primitive sixties technology.

It's quite sad really. It'll probably be another 100 years before we get to the moon.

sebastianlieken

Where do I sign up? This actually sounds like a wonderfully tempting venture. Just yes.

Thud

ok so you're on the ship and all going to die on the planet, so laws probably don't mean that much to you, realistically only the person who steps out first will be remembered (we barely remember Buzz, let alone MC in the orbitor, anyone know any of theother moon astronauts?) i'd imagine it's get a bit dangerous on the ship in the weeks before landing

Teyla Emmagan

No effing way. I like the sun, and the grass and being able to go to restaurants. Until they have fresh salmon sashimi on Mars I won't be going there.

marshbaboon

Can I go on my own?

I hate other people... I really hate them...

seamus

bluecode wrote: »

It's all fantasy anyway. The costs would rapidly escalate as the technical issues mount.

Theoretically the same delivery mechanism(s) that were used for Curiosity can be used again, so quite a good chunk of the technical groundwork has been done. It's just a matter of adapting the equipment to carry four people for an 8 month trip.

Plus you now have orbiting satellites which can be of massive assistance in guidance and accuracy on the trip.

Though the initial calculation the guy has given is $6bn, about 2.3 times the cost of curiosity, which I think is being very optimistic. Each person requires about 5kg of food, water and oxygen per day. Over the course of the trip that works out to roughly 1,200kg. And we'll say that again to sustain them for the following 8 months while they get set up fully. So that's 2,400kg just of food, water and oxygen. And we'll say another tonne of equipment to get each person set up when they land with gardens and oxygen generators and such. That's roughly the same weight as the curiosity lander (including the rover). But four times over.
And let's not forget that curiosity is about the same size as an MPV. So unless you're planning on sticking your people into a capsule and sedating them for 8 months, they're going to need at least four times that amount of room, each, to move about in.

So at least four times the weight of curiosity and 16 times the size, for 2.3 times the cost? Yeah, not realistic.

The idea of a Mars colony is laughable anyway. Look how difficult it is to keep a colony supplied in Antarctica and that's Earth. No one been back to the moon in over forty years and that's in our back yard and last done with relatively primitive sixties technology.

Well Antarctica may be less conducive to life than Mars, with the exception of oxygen. Mars gets good sunlight and warmth for a start.
The main reason no-one's been back to the moon is because there's not really any good reason. It's a big dead rock. It would be well within the remit of any space agency to reach it now, but it would be a lot of cost and risk for a few rocks that won't answer any more questions.

The next big private challenge after commercial spaceflight will be commercial (or at least non-governmental) flights to the moon. The right craft and six stupidly rich adventurers and you'd get to orbit the moon for a billion dollars.

Lollers

It will always be about money, sadly. In 1903 the Wright brothers first took flight. In 1969 man landed on the Moon, because NASA had the political will and billions of dollars behind it. It would be an amazing thing to do, and if they are going to do it, count me in.

Napper Hawkins

I'll stay here, but y'all have fun.

AtomicHorror

seamus wrote: »

Theoretically the same delivery mechanism(s) that were used for Curiosity can be used again, so quite a good chunk of the technical groundwork has been done. It's just a matter of adapting the equipment to carry four people for an 8 month trip.

We've had the technology to send machines to Mars for nearly 40 years- the tech has been getting better all the time, but the focus has been getting inanimate objects from A to B as fast as possible. A human-rated delivery system is going to take more than adaptation of that. The cost and the political will are big barriers sure, but until we can figure out how to shield against cosmic rays, we're not leaving the vicinity of Earth anyway.