One way trip to Mars.Apply from today.

Celticfire

Hunt for Mars colonists to launch today (warning, it's a one-way ticket)



A seven-month journey in a tiny, cramped capsule doesn't sound like an attractive prospect - especially when you realise it's a one-way trip.

But 10,000 people have already contacted Dutch organisation Mars One to volunteer for a trip to Mars planned in September 2022 - due to arrive at the Red Planet on 2023. Return to Earth "cannot be anticipated nor expected", the firm says.

The search for astronauts formally launches today on YouTube and Twitter - in a reality-show-style contest to be among the first humans to live on another world. The age of volunteers so far ranges from 18 to 62, the firm said.

Four volunteer astronauts will depart Earth in a tiny capsule in 2022 - heading for a colony that has already been built by twin robot "Rovers".

The travellers will arrive to begin their new lives in April, 2023. The company aims to fund the $6billion mission using media and television events - pointing to the fact that the Olympics earned $1billion in revenue per week last year.

One of the founders of the company is Paul Romer, formerly of Endemol, the creators of Big Brother.
[Related: Space telescope captures view inside supernova which lit up skies 1,000 years ago]

“In principle, getting humans to Mars is possible now,” says Bas Landsdorp, founder of Netherlands firm Mars One, in an interview earlier this year.

The astronauts will face challenges including radiation in space during the journey - and gravity which is just 38% of Earth's. Some scientists predict that the volunteers' bodies will change so radically they could no longer survive on Earth if they returned.

“We have received more than 10,000 emails from over 100 countries, volunteering for our astronaut selection programme. A small percentage don’t know it’s one way, but most do.”

Mars One claims that its plan involves existing technologies - and is less challenging than other plans such as billionaire Dennis Tito's plan to "fly past" the Red Planet.

“Our plan involves a stay in space that’s pretty much the same as ones astronauts have already done on the International Space Station - seven months,” said Lansdorp.

“The challenges you face include using a rocket to push humans into space - we already do this for the Space Station. Mars is a bit more challenging, but the Apollo moon missions also required more energy. You also need to protect yourself against space radiation, but again this is a known risk.”

Mars One’s plan would include robotic missions to find the perfect location for a colony, then a Nasa-style 'Rover' which would build the foundations.

“Before we send humans there, a second Rover will fly in 2020,” said Lansdorp. “The robots will ensure there is oxygen, breathable air and water. Then our first pair of colonists will depart in September 2022, arriving in April 2023.”

Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, says that the eventual goal of his SpaceX company is a colony of 80,000 people on Mars - although he admitted it could cost $36billion.

“Once there are regular Mars flights, you can get the cost down to half a million dollars for someone to move to Mars,” Musk said in a speech to the Royal Aeronautical Society.

“I think there are enough people who would buy that."

Mars One aims to raise money through television events.

“Our challenge is that we have to get investment up front,” says Lansdorp. “We estimate it will cost $6billion to get the first two colonists to Mars, then $4billion per pair thereafter. But the whole world will be watching. The revenue for the Olympic games was $1billion per week - and this will be the first time humans actually leave the Earth.”

So will you apply? If I wasn't settled with 2.5 kids I'd apply. The one way trip of a lifetime

Mars One

r3nu4l

Won't apply myself but I know a few people I'd love to apply on behalf of!

Mazeire

I've seen Solaris and Event Horizon. I'm grand thanks.

af_thefragile

I would apply for it. But I'll definitely not get the job so I won't bother.

13spanner

Four volunteer astronauts will depart Earth in a tiny capsule

Celticfire wrote: »

So will you apply? If I wasn't settled with 2.5 kids I'd apply. The one way trip of a lifetime

If it wasn't for that 0.5 of a kid, you could've brought the whole family.

Bummer

SEPT 23 1989

Big Brother in space

At least we can watch them all die in the comfort of our living rooms

_Kaiser_

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McNlCukdjbI

BillJ

Scary to think that in our lifetimes there will probably be a colony of humans on mars. Can you imagine up to 80,000 people living on mars! mad

Just Like Heaven

They're announcing the start of the selection program live at five.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJNGH4NZJ4U

davet82

BillJ wrote: »

Scary to think that in our lifetimes there will probably be a colony of humans on mars. Can you imagine up to 80,000 people living on mars! mad

I can only think of the woman with 3 boobs in Total Recall that impresses me tbh

Duggy747

That means people could finally say this and be able to do something about it :pac:

Freddy Smelly

Celticfire wrote: »

So will you apply? If I wasn't settled with 2.5 kids I'd apply. The one way trip of a lifetime

Mars One

if you ever want to run out and abandon the kids social welfare would never be able to make you pay the maintenance bill for the kids lol

Freddy Smelly

davet82 wrote: »

I can only think of the woman with 3 boobs in Total Recall that impresses me tbh

3rd boob to suck on while ya fondle the other 2 in your hands?

Darius.Tr

So far this looks more like a money making scam, rather than a mission to mars.

Edit: Apparently there's a 33$ registration fee

Darius.Tr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WJNGH4NZJ4U

This is one empty press conference

af_thefragile

BillJ wrote: »

Scary to think that in our lifetimes there will probably be a colony of humans on mars. Can you imagine up to 80,000 people living on mars! mad

In our lifetime a visit to Mars - yes.
A colony in Mars - Probably no.

Unless USA decides the $600 billion or so a year it spends on waging wars around the world is better spent on NASA instead.

Mars is still too far away. We do not have the tools or technology to build anything on the Moon let alone Mars. Mars is extremely inhospitable for human life. It has minimal atmosphere, much less sunlight than on earth and has an average temperate of around -20C.

In the past 60yrs space exploration hasn't progressed much since the Moon landings. We have the ISS but that's not that big of a feat compared to what the Moon landings were. It is doubtful to think its gonna make any major progress in the next 60yrs either.

If we manage to make it to Mars, life on Mars will be restricted to living in space stations in controlled environments. We would need enough means of regenerating oxygen and producing enough food and water for the crew. Also means of producing enough heat and energy to live there comfortably. Even the ISS needs regular supply of oxygen, water and food to keep everything working there. Because Mars also has almost no atmosphere and a very weak magnetic field, the astronauts will be constantly exposed to solar radiation and will be at high risk of developing cancers.

Sure all these can problems can be worked at but we're still a long long way away from living on Mars.

If NASA or other space agencies had enough funding then they could send astronauts onto the Moon and work on learning to build infrastructure on the Moon which is much closer to the Earth. Things learnt on the moon can then be the stepping stone for moving to Mars.

Then we'ld need to spend more specialised robots to Mars to see if it'ld be possible to grow plants or any sort of food source there and quantify if there is useable amounts of water on the planet.

Research will need to be done on bigger, faster and more efficient space crafts which are capable of long human journeys to Mars. If we're gonna go to Mars, initially at least we'll need to bring along all of our oxygen, food and water supply with us for however long we're deciding to stay there including all the oxygen, food and fuel it's gonna take for the to and return journey. That's hell of a lot of cargo to carry on a space craft!

Another possible way is for humans to only take supplies for the journey to mars and first couple of months/year there and then supplies to the astronauts can be spent from earth to them in cargo spacecrafts regularly to sustain them there. I suppose this is the best way for humans to live on Mars but its also going to be extremely expensive and I currently see no government willing to invest that much into space exploration.

Ruu

Madness, saw this documentary about a marine that was sent to Mars. All hell broke loose anyway, think it was called Doom or some such. Staying put thanks!

Knasher

af_thefragile wrote: »

Another possible way is for humans to only take supplies for the journey to mars and first couple of months/year there and then supplies to the astronauts can be spent from earth to them in cargo spacecrafts regularly to sustain them there. I suppose this is the best way for humans to live on Mars but its also going to be extremely expensive and I currently see no government willing to invest that much into space exploration.

From what I've heard, the general motivation for one way tips is because the cost for a return trip is much greater than the cost of a one way trip plus supply runs to sustain them.

Seachmall

“In principle, getting humans to Mars is possible now,” says Bas Landsdorp, founder of Netherlands firm Mars One, in an interview earlier this year.

If I ever ask someone about the survivability of skydiving and they start their sentence with "In principle" I will not be skydiving with them, let alone be traveling to Mars with them.

I probably shouldn't mention my flatulence problem on the application form...

af_thefragile

Knasher wrote: »

From what I've heard, the general motivation for one way tips is because the cost for a return trip is much greater than the cost of a one way trip plus supply runs to sustain them.

So is it a gonna be a suicide trip?
Cuz I can't see how anyone can live there for longer than a few months/year with the limited supply they can take with them on the spacecraft...

Darius.Tr

NASA spent over 2.5billion for their recent mars rover (Curiosity) and Mars One are planning to bring 6 people to mars for just 6billion. How is this even possible?

Agricola

Call me an old racist but I saw "Dutch organisation Mars One" and couldnt take this seriously!

Knasher

af_thefragile wrote: »

So is it a gonna be a suicide trip?
Cuz I can't see how anyone can live there for longer than a few months/year with the limited supply they can take with them on the spacecraft...

Well sending people outside Earths magnetosphere to a planet with absolutely none of the medical facilities that we can access on Earth, the astronauts would almost definitely have a reduced live span.

That being said, AFAIK it would be cheaper to resupply them as much as is needed than to bring them home. Largely because they will need a lot of radiation shielding (especially when they are being exposed twice) plus a lot more fuel (it increases geometrically the longer the trip) and with maned missions you need to travel much faster to reduce their time in space. Compared to resupply trips which don't need much radiation shielding and much less fuel because generally it doesn't matter how long the trip actually takes. In fact I've heard proposals that suggest it might be cheaper to send two missions, the first with supplies sent earlier in order to get the second maned trip back, than it would be to send them all at once like they did with the Apollo missions.

af_thefragile

Knasher wrote: »

Well sending people outside Earths magnetosphere to a planet with absolutely none of the medical facilities that we can access on Earth, the astronauts would almost definitely have a reduced live span.

That being said, AFAIK it would be cheaper to resupply them as much as is needed than to bring them home. Largely because they will need a lot of radiation shielding (especially when they are being exposed twice) plus a lot more fuel (it increases geometrically the longer the trip) and with maned missions you need to travel much faster to reduce their time in space. Compared to resupply trips which don't need much radiation shielding and much less fuel because generally it doesn't matter how long the trip actually takes. In fact I've heard proposals that suggest it might be cheaper to send two missions, the first with supplies sent earlier in order to get the second maned trip back, than it would be to send them all at once like they did with the Apollo missions.

It does make sense to have separate missions to send the astronauts and supplies. But sending supplies to Mars is still gonna be ruddy expensive. Sending a little hatchback sized rover cost billions. Sending enough oxygen, fuel, food and water to last a year is gonna cost many many times more even though it's gonna require a smaller, lighter and slower spacecraft than what would be required for a manned mission.

And then Mars is also not like Earth. On earth we are shielded by solar and cosmic radiation by the Earth's magnetic field and thick atmosphere. Even the ISS is shielded mostly from solar radiation by the Earth's magnetic field. Mars neither has a thick atmosphere nor does it have a magnetic field like Earth. Hence astronauts there are going to have to live in shielded environments all the time they are there.

So right now a Mars mission would be a suicide mission. Much better off sending more robots to see if they can grow plants there and try to build some sort of infrastructure before humans get there.

Gone Drinking

So they want to send four people to another planet on the back of selling tv rights..

So lets just say they make it there and manage to setup camp without dying, or nothing goes wrong in the first few weeks.. Won't people tire of watching four random people on mars?

They're comparing to money made out of the Olympics.. if the Olympics was on TV all day everyday, everyone would stop watching it.

This would be like big brother in space. Everyone stopped watching big brother after a few years and it got axed. What's happens to the people on Mars if that happens?

Such a retarded far fetched idea. I'll eat my own **** if it happens.

mikom

I took the liberty of booking in Bill Cullen.

OneArt

I think the cast of Jersey Shore should all apply.

Fr_Dougal

Darius.Tr wrote: »

NASA spent over 2.5billion for their recent mars rover (Curiosity) and Mars One are planning to bring 6 people to mars for just 6billion. How is this even possible?

Lidl Thursday Specials. It's amazing the stuff they have there.

kneemos

Why are they going to Mars if I may be so bold to ask.

Manc-Red

Is Simon Cowell organizing this?

RobbingBandit

Archer Space Race episodes has put me right off.:D

AllGunsBlazing

To think that one day we will finally be able to declare war with mars and it's martian inhabitants. :excited:

anhedonia

it would be savage if one of the astronauts went psycho and butchered the other astronauts live on camera.

Mrs Garth Brooks

Do you have to be an astronaut to go ?

anhedonia

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

Do you have to be an astronaut to go ?

na full training will be provided.

martic

'Today on Big Brother Mars, gravity has taken Kinga's wine bottle where no wine bottle has gone before' :eek:

Mr Benevolent

The head of the Mars one company is the former owner of Endemol, which produced Big Brother. They're charging $33 to apply and 10,000 have already signed up. $330,000 before anyone even starts designing the rocket? Sounds like a scam to me.

IM0

this is actually a brilliant idea! seriously.

all they have to do is find some people that want to advance human science for one day living on mars.

it needs to be someone who doesnt mind giving up their life in pursuit of greater scientific advances. with a bonus of being remembered forever like neil armstrong and those who landed on the moon.

its feckin class actually!

and I remember hearing about a guy who wrote absolutely every down about his life from one mind numbing second to the next for DECADES! his house was FULL with paper when he died!, you would need someone similar I think, the desire to do what most people think would be rediculous for the greater good

well Im sure thats what yer man told himself

but honestly why not! - erm.. the mars mission obviously

Afollower

Can I sign up my ex please.

kneemos

Will they be given cyanide tablets for when the food or oxygen runs out?

kowloon

I'll volunteer for a one-way trip to the Sun. Mars is for pussies.

ScumLord

The problem with many space trips that don't involve depositing a satellite in space is that we seem to be going to space just for the sake of it. It won't be until going to space becomes profitable that space exploration becomes popular.

There are billions of tons of resources floating around our solar system, maybe we should ignore trying to land on pretty useless planets in favour of making long term spaceships that can mine asteroids and other floating debris around the solar system.

It would be more beneficial to us in the long run I'd say, being able to process asteroids would give us the skill necessary to deal with any potentially dangerous to earth asteroids. Plus being able to live off space debris would give us the skills to travel to other solar systems and survive on the easy to get at asteroids without costly trips on and off planets that have a lot of gravity.

Arpa

Hate to be a downer on the space exploration buzz, but is it legal to offer a competition prize where the inevitable outcome is death? I'm sure there is some weird legal red tape. Effectively it is an extravagant form of Euthanasia although the participants intention is not to die but to contribute to mankind.

If the company is registered in the Benelux countries then maybe all is good but I can't imagine it's as simple as that.

Just interested to understand this whole thing a little more because at the moment it looks like an X Factor audition for space cadets.

I can see this whole thing failing in a couple of weeks...soon after they have cleared up from all the entry fees.

ScumLord

Arpa wrote: »

Hate to be a downer on the space exploration buzz, but is it legal to offer a competition prize where the inevitable outcome is death?

The prize isn't death, it's just as likely the winners could live a complete life on mars. It would be like saying winning a house in Spain leads to death just because the winners would eventually die in Spain.

Arpa

ScumLord wrote: »

The prize isn't death, it's just as likely the winners could live a complete life on mars. It would be like saying winning a house in Spain leads to death just because the winners would eventually die in Spain.

Ah right, having read the article fully now didn't realise that they'd be actually set up there for a period of time. Was under the impression that they were gonna survive for a few weeks tops then croak it.

Bacchus

Arpa wrote: »

Ah right, having read the article fully now didn't realise that they'd be actually set up there for a period of time. Was under the impression that they were gonna survive for a few weeks tops then croak it.

That sounds like a much more realistic mission to Mars. Just get em there with enough supplies to last the journey + a few weeks. Just need to send some sort of hut in advance that they can live in.... fit it with cameras and reap in the money from Big Brother/Alive on Mars.

super_furry

Mars is the place with the three-breasted women, right?

Frank Black

Basically, a scam is being perpetrated in the full glare of the media spotlight – RTE and other media organisations are providing free advertising for this scam which is probably boosting the number of idiots paying the $33 sign-up fee.

Morally it’s no different to stealing money from people – But hey, why should the media challange this – it’s a good story that will get people talking and maybe we’ll get more hits on our website, and that’s all that matters – isn’t it?

Jesus, I despair sometimes.
When did society lose a free-press which would highlight injustice, seek to uncover the truth and hold the powerful to account?
Look at what we have now – a lapdog cheerleader for a company out to rob as many people as possible!

FoxT

"Hunt for Mars colonists to launch today"



**snickers

Mr. CooL ICE

Try to do some terraforming, a la Red Planet. First, send out some nettle and maybe pine seeds and see if it grows, cos that sh1t usually grows everywhere. Then, whoever is willing to eat nothing but nettle soup for the rest of their boring lives can go