Timmay? Are you volunteering? :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22146456
QuoteApplicants wanted for a one-way ticket to Mars
Want to go to Mars? Dutch organisation Mars One says it will open applications imminently. It would be a one-way trip, and the company hopes to build a community of settlers on the planet.
Uncharted waters, mountains or far away lands have always drawn explorers. History books show that desire for adventure, even in the face of extreme danger, did not deter the likes of Columbus or Magellan.
So it is perhaps not surprising that Mars One has already received thousands of prospective applicants. But there is no return - unlike the mission which hopes to fly to Mars and back in 2018.
Future explorers take note. Applicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team. The whole project will be televised, from the reality TV style selection process, to landing and beyond.
On a visit to the BBC's London office, Mars One's co-founder Bas Lansdorp explains why this would be a one-way flight.
During the seven-to-eight month journey, astronauts will lose bone and muscle mass. After spending time on Mars' much weaker gravitational field, it would be almost impossible to readjust back to Earth's much stronger gravity, says Landsorp.
Successful applicants will be trained physically and psychologically. The team will use existing technology for all aspects of the project. Energy will be generated from solar panels, water will be recycled and extracted from soil and the astronauts will grow their own food - they will also have an emergency ration and regular top-ups as new explorers join every two years.
Solar wind
But is it realistic to believe that individuals could live and prosper on the Red Planet?
Mars is in the firing line of the Sun's high energy particles, called solar wind. The atmosphere of Mars is very thin as the solar wind is thought to have stripped much of it away.
On Earth, we are protected from the solar wind by a strong magnetic field. Without this, it would be much more difficult to survive. Although Mars once had similar protection about four billion years ago, today there is no such shield protecting it.
The Martian surface is therefore extremely hostile to life, says Dr Veronica Bray, from the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, who is sceptical about the project.
There's no liquid water, the atmospheric pressure is "practically a vacuum", radiation levels are higher and temperatures vary wildly, she says.
"Radiation exposure is a concern, especially during the trip. This can lead to increased cancer risk, a lowered immune system and possibly infertility."
To minimise radiation, the project team will cover the domes with several metres of soil, which the colonists will have to dig up.
"I have no doubt that we could physically place a human being on Mars. Whether they'd be able to survive for an extended period of time is much more doubtful," adds Dr Bray.
Ambassador for the project, Professor Gerard 't Hooft, a recipient of the Nobel Prize for theoretical physics in 1999, admits there are unknown health risks. He says the radiation is "of quite a different nature" than anything which has been tested on Earth.
Technical challenge
"They [the applicants] will be told that there are risks, but it will be our responsibility to keep the risks within acceptable odds."
Nasa astronaut Stan Love knows first-hand the difficulties with technology that his colleagues have experienced on the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit.
The apparatus which recycles human waste and turns "yesterday's coffee into into tomorrow's coffee needs frequent maintenance and would likely not survive years of continuous duty on Mars", he says.
Love has recently returned from Antarctica which he says is a "picnic compared to Mars".
"It's full of water, you can go outside and breathe the air. It's paradise compared to Mars and yet nobody has moved there permanently."
Although dubious about the funding, the technology and the impact of radiation, Love applauds small enterprises like Mars One.
He strongly believes private organisations will help raise awareness and hopefully discover or design some technology which will help future teams reach their goal of landing on Mars.
"We've been dreaming about this for 50 years. The Moon was just supposed to be a stepping stone to Mars. But when you study the problem, you realise it's immensely hard to do this."
Many critics have focused on funding, and whether the project would hold the public's attention for many years. It will cost an estimated £3.8bn ($6bn) to send the first group.
Dr Chris Lintott from Oxford University says that while the project is technologically plausible, he does not think they will find the funding.
"It's about having the political will and the financial muscle to make this happen. That's what nobody has been able to solve so far," he explains.
But Lansdorp sees no issue with funding. He uses the revenue from the worldwide broadcasting rights of the Olympics as a comparison.
"This will be the biggest thing that humanity has ever done. In 15 years people will still be watching.
"Exploring our world, and now beyond is what humans do, it's in our genome. The settlers' dream of going to Mars will come true."
Whether or not the mission will achieve its goal, the publicity generated from the "big-brother" style televised application process means the world will surely be watching.
Please oh please take timmay
QuoteApplicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
I thought I read that that cool Canadian astronaut who does all the zero-g videos volunteered to make a one-way trip to Mars.
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
QuoteApplicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team
Well so much for Timmay.
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
QuoteApplicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
Of course. Remember, before the age of homosexualism, mankind was capable of great things.
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
I don't know if I'm well adjusted, but before I was married I would certainly have volunteered if they weren't fucking televising the whole thing.
QuoteApplicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team
Given how reality TV works I'm pretty sure this is not going to work if this is actually the selection criteria. Reality TV needs arguments, drinking, sex, violence and racism to get ratings. Worst show ever.
Quote from: Viking on April 19, 2013, 12:45:22 PM
Given how reality TV works I'm pretty sure this is not going to work if this is actually the selection criteria. Reality TV needs arguments, drinking, sex, violence and racism to get ratings. Worst show ever.
Absolutely agree.
Unless they plan to do it penal colony style.
They just want to get the horror and tragedy of the mission's deadly failure on the air.
That said, I'd do it if it weren't televised.
Quote from: Maximus on April 19, 2013, 12:41:46 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
I don't know if I'm well adjusted, but before I was married I would certainly have volunteered if they weren't fucking televising the whole thing.
Really that little love for Earth?
Quote from: Neil on April 19, 2013, 12:38:34 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
QuoteApplicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
Of course. Remember, before the age of homosexualism, mankind was capable of great things.
Sure there was always the risk that they wouldn't return but I don't think the premise of our manned space travel was - you will never come back.
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:03:56 PM
Quote from: Maximus on April 19, 2013, 12:41:46 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
I don't know if I'm well adjusted, but before I was married I would certainly have volunteered if they weren't fucking televising the whole thing.
Really that little love for Earth?
If you had to put up with Meri's kids....
LOL would Max be: The Coyote.
Quote from: katmai on April 19, 2013, 01:05:03 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:03:56 PM
Quote from: Maximus on April 19, 2013, 12:41:46 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
I don't know if I'm well adjusted, but before I was married I would certainly have volunteered if they weren't fucking televising the whole thing.
Really that little love for Earth?
If you had to put up with Meri's kids....
Drive 'em up to Canada and leave them somewhere. No need to leave the planet. :)
I can think of a few people that should sign up for this.
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:06:48 PM
Drive 'em up to Canada and leave them somewhere.
Why would you want to torture them like that? You're a bad person :(
QuoteTo minimise radiation, the project team will cover the domes with several metres of soil, which the colonists will have to dig up.
I think I see a flaw in the plan somewhere.
Quote from: Caliga on April 19, 2013, 01:08:23 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:06:48 PM
Drive 'em up to Canada and leave them somewhere.
Why would you want to torture them like that? You're a bad person :(
No kidding. No chance in hell we would want those people allowed across our border.
Quote from: Caliga on April 19, 2013, 01:08:23 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:06:48 PM
Drive 'em up to Canada and leave them somewhere.
Why would you want to torture them like that? You're a bad person :(
Builds character.
Quote from: Neil on April 19, 2013, 12:38:34 PM
Of course. Remember, before the age of homosexualism, mankind was capable of great things.
We have been able to accomplish things since Sparta, Neil. ;)
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:05:00 PM
Quote from: Neil on April 19, 2013, 12:38:34 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
QuoteApplicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
Of course. Remember, before the age of homosexualism, mankind was capable of great things.
Sure there was always the risk that they wouldn't return but I don't think the premise of our manned space travel was - you will never come back.
That's certainly been implied in most space colonization schemes that I've ever seen.
Quote from: Neil on April 19, 2013, 05:25:08 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:05:00 PM
Quote from: Neil on April 19, 2013, 12:38:34 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 12:31:14 PM
QuoteApplicants must be resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team
Are there really well-adjusted people who would volunteer to leave Earth forever?
Of course. Remember, before the age of homosexualism, mankind was capable of great things.
Sure there was always the risk that they wouldn't return but I don't think the premise of our manned space travel was - you will never come back.
That's certainly been implied in most space colonization schemes that I've ever seen.
I don't watch out for space colonization schemes. :mellow:
Quote from: Caliga on April 19, 2013, 01:08:23 PM
Quote from: garbon on April 19, 2013, 01:06:48 PM
Drive 'em up to Canada and leave them somewhere.
Why would you want to torture them like that?
Because of Celine Dion.
Bigelow Aerospace wants to go to the Moon!
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/19/17829546-to-the-moon-bigelow-aerospace-and-nasa-look-at-private-exploration?chromedomain=science&lite
Go then.
Quote from: garbon on April 20, 2013, 12:45:29 AM
I don't watch out for space colonization schemes. :mellow:
Well, your ignorance isn't my problem.
Colonization sounds fun and all, but there are a couple major logistical issues that can't just be solved by tech.
- A charter. You're putting society in a new geographic location not affiliated with any current legal structure. Somebody's going to run into problems, so it'd be best to have a charter hammered out prior to arrival.
- Procreation. Unless your seed population is huge, you're only going to get a couple of generations before inbreeding becomes a major concern.
That said, there are some issues that I just don't believe technology's caught up to yet.
- Shelter. Sounds like a non-issue until you realize that everything for this colony has to be sheltered from the Martian conditions. Not just the settlers, but the food supply and the water supply as well. So no matter what you do, until we can jump-start the Martian magnetic field, you're always going to be carrying more material for shelter than settlers and supplies. Not exactly a recipe for a self-sustaining colony.
- Protein. While there's voluntary vegetarianism, humans are still omnivores and vegetarianism tends to involve an extremely fine-tuned diet. Since we can't guarantee the necessary plants will thrive, we'd need to carry animal stock to a settlement, and by the way, they'd have to be sheltered as well. So, going back to the previous point, now you're talking shelter for humans, agricultural supplies, a closed water system, and ranged animals as well.
A caveat: I suppose one way around the shelter issue is to design the colony ship itself to be repurposed on landing for shelter, but given that you're going to accept much more confined conditions for travel, you're still talking a massive amount of material cargo.
ETA: A simple soil filter won't fly on Mars, either. The soil's heavily irradiated, so you'd need to either bring your own soil or take a chance on decontaminating the Martian soil.
I think another serious problem is that few people would want to live on Mars. Outside of a scientific teams setting up research teams there is nothing to attract people. Mars is a bit like Antarctica, people could live there, but nobody wants to.
Quote from: Razgovory on April 20, 2013, 09:32:14 AM
I think another serious problem is that few people would want to live on Mars. Outside of a scientific teams setting up research teams there is nothing to attract people. Mars is a bit like Antarctica, people could live there, but nobody wants to.
Not necessarily. I can think of plenty of people for whom the smaller population and lack of inundation with pop culture references would be draw factors. There's a "pioneering spirit" that centers on misanthropy rather than scientific interest.
Quote from: Viking on April 19, 2013, 12:45:22 PM
Reality TV needs arguments, drinking, sex, violence and racism to get ratings. Worst show ever.
So basically Languish, then?
Sex on Languish? :blink:
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on April 20, 2013, 02:56:23 PM
Sex on Languish? :blink:
There's a lot of talk about sex on Languish, yes.
Tv needs to show it though.
Languish doesn't usually show much of anything.
Quote from: garbon on April 20, 2013, 03:22:56 PM
Languish doesn't usually show much of anything.
Disagree
Gross! Company says over 78,000 people have applied.