Have any of you guys heard about this planned project to send people to Mars and they won't be able to return back to Earth? This is supposed to happen in 2024 and will cost billions. Is this in the best interest of science or completely ridiculous?

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

[Edited 4/24/14 23:10pm]

The movie was good.



Humanity at some point will outgrow this rock...might as well start planning now.

It's a non-profit that's planning a Mars colony.

Our own NASA has its own Mars mission planned, but those guys get to come back.

i think someday we will have technology enabling terraforming. but for those few first pioneers life on mars will be beyond hard living.

Hey, I'm ready for Titan or Europa or something like that. Not in my lifetime at the rate things are going.

Right now I'm not comfortable with the idea of just leaving people on Mars permanently, I know it was talked about for a while but I think the idea was ditched. It's one thing sailing the oceans or climbing mountains but leaving the planet adds a ton of unexpected things we may or may not be ready for. And the Moon isn't enough of a test run. Mars would be.

PurpleJedi said:

The movie was good.



Humanity at some point will outgrow this rock...might as well start planning now.

it was ok

morningsong said:

Hey, I'm ready for Titan or Europa or something like that. Not in my lifetime at the rate things are going.

Right now I'm not comfortable with the idea of just leaving people on Mars permanently, I know it was talked about for a while but I think the idea was ditched. It's one thing sailing the oceans or climbing mountains but leaving the planet adds a ton of unexpected things we may or may not be ready for. And the Moon isn't enough of a test run. Mars would be.

Hey Morning, the reports I saw yesterday said that the people won't be able to leave once they get there. It sounds like a legal issue or something that may have created some confusion about the scope of the program. At what point do these folks consider the fact that this is going to continue for 10 years before they spend practically another year traveling to Mars from Earth. What are these folks going to do about food, showering, etc? This sounds like a fun idea to travel to Mars but the idea of living there and leaving Earth forever seems a bit ridiculous and dangerous.

morningsong said:

Yeah...might as well go ahead and fuck up as many planets as possible instead of fixing this one.

BobGeorge909 said:

morningsong said:

SeventeenDayze said:

morningsong said:

Hey, I'm ready for Titan or Europa or something like that. Not in my lifetime at the rate things are going.

Right now I'm not comfortable with the idea of just leaving people on Mars permanently, I know it was talked about for a while but I think the idea was ditched. It's one thing sailing the oceans or climbing mountains but leaving the planet adds a ton of unexpected things we may or may not be ready for. And the Moon isn't enough of a test run. Mars would be.

Hey Morning, the reports I saw yesterday said that the people won't be able to leave once they get there. It sounds like a legal issue or something that may have created some confusion about the scope of the program. At what point do these folks consider the fact that this is going to continue for 10 years before they spend practically another year traveling to Mars from Earth. What are these folks going to do about food, showering, etc? This sounds like a fun idea to travel to Mars but the idea of living there and leaving Earth forever seems a bit ridiculous and dangerous.

Yep, one way ticket for the rest of your life.

If the Biosphere experiment didn't work on Earth how are they gonna make it work on Mars...

SeventeenDayze said:

purplethunder3121 said:

If the Biosphere experiment didn't work on Earth how are they gonna make it work on Mars...

with this

morningsong said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Hey Morning, the reports I saw yesterday said that the people won't be able to leave once they get there. It sounds like a legal issue or something that may have created some confusion about the scope of the program. At what point do these folks consider the fact that this is going to continue for 10 years before they spend practically another year traveling to Mars from Earth. What are these folks going to do about food, showering, etc? This sounds like a fun idea to travel to Mars but the idea of living there and leaving Earth forever seems a bit ridiculous and dangerous.

There is the issue of how the body changes to adapt to a different gravitational force. Its been a while since I've read on it. I read somewhere that there is a point that people lose so much bone mass that returning to Earth isn't possible. But I don't know the accuracy of that, and there may be solutions even if that's true. I know there will come a time there will be trips of no return. It would be nice to have a few test runs to work out one or two of the bugs because there will be some before making that big of a commitment. But maybe time and money are an issue too.

That's a good point about doing test runs. I just can't comprehend what the point of this whole project is. What are these folks going to do for entertainment? Are they going to form their own entertainment, play music, become the NBA of Mars? I just wonder what is the pont of them actually being there and not being able to return. I guess it's akin to just volunteering to sit in an empty room for the rest of your life without the comforts of being here on planet Earth. By the way, what's the thing about them not having any bone mass left? I wonder if the families will file lawsuits if anything happens but I imagine there is a serious trail of legal waivers that they will make everyone sign.

SeventeenDayze said:

morningsong said:

SeventeenDayze said: There is the issue of how the body changes to adapt to a different gravitational force. Its been a while since I've read on it. I read somewhere that there is a point that people lose so much bone mass that returning to Earth isn't possible. But I don't know the accuracy of that, and there may be solutions even if that's true. I know there will come a time there will be trips of no return. It would be nice to have a few test runs to work out one or two of the bugs because there will be some before making that big of a commitment. But maybe time and money are an issue too.

That's a good point about doing test runs. I just can't comprehend what the point of this whole project is. What are these folks going to do for entertainment? Are they going to form their own entertainment, play music, become the NBA of Mars? I just wonder what is the pont of them actually being there and not being able to return. I guess it's akin to just volunteering to sit in an empty room for the rest of your life without the comforts of being here on planet Earth. By the way, what's the thing about them not having any bone mass left? I wonder if the families will file lawsuits if anything happens but I imagine there is a serious trail of legal waivers that they will make everyone sign.

The point? Because they can. They'd have communication with Earth so they wouldn't be completely cut off, they'd be able to stream (though slowly) the latest Simpsons episodes. And trying to survive would provide lots of "entertainment". But yeah, they'd pretty much be confined constantly, no running outside butt naked braving the elements, I mean they could but it'll be the last thing they'll do. I'm sure the families of the Challenger tragedy were very kind and understanding, so who knows maybe those families would to.

morningsong said:

SeventeenDayze said:

That's a good point about doing test runs. I just can't comprehend what the point of this whole project is. What are these folks going to do for entertainment? Are they going to form their own entertainment, play music, become the NBA of Mars? I just wonder what is the pont of them actually being there and not being able to return. I guess it's akin to just volunteering to sit in an empty room for the rest of your life without the comforts of being here on planet Earth. By the way, what's the thing about them not having any bone mass left? I wonder if the families will file lawsuits if anything happens but I imagine there is a serious trail of legal waivers that they will make everyone sign.

The point? Because they can. They'd have communication with Earth so they wouldn't be completely cut off, they'd be able to stream (though slowly) the latest Simpsons episodes. And trying to survive would provide lots of "entertainment". But yeah, they'd pretty much be confined constantly, no running outside butt naked braving the elements, I mean they could but it'll be the last thing they'll do. I'm sure the families of the Challenger tragedy were very kind and understanding, so who knows maybe those families would to.

A few weeks ago on the news, they interviewed two guys who had made it to the next round in th selection process. They asked one of the guys about what his family thinks and he said his mom is begging him not to go through with it. I wonder why there are people who want to colonize Mars. It's not realistic at all. The money that's being spent on this project could go to a different cause. I think space travel within close proximity to Earth is okay for tourism purposes but the idea of these folks being left on Mars the rest of their lives seems suspect. Do these folks really know what they are getting into? Who wants to live in a space about the size of an average sized bedroom but without the ability to go outside at all....very bizarre

SeventeenDayze said:

morningsong said:

SeventeenDayze said:

A few weeks ago on the news, they interviewed two guys who had made it to the next round in th selection process. They asked one of the guys about what his family thinks and he said his mom is begging him not to go through with it. I wonder why there are people who want to colonize Mars. It's not realistic at all. The money that's being spent on this project could go to a different cause. I think space travel within close proximity to Earth is okay for tourism purposes but the idea of these folks being left on Mars the rest of their lives seems suspect. Do these folks really know what they are getting into? Who wants to live in a space about the size of an average sized bedroom but without the ability to go outside at all....very bizarre

Doesn't sound like a NASA or International project. The folks get to Mars and then the company goes bankrupt, no more supplies or nothin', that would be a serious fundraiser. But adults can make their own decisions, I'm sure who ever signs up has their reasons and has thought it through. And who knows what it develops in to.

You're right. I don't think this is a NASA project. The fundraiser issue was also mentioned in the news cast about this whole thing. From what I remember, it's going to cost billions of dollars. They have ten years to raise all of this money. I don't remember how many people will end up taking the trip but several thousand people wanted to do this. I wonder what will come out of all of this.

I don't understand why we think we'd want to live anywhere but here. Unless we're creating oceans and forests and snow-capped mountains on Mars, I am not interested!

People act like "oh well, the earth is being destroyed...might as well move to a barren rock" How about we don't destroy the earth?

But I still think a mission to Mars is pretty cool!

NDRU said:

I don't understand why we think we'd want to live anywhere but here. Unless we're creating oceans and forests and snow-capped mountains on Mars, I am not interested!

People act like "oh well, the earth is being destroyed...might as well move to a barren rock" How about we don't destroy the earth?

But I still think a mission to Mars is pretty cool!

Yeah I think it will be interesting to see what comes out of all of this. It would be one hell of a reality show I'd imagine. I just wonder how comfortable those folks going to Mars will be once they learn they will have to live in the same pod for the rest of their lives. I have no idea if they will be able to mix and mingle with others living there because it seems it would be damn near impossible to "walk" to the other areas of Mars.

SeventeenDayze said: