You may be able to move to Mars

[Jan van Leyden]

The biggest probledm I see is that with 6-40 minutes round-trip for communication you can't actually play in a VTT game! And I seriously doubt the RPG as a hobby is high on the list of the foundation's criteria for astronaut selection...

 

[Umbran]

Fair question. The simplest answer is "there is no might, only fail" here, as far I can tell. A project to set up a Mars colony in 10 years funded by a coalition of the world's richest governments willing to pay adjusted-for-inflation, height-of-the-Space-Race sums of money... maybe. Barely maybe.

Ah, you see, there's a common misconception. Mars One has based it's plans on known technology and suppliers - Space X Dragon capsules (alreasdy in service) and Falcon Heavy boosters (which fly this year), and the like. The cost is estimated at $6 Billion. I've not seen a noted authority on such projects dispute the validity of that estimate. While that's not a small sum, neither is it an astronomical one - there are *individual people* on Earth who have higher net worth than this. It is about one-third of NASA's budget. Apple computers is, by comparison, worth about $108 billion. It doesn't actually require a nation to make it happen.

A project funded by this:

"To pay for the Mars mission, the Mars One foundation receives revenues from the license fee from the Interplanetary Media Group, sponsors, donations and the sales of merchandise. "

No.

Maybe. "Revenues from the license fee," does not clearly state what we're talking about here: Reality TV. Not just in the USA (where American Idol can generate $12 million an hour in ad revenue), but global. The astronaut selection process, the training process, and so on, all potentially generating hefty amounts of money.

There is still a question of whether they can raise the funds - but you'll know that long, long before you actually have to get onto a rocket, as the plan includes production and launching of habitats and supplies before humans hit the sky. So, in that sense, the risk to a human are small.

 

[Janx]

I see where Umbran is coming from. Let's say 5 years into it, the project collapses or his wife develops a problem and they are dropped from the roster as a viable couple for the launch.

this means both Umbran and his wife are out of work at the same time. They are also 5 years out of date with their careers. Will listing "Mars One" as your most recent employer be more of a liability than saying "unemployed for 5 years" on his resume?

I know some folks like to hedge their bets. One old college chum even goes so far as to not work in the same sector as his wife. if she works government, he works private sector. On purpose, not just coincidentally. For the reason that if one has cut-backs, the other may not. the employment equivalent of diversifying portfolios.

For me, I'd totally go in for a trip to space and back. But a one-way trip to mars to a new colony? Wow. That's scarier than coming to the New World. At least in America, if you have an axe, a knife, and a gun, you can make a go of it in the wild. On Mars, you need much higher tech just to survive. if it fails, you can't forage for food or supplies.

this could mean that the exciting trip to Mars ends in suffocation or starvation and there's very little you can do about it. Unless the natives are friendly and can help you through the first winter.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'd love for a project like this to be, well, serious. But it sure doesn't look that way to me.

Like Biosphere2, baby!

 

[Rel]

In fact it's cold as Hell.

And there's no one there to raise them if you did. (sorry but I can't just let this go unsung)

Regarding your employability if this thing goes south: I would imagine that once you get past the "very non-trivial chance I may die" as a reason not to reach for the stars, "my skill set might be a bit out of date and make it tough to get a new job" feels pretty small.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Playing ingress there would probably suck... There would be no way to create a level 8 farm... but owning every portal on the planet would be a plus.

I wonder if they would accept a portal submission for "Rock looks like 3CPO's head", "Broken down Martian Rover" or "I am so lonely I'm going to pull off my helmet and die right here."

-Sent via a cybernetic device.

 

[Umbran]

For me, I'd totally go in for a trip to space and back. But a one-way trip to mars to a new colony? Wow. That's scarier than coming to the New World.

Yeah, it is a scary concept, isn't it? But, all my Grandparents lived through things that I can't imagine but must have been at least as scary. WWII, with the Soviets taking their country and not letting go, and they flee to America with nothing, not knowing the language. At least the folks doing this (I don't kid myself, really - there are already thousands waiting to apply, the chances I'd be chosen are slim) are going someplace hazardous, but it isn't like they don't have someone rooting for them and sending aid. My Grandparents didn't have that...

At least in America, if you have an axe, a knife, and a gun, you can make a go of it in the wild. On Mars, you need much higher tech just to survive.

Yes, but they're gonna send them with atomic batteries, space suits, and all. Give me an atomic battery, and what can't I accomplish, darn it!

Regarding your employability if this thing goes south: I would imagine that once you get past the "very non-trivial chance I may die" as a reason not to reach for the stars, "my skill set might be a bit out of date and make it tough to get a new job" feels pretty small.

That's the odd thing - not to me. I really don't seem to mind the chance of dying, for a point, a reason - even a failed attempt, I think, would mean something. But living a desperate life, dying poor, alone on a planet of billions, forgotten? That, sir, is scary stuff!

 

[Rel]

That's the odd thing - not to me. I really don't seem to mind the chance of dying, for a point, a reason - even a failed attempt, I think, would mean something. But living a desperate life, dying poor, alone on a planet of billions, forgotten? That, sir, is scary stuff!

On what planet (pardon the pun) do you feel like any realistically foreseeable life-after-not-going-to-mars scenario includes you dying "poor, alone on a planet of billions, forgotten"?

You and your wife are both smart people with marketable skills. She's a (IIRC) veterinarian and those skills probably won't go out of date very quickly. You won't be alone. You'll have each other at the very least. As for forgotten, you are an ENWorld Mod, sir! We live in INFAMY!

 

[Umbran]

You and your wife are both smart people with marketable skills. She's a (IIRC) veterinarian and those skills probably won't go out of date very quickly.

Well, take that example. The training program is supposed to be 8 years long. Assuming the program is basically a full-time job, that means she'd have to stop practicing, and now we are talking about getting back into the saddle of a career abandoned 8 years prior. Would you want a surgeon who hadn't touched a scalpel in that long working on you?

Not saying it is impossible. But it is scary.

Ultimately, I think the Reality TV portion of it would be the killer. I'm a pretty private person. I can go to Mars, but I don't want you all... staring at me while I do it.

 

[frankthedm]

So where is the section on one's rights on Mars and what security and punitive measures are going to be employed on this mission?

Oh, found it, supposedly the colonists will be on their own. Suuure. And if the colonists government isn't profitable for the company, they just stop selling them air.