You may be able to move to Mars

[Bullgrit]

I think you're looking at the training and the possibility of the project not going through in the wrong way. Going into the training is just a career change. People do it all the time. It's not like you'll come out the other side, (if the project fails), with no skills -- I mean, you're getting *training* in something. If the project fails, you have the training to do the same work, just you'll end up doing it on Earth rather than on Mars.

If this work you'd be training for is not something you'd be willing to do on Earth, then you'd probably hate doing it on Mars, and you probably shouldn't be considering this project at all, anyway.

Bullgrit

 

[Janx]

that's a big assumption that Skills for Mars are as marketable on earth as his original skills. Physicist and Vet are the kinds of jobs one doesn't leave and come back to (I know we'll get 3 examples of people who did).

If Umbran drops out of the program and his chief sellable traits are:
doing talks about BioSphere2, I mean the Mars One project
changing oxygen tanks on a space habitat

that might not be a great deal.

Bear in mind, half of the kind of people thinking about going on a one way reality show trip to Mars, are not deeply invested in a career on Earth. Whereas, Umbran and his Wife are.

Changing careers when you like the one you have, are successful in it, and are deeply invested in it is foolish and needless.

 

[Bullgrit]

that's a big assumption that Skills for Mars are as marketable on earth as his original skills.

I didn't make that assumption because that's not the issue:

I am, however, not sanguine with having to stay on Earth with no obvious means of support.

There is a big difference between, "these new skills won't get me equal pay to what I'm making now," and, "these new skills give me *nothing* to work with."

Bullgrit

 

[Umbran]

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?

Well, to start with there are going to be four people. Just four. For a group that small (basically, your new family), if you cannot figure out how to manage together without some outside imposition of rules, you've no business in a colonist-scenario, IMHO. It is only over time (4 new colonists every couple of years) that the group grows to the point where governance is required. And, yeah, it makes a whole lot of sense to allwo them to work it out as they see fit over time.

And if the colonists government isn't profitable for the company, they just stop selling them air.

Cynic! Remember that at this stage, "profitable for the company" seems to be "makes interesting television". The whole point of this being a one-way trip is that the tech to get mass back off mars (really, the tech to refuel ships on Mars) does not yet exist. It follows that no significant cargo is coming off the planet, either. The only thing coming back is data.

I think you're looking at the training and the possibility of the project not going through in the wrong way. Going into the training is just a career change. People do it all the time. It's not like you'll come out the other side, (if the project fails), with no skills -- I mean, you're getting *training* in something.

Yes. Training in being a pioneer - a skillset largely unnecessary on Earth at this point. You're not training to do *a* thing, that you can do here instead of there. You're training to do a bazillion things.

I was thinking about this. There's a reason why the training program is 8 years long, and they don't care about your education level before going in, largely because you'll need a whole different set of skills to get by there. For example - you're sending people to Mars forever, right? Well, human teeth are not built to last forever. Someone is *going* to get a cavity. And, untreated, a tooth-root abscess can be miserable, lead to malnutrition and even death. So, someone (two someones, at least, as if you only have one, that one cannot give themselves a filling) will need training in basic dentistry. Just enough to get by, not enough to be a real dentist. Same for medicine. And for construction work and machining.

Basically, successful training for this mission will have to fit into Heinlein's adage, "Specialization is for insects." And that is a poor fit for modern Earthly life.

that's a big assumption that Skills for Mars are as marketable on earth as his original skills. Physicist and Vet are the kinds of jobs one doesn't leave and come back to (I know we'll get 3 examples of people who did).

I am sure it is possible, but it would be difficult, and I wouldn't go so far as to say it would be a sure-thing.

Bear in mind, half of the kind of people thinking about going on a one way reality show trip to Mars, are not deeply invested in a career on Earth. Whereas, Umbran and his Wife are.

Changing careers when you like the one you have, are successful in it, and are deeply invested in it is foolish and needless.

Or, at least something to be done only with great consideration.

 

[Rel]

If you're going to train in this incredibly diverse set of skills anyway then add "public speaking" to the roster. They are going to want somebody who is comfortable publicizing the mission anyway. If it falls through then I think you could have a lucrative career giving talks about what the training entailed, the mindset that allowed you to contemplate leaving the planet, and...well lots of interesting things. I'd pay to hear you talk about it and so would a lot of other folks I bet.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

If you're going to train in this incredibly diverse set of skills anyway then add "public speaking" to the roster. They are going to want somebody who is comfortable publicizing the mission anyway. If it falls through then I think you could have a lucrative career giving talks about what the training entailed, the mindset that allowed you to contemplate leaving the planet, and...well lots of interesting things. I'd pay to hear you talk about it and so would a lot of other folks I bet.

And write a book about it

It definately has that sense of "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" -- I mean "wonder" ;-)

Umbrum, it sounds like you've put considerable thought into this. I wish you the best on making a decision (and your journey forward)!

 

[Jdvn1]

The cost is estimated at $6 Billion. ... While that's not a small sum, neither is it an astronomical one...

Isn't it, though?

I imagine internet access must suck from up there. You can't just Google 'What to do when confronted with a martian' when it comes up. Or 'what to do when my air supply is running low.' And forget streaming video. You are totally going to miss out on the next Gangam Style craze.

 

[Kaodi]

Even if I thought the proposed mission could and should go forward (and I do not), my personal opinion is that you should be ineligible. I believe that the appropriate crew for a Mars mission is four lesbians, preferably two couples. I am dead serious. Babies are physically impossible, aggression is minimized, and jealousy is minimized while still allowing for companionship. Four straight women are also a possibility, though the prevalence of the "couples" idea makes it seem less feasible. But there is no way that any man, and especially any straight man, should be permitted on such a mission.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you say that because you think lesbians (or women in general) are more stable than men, dude, you are SADLY mistaken.

If you say that because you think it might make for a better subscription channel, you may be onto something.

 

[Joker]

If you say that because you think lesbians (or women in general) are more stable than men, dude, you are SADLY mistaken.

If you say that because you think it might make for a better subscription channel, you may be onto something.

Four girls, one pod!