Anyone want a 1-way ticket to Mars?

[Umbran]

Yes, but robotic missions are strictly limited on what science they can attempt, while a human with even a modest lab can do quite a bit more in the same amount of time. And, while we attempt to keep robots clean, do not kid yourselves that they aren't bringing contaminants to Mars.

Some analysis has suggested that, if you're trying to find out if there's native life quickly, before you've totally contaminated the place, a manned mission might well be superior to a long line of robotic ones.

There's just that pesky problem that sending a person out to Mars to die isn't acceptable PR for NASA.

 

[renau1g]

There's just that pesky problem that sending a person out to Mars to die isn't acceptable PR for NASA.

Sounds like a job for Richard Branson!

 

[Croesus]

I'll be in my sixties by then, so I doubt they'd take me. However, if I were younger, absolutely.

 

[Deset Gled]

When I first heard of a project like this awhile back, I ran the idea by my wife (with the idea of both of us going together). She shot it down instantly.

She also shot down my business idea of smuggling technology for oil refining into Venezuela (which has a remarkably high profit margin if you do your research), wouldn't let me start up a group of professional thieves (I'd be the hardware guy and I know a software guy, we just needed the muscle guy and a minority to round out the group), and has been remarkably unsupportive of my idea to use my collection of Star Wars memorabilia as a retirement plan. It's almost like she's lost her sense of adventure since we had a kid, she stopped working, and I'm now the sole source of income for our family. Women! Am I right, fellas?

 

[El Mahdi]

The whole idea reminds me a lot of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars and the rest of the trilogy. Minus the political mirroring of the American Revolutionary War that is...though I did like the whole space elevator crashing to the surface scene.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Good series, FWIW.

 

[El Mahdi]

I'll be in my sixties by then, so I doubt they'd take me. However, if I were younger, absolutely.

If I were younger and single...oh hell yeah I'd go.

When I first heard of a project like this awhile back, I ran the idea by my wife (with the idea of both of us going together). She shot it down instantly.

She also shot down my business idea of smuggling technology for oil refining into Venezuela (which has a remarkably high profit margin if you do your research), wouldn't let me start up a group of professional thieves (I'd be the hardware guy and I know a software guy, we just needed the muscle guy and a minority to round out the group), and has been remarkably unsupportive of my idea to use my collection of Star Wars memorabilia as a retirement plan. It's almost like she's lost her sense of adventure since we had a kid, she stopped working, and I'm now the sole source of income for our family. Women! Am I right, fellas?

Tell me about it! Just before I retired from the Air Force, my office was looking for a volunteer for a deployment to Iraq...so I volunteered to go. I thought one last deployment would be a great way to end my military career. Unfortunately, my boss also knew my wife and said no...mostly because he was afraid of her! All my wife did was laugh at me when I told her. They just don't make wives and SMSgt's like they used to.

 

[El Mahdi]

Good series, FWIW.

Yeah, it's not bad. I liked the first one the most though. It just started to focus too much on politics as it progressed. The first book is probably a very good look at what something like this would be like. After that though, the second and third books just had too much prognostication of the political environment. And trying to mirror the Revolutionary War just seemed a little unrealistic to me. But Red Mars really nailed it, especially from a technological aspect. I like how he (Robinson) was ahead of the curve on iPods and e-readers too. He envisioned them a good 3 years ahead of the fist mp3 player, 8 years ahead of the iPod, and 10+ ahead of the e-reader and tablets.

 

[Relique du Madde]

I'd go... but only if we get space transports larger then a trailer that doesn't look like a trailer. Seriously, I'd want to be an explorer not a resident of trailer park stranded in the middle of nowhere (which is the image that the concept art inspired ).

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

 

[Umbran]

I'll be in my sixties by then, so I doubt they'd take me. However, if I were younger, absolutely.

A healthy sixty-year old, with vim and vigor who has taken care of themselves, might be just the person to go, though! You'd have lived a full life already, so the risk, and the fact that you'll never return home, are not so much a factor.