Going to Mars .. on a one-way trip

18 October 2010

Alan Boyle writes: Will the first explorers to visit Mars come back to Earth? Or does it actually make more sense to leave them there? The idea of sending the Red Planet's first settlers on one-way trips has been kicking around for years, and now two researchers have published a paper in the Journal of Cosmology laying out how such missions could play out between now and 2035.

"It is important to realize that this is not a 'suicide mission,'" Washington State University's Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Arizona State University's Paul Davies write. "The astronauts would go to Mars with the intention of staying for the rest of their lives, as trailblazers of a permanent human Mars colony."

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1c46c5cc54a4.jpg[/atsimg]
In an artist's conception, a Mars explorer surveys one of the Red Planet's grand canyons.

cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com...

WSU News Release


About 100 candidates would be chosen by lottery to take the trip to a Red Planet colony prepared for them by robots. (Scroll down through The Cosmic Log Archive for details, plus reader reaction.)

This may be the only way a trip to Mars can be accomplished, at least in this time in our history. They still don't have the technology to get to Mars in short time.

I would imagine there are many volunteers who would like to go knowing that they would have to spend the rest of their lives on Planet Mars. That has to be a heart wrenching decision to make. I don't think I would want to do that unless I had no family and nothing to look forward to on Earth.

The first one-way missions might involved two spaceships, each with a two-person crew. One of the astronauts should be a trained physician, and all of them should have scientific and technical know-how as well as a passion for research and exploration.

It would make sense that they would want a physician along for the ride to moniter the health of the other crew member. Interesting that they would send two spacehships with two person crew. I would think that it would be two men and two women, they may want to have children which in itself is interesting.

it makes perfect sense to me. and i would give up everything to go. even if it meant leaving my family behind. i have no hesitation. exploring and building a civilization on a new planet is worth any loss....to me at least. especially mars, i love mars

I could see myself going to mars on a one way trip. Maybe I could make Mars a better place than the Earth is. Anyway, it would be exciting I think. As long as I had plenty of something to eat and enough air to breathe, It would be exciting. I wouldn't have to worry about bills or whatever was happening back on Earth I guess. I'd just have to survive the journey and then do whatever work was required of someone colonizing the place. Probably we'd be working on making the atmosphere stable enough to begin to terraform, which I would not see in my lifetime, but who knows? I think the first thing to grow would be some sort of moss. I saw a show about how it could be done in a few hundreds of years. I'd like to meet someone up on the red planet and give birth to the first Martian. I wonder what a child would look like and what would happen to a child born on Mars? Anyway, I worry about the future on Earth and maybe being off planet is the way to go.

What makes me sick is obama wants to END our NASA space program and give it to russia??? This seems like shooting yourself in the foot when the next race is that of space.....









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reply to post by Aquarius1


Interesting.

I would make a few changes though.

It would be a good idea to do a one way trip with all the politicians, corrupt banking industry leaders, family dynasties and dictators etc.

A win, win scenario, they get to create their own perfect societies for themselves far from earth and the rest of the planet gets more freedom.

Originally posted by XXXN3O
reply to post by Aquarius1

 

Interesting.

I would make a few changes though.

It would be a good idea to do a one way trip with all the politicians, corrupt banking industry leaders, family dynasties and dictators etc.

A win, win scenario, they get to create their own perfect societies for themselves far from earth and the rest of the planet gets more freedom.

Your're someone after my own heart, problem is if Mars were inhabited it wouldn't be so good for them now would it.

On the other hand send them on, better Mars then here.

Originally posted by optimus primal
it makes perfect sense to me. and i would give up everything to go. even if it meant leaving my family behind. i have no hesitation. exploring and building a civilization on a new planet is worth any loss....to me at least. especially mars, i love mars.

It may make sense to you but not me, I want to be here to see my grandchildren grow up. I have two now and a new one coming in April.

Originally posted by jessieg
I could see myself going to mars on a one way trip. Maybe I could make Mars a better place than the Earth is.

That would be wonderful, not many of us have the ability to start over or make things better on that scale, I would hope that it's the plan and not to exploit Mars like everything is exploited here.

I wonder what a child would look like and what would happen to a child born on Mars? Anyway, I worry about the future on Earth and maybe being off planet is the way to go

That is a very good question, maybe a child wouldn't look any different then we do, the good news is they would be different in the sense that they may live in peace and harmony.

I also worry about the future of Earth and what legacy we will leave our grandchildren, right now it doesn't look very good.

I would like to think I would go, it would be a big challange and a chance to start something new and possibly better. In the back of my mind, I don't know, ever been on a vacation and thought, ok let's go home? There would be no going back. On the reason for two ships that may be because they want at least one ship to make it.

It would be a suicide trip unless they had shielding from space radiation. It would give the astronauts radiation sickness and tissue damage.

Originally posted by epsilon69
It would be a suicide trip unless they had shielding from space radiation. It would give the astronauts radiation sickness and tissue damage.

You make a very good point, there are problems with astronauts on the International Space Station with break down of muscle and tissue now and they don't have to deal with the radiation aspect, there are so many questions without answers, I don't think they know if they would make it to Mars.

I really don’t see this in absence of some kind of economic vitality as a colony.

Yet for the colony to be economically relevant that would require having an export of great and hard to find value on earth to send back to earth.

This would mean two way trips, and I honestly can’t imagine anyone taking a one way trip unless they were purposefully trying to escape some horrible situation here on earth.

The reasons to me are fairly obvious for that, because there would be absolutely no chance for fame, riches, or glory without two way travel back and forth between the home world of earth.

Yet the challenges of making just a one way journey are truly problematic as Mars can not sustain human life. That means that the ability to not just repair but manufacture oxygen generation equipment and insulation for dwellings and vehicles would have to be incorporated into the venture.

Without doing that as equipment aged and malfunctioned and spare parts ran out, people would die of exposure prematurely. Of course if you were one of the one’s who equipment was now on the verge of malfunctioning with no replacement parts, there is an excellent chance murder as a means to acquire someone else’s would be on your mind.

So are we really going to colonize a new world using the pathetic model of how we have turned this one into a living hell by instilling the ‘Scarcity Paradigm” from the beginning?

Which is in fact what we would be doing by attempting to colonize a world that can not sustain life, and a fledgling space program and fleet could not sustain the effort.

I look up at the stars at night and I too dream of them, but I really think as long as Earth has Earth problems, we all ought to be dreaming about how to solve the Earth’s problems and working towards that.

A war obsessed, race of indifferent and cruel and greedy hording self centered superstitious beings like the human race, really has no business infecting other planets.

Which is why I have had little choice but to quarantine this planet indefinitely, and any manned craft attempting to leave its orbit will be intercepted and turned around by what ever force necessary.

While we are on this subject, production at the Earth mines has dropped off, and if you can’t even achieve maximum productivity in this mining operation you have no business likewise thinking about expanding mining operations to other planets.

Which reminds me tax revenues are way down, and don’t expect me to underwrite or fund one of these cockamamie one way missions without some promise of return for the venture, which obviously there is no return on a one way trip.

Now enough with all the day dreaming and back to work you dogs!

One way trip you say ?

Not sure how the poor guy , or gal , chosen would feel about that as future round trips and colonies were set up in his back yard ? Who knows he just might be the first hermit on Mars .

Originally posted by thecinic
What makes me sick is obama wants to END our NASA space program and give it to russia??? This seems like shooting yourself in the foot when the next race is that of space.....

What a strange thing to say. Do you happen to have any links or articles to support this comment?
I haven't heard it.

On topic: I wonder if the loneliness and isolation would eventually drive them insane. Humans are social creatures by nature, but there are abberations...someone mentioned hermits. Maybe someone who was completely cerebral, and lacked emotionality and attachment for mankind? And then you wonder, with that type personality going and those genes being passed, what kind of civilization would it become?

Interesting.

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
I really don’t see this in absence of some kind of economic vitality as a colony.


This would mean two way trips, and I honestly can’t imagine anyone taking a one way trip unless they were purposefully trying to escape some horrible situation here on earth.

That doesn't seem to me would be the case, who ever they send would be highly trained and educated and have the ability to do experiments and send that information back to earth.

The reasons to me are fairly obvious for that, because there would be absolutely no chance for fame, riches, or glory without two way travel back and forth between the home world of earth.

Another good point Proto, who doesn't want the chance for fame, riches and glory?

Yet the challenges of making just a one way journey are truly problematic as Mars can not sustain human life. That means that the ability to not just repair but manufacture oxygen generation equipment and insulation for dwellings and vehicles would have to be incorporated into the venture.

I think the biggest challenge is getting there, I honestly don't think the can unless they have some kind of technology they are hiding from us.

So are we really going to colonize a new world using the pathetic model of how we have turned this one into a living hell by instilling the ‘Scarcity Paradigm” from the beginning?

Which is in fact what we would be doing by attempting to colonize a world that can not sustain life, and a fledgling space program and fleet could not sustain the effort.

That is a big question, even if we are able to do with and get them there alive I think the cost would be prohibitive unless they partner with other countries.

I look up at the stars at night and I too dream of them, but I really think as long as Earth has Earth problems, we all ought to be dreaming about how to solve the Earth’s problems and working toward that.

Thank you for posting my friend.

A war obsessed, race of indifferent and cruel and greedy hording self centered superstitious beings like the human race, really has no business infecting other planets.

I am 100% in agreement with that, we can't seem to solve anything on Earth, things get worse day by day, I try to keep the faith but there is getting more difficult.

Now enough with all the day dreaming and back to work you dogs!

Think I may just take your advice, but have to say I love to day dream.

Thank you for posting my friend.

Some good points raised regarding the problems of living on Mars . Could some of these problems not be solved buy a shielded dome structure , with limited exposure to the outside ?

Perhaps the ship that brought the person there would be designed to also land and convert into the living quarters ?

One would assume that some of the issues would have to be solved to allow the person to get there in the first place , such as the radiation issue .

It's a very interesting though , sending a person / team , to " tame Mars " .

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


You make some excellent points, we are social beings. Another question that comes to mind is there could be someone living there now, how do we really know. You may remember many of the probes have been destroyed very mysteriously.

Thanks for posting.

reply to post by Max_TO

It's a very interesting though , sending a person / team , to " tame Mars " .

They may be in for one heck of a surprise when they find out we are the ones who need taming.

Thanks for posting.

reply to post by Aquarius1


Hahaha how right you are , we just may be the ones that need to be tamed , hmm , or perhaps genetically altered so that the raised issues of living on Mars become compensated by DNA modification .

Just imagine genetically modified people , no joke .