Mars One: Auditions For Red Planet Explorers To Open

[marcus300]

Mars One: Auditions For Red Planet Explorers To Open - But Is It Anything More Than A PR Stunt?


The company behind an attempt to send human explorers on a one-way trip to Mars will announce its selection process live on the Internet - despite only reporting $72,000 in online donations.

The Mars One mission would theoretically send four astronauts to the Red Planet to try and set up a permanent human colony in 2023.

The Netherlands-based non-profit behind the plan says that it wants to "establish the foundation of a permanent settlement from which we will prosper, learn, and grow" - but that its explorers should not expect to ever return.

It says that the mission will rely on pre-existing, proven technology, and claims support from academics and various companies on its website. It says:

"To accomplish this, Mars One has developed a precise, realistic plan based entirely upon existing technologies. It is both economically and logistically feasible, in motion through the integration of existing suppliers and experts in space exploration."

But scepticism remains - particularly over the financial side of launching the mission. If it ever gets beyond the initial planning stages, the trip would cost billions of pounds to develop and launch. Early estimates suggest $6 billion as an initial cost - though in reality it would likely stretch far beyond that total.

And a recent call for online donations to get initial scoping for the mission off the ground has apparently stalled at just $72,000, according to Mars One's website.

It would also require a massive investment in life support systems and equipment to both get the explorers to Mars, and keep them alive for a length of time once they're on the surface.

Mars One says it will raise the money through a massive multi-media campaign, including selling the TV rights for the selection process - sort of an X-Factor for Martians.

But aside from the enormous technical, logistical and financial challenges, one of its bigger problems might be how to choose the pioneers it attempts to send.

It will announce the first stages of the process at a press conference in New York set to be televised on the Internet on Monday. It is reportedly set to include a 'video tape audition' stage, and the establishment of six teams of four astronauts who will compete for a spot on the rocket.

According to the company's medical director, Norbert Kraft, it has already received 10,000 applications, mostly from men, with their ages ranging from 18-62 years old.

But as the company told the Guardian, the winners will have to accept that if they do go to Mars, they're not coming home. Partly that's a matter of cost, but it's also one of physiology. The reduced gravity of Mars means that any colonists would eventually be too weak to cope with life back home, suffering from reduced bone density and probably radiation poisoning. And that creates enormous problems in selecting the right candidates, checking they're able to make the journey and preparing them to leave Earth for ever.

Confronting the reality of the trip - that it is likely to be short, unpleasant and possibly deadly - is just a reality of life on Mars, according to some experts.

"Radiation exposure is a concern, especially during the trip," Dr Veronica Bray, from the University of Arizona, told the BBC.

"This can lead to increased cancer risk, a lowered immune system and possibly infertility."

"I have no doubt that we could physically place a human being on Mars. Whether they'd be able to survive for an extended period of time is much more doubtful

[MR-FQ320]

Would you fancy it Marcus?

New Age pioneer or weak cancerous and infertile IDK

[Flagg]

It's just 4 people?

You would have to assume one of them would be a doctor?

Hope they pack a lot of books up there...

[MR-FQ320]

To make it worthwhile you would have thought they would also have to give offspring too, so fertile men and women.

Now would you want clever scientists and doctors or just random plebs ?

[humbleman]

I'm all for sending people to mars, but this plan is a total fail..psychology alone; these people would kill themselves within 3 years

[Flagg]

I'm all for sending people to mars, but this plan is a total fail..psychology alone; these people would kill themselves within 3 years

The idea though is to send another group along in say, 5 years time, slowly build the colony that way.

I just wonder about the psychological impacts of it all.