webeagle12 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 IT'S the biggest dead-end job ever. NASA is looking for volunteers to fly to Mars - the snag is that you won't come back. It is actively investigating the possibility of humans colonising worlds such as the Red Planet. The settlers would be sent supplies from Earth but would go on the understanding that it would be too costly to bring them home. NASA revealed that it had already received more than $1 million to commence work on the project at its Ames Research Centre in California. Centre director Pete Worden, who claimed humans could be living on Mars by 2030 despite the inhospitable conditions, said: "The human space program is now aimed at settling other worlds. "Twenty years ago you had to whisper that in dark bars or get fired." Mr Worden told a conference in San Francisco that he had discussed with Google co-founder Larry Page the potential for one-way trips to Mars. Scientists say much of the cost of such a mission is associated with bringing the astronauts home - the price of sending 20 Mars settlers with a one-way ticket would be equal to bringing four astronauts back. Experts say a nuclear-fuelled rocket could make the journey in four months. Of all the planets in the solar system, Mars is the most likely to have substantial quantities of water, making it the best bet for sustaining life. But it is a forbidding place to set up home. Temperatures plummet way below freezing in some parts. The thin atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, so oxygen supplies are a must. Mr Worden suggested that new technologies, such as synthetic biology and alterations to the human genome, could be explored ahead of the mission. Writing in the Journal of Cosmology, scientists Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies envisaged sending four volunteer astronauts on the first mission to colonise Mars. A one-way human mission to Mars would not be a fixed-duration project as in the Apollo program, but the first step in establishing a permanent human presence on the planet, they said. http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/nasa-mars-mission-a-one-way-trip/story-fn5fsgyc-1225945124330 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagisan Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I would be surprised if they ever manage to do something on the premise that the people sent can never come back. I can understand the project requiring volunteers rather than people designated to go, but I don't think many people globally would allow NASA or any other space program to do such a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted October 31, 2010 Member Share Posted October 31, 2010 There seems a lot of it's and maybes need to be worked out before the trip could even be a reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Star Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Get some homeless people to do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappy Veteran Posted October 31, 2010 Veteran Share Posted October 31, 2010 one way eh...not sure I would want to leave everything behind just yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherITguy Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 This is right out of science fiction, i mean, who would do such a thing, leave your family, your loved ones, to go to mars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell-In-A-Handbasket Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I went digging through the site, article, etc, looking on how to sign up,,, then i saw where it was only a thought, not a plan, and they are not actually looking for vol's This is right out of science fiction, i mean, who would do such a thing, leave your family, your loved ones, to go to mars? I would do it in an instant, I live alone, have for years, outside of work everybody i talk to is through email, or txt. The only person that visits is my sister and nieces once n a while. Aka Techno-Hermit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tharp Daddy Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Interesting, but i can only imagine the psychological effects this would have on the volunteers. When astronauts go up they know they will eventually return to "home" (Earth), but to leave with the knowledge you will never come back to the world, and you will be alone with the crew for the rest of your years would have serious implications on their psyche. Not to mention the health issues that come from being in space for long, and the fact they would need trained people for medical/mental/mechanical etc issues that came up. Plus colonizing would require them to start a settlement, including a government. It would not be easy for the US to run a planet (how could they enforce anything?), so they would need to get a LOT of stuff in stone before they attempted anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detection Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Take a laptop and a 3000000G Dongle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuJu Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 this would outrage sooo many people. its not a smart mission I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Observer Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Where do I sign up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakehn Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 if i was single, and half the crew was super hot women, then hell yeah i would do it, and spread the human seed LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alladaskill17 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Interesting, very. 20 years til settling other planets. Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green_Eye Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Why would it have to outrage anybody? They are not sending anyone against their will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sadelwo Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Wouldn't it make sense to test those technologies on the moon first? Work out issues and perfect them before hurling them at Mars. Plus if you focus on developing settlements on the moon you can then use the moon as a manufacturing plant/ launchpad to send missions to the other planets. Cheaper than launching direct from earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironsight2000 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Wouldn't it make sense to test those technologies on the moon first? Work out issues and perfect them before hurling them at Mars. Plus if you focus on developing settlements on the moon you can then use the moon as a manufacturing plant/ launchpad to send missions to the other planets. Cheaper than launching direct from earth. good so im not alone with this idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azusa Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Why would it have to outrage anybody? They are not sending anyone against their will. put an egg on a side walk and some one will find a reason to be outraged trust me it will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green_Eye Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 put an egg on a side walk and some one will find a reason to be outraged trust me it will happen. Then they should be ignored like the loonies that they are. It is absolutely the volunteers choice if they never want to see earth again and people have no right whatsoever to be outraged about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhpuqrgrpgvirzhpujbj Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I'd do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagisan Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Then they should be ignored like the loonies that they are. It is absolutely the volunteers choice if they never want to see earth again and people have no right whatsoever to be outraged about it. I understand your standpoint, and I can agree with it as it should be a persons choice (just like abortion, euthanasia, etc), but just as there are animal activists, there will be "human activists" if something like this were allowed to happen. People would say that it is not right to send a human away from Earth knowing that that human will never step foot on Earth again. As far as the world is concerned, sending someone away from Earth forever, even if they volunteered, would mean that you are helping to commit suicide/murder. How? Your tax dollars are being spent on such a program that allows other people to outcast themselves from Earth for the rest of their life, essentially allowing that person to commit suicide without actually dying. I say let people volunteer for such an expedition, but don't take the money for the program out of me, let the person volunteering pay their own cost to do so, if they can't pay it, they don't get to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japlabot Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 It might be sensible to send someone who is terminally ill (and wants to give back to science) but healthy enough to survive the trip. Spending a lifetime there would be inhumane, you would need to send a lot of books there as there will be no (usable) internet access (also rules out a lot of geeks who only go on the internet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Neo Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I think that's pretty horrible. I think very little people actually comprehend what they're asking here of you to do. Someone that feels a certain way when they're 25 doesn't mean you'll feel the same way 10 years later. Unless NASA knows something we don't and life on Earth is about to face a catastrophic disaster in the next few decades, I fail to understand the urgency to colonize Mars that you would ask someone to make a sacrifice like this. Also, why Mars as a first step? Wouldn't the moon be more logical? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neoauld Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Get some homeless people to do this. Theyd be screwed, no working class to beg for $, no homeless shelters...man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redvamp128 Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Thought the one idea as to why it would be a one way trip. Due to the length of time it would take to get there plus there is the gravity effects. http://www.universetoday.com/14824/distance-from-earth-to-mars/ http://www.amnh.org/rose/mars/pl2.html I would think that when the human body would be accustomed to the lighter gravity a return to earth would actually prove a health risk. That is just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas-c Veteran Posted October 31, 2010 Veteran Share Posted October 31, 2010 I personally think I would go for it. The advances in science due to your sacrifice would be epic. Besides. You would have a fair old long life there. Not a go there, work 10 days and die job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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