Science

Ichingcarpenter

(36,988 posts) Fri Jun 1, 2012, 05:19 AM Jun 2012

Mars I :Human settlement of Mars in 2023

Mars One’s mission objective

Mars One plans to establish the first human settlement on Mars by April 2023. The first crew of four astronauts emigrate to their new planet from Earth, a journey that takes seven months. A new team will join the settlement every two years. By 2033 there will be over twenty people living, working and flourishing on Mars, their new home.

The vision of Mars One

A manned mission to Mars is one of the most exciting, inspiring and ambitious adventures that mankind can take on. We see this as a journey that belongs to us all, and it is for this reason that we will make every step one that we take together. This will also be our way to finance the mission: the mission to Mars will be the biggest media event ever!
The entire world will be able to watch and help with decisions as the teams of settlers are selected, follow their extensive training and preparation for the mission and of course observe their settling on Mars once arrived. The emigrated astronauts will share their experiences with us as they build their new home, conduct experiments and explore Mars. The mission itself will provide us with invaluable scientific and social knowledge that will be accessible to everyone, not just an elite select few. Join us in this adventure. Put it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or whatever platforms are available to you, and spread the word!

A realistic plan

The Mars One team has worked on this plan since early 2011. That first year saw us research the feasibility of the idea extensively and exhaustively, scrutinizing every detail with countless specialists and expert organizations. In this analysis we not only included the technical elements, but also comprehensively discussed the financial, psychological and ethical aspects.

We have met with several established, international aerospace companies who can design and deliver the essential hardware components for the Mars mission. These have written letters of interest that support our plan.
We have an impressive list of people who support the mission to Mars, our ambassadors. One of them is professor dr. Gerard 't Hooft, Physics Nobel Prize winner of 1999.

We were this thorough in our preparations for a reason. A project as ambitious as sending a manned mission to Mars can only be presented credibly when it can stand on its own two feet. We have a feasible plan and a way to finance it.

http://mars-one.com/

I thought it was an interesting concept

7 replies

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Mars I :Human settlement of Mars in 2023 (Original Post) Ichingcarpenter Jun 2012 OP

Interesting longship Jun 2012 #1

I read an article about this earlier today bananas Jun 2012 #2

Heck they only need to raise around 100B to get started, how hard could that be? Warren Stupidity Jun 2012 #3

Your estimate of $100B sounds more realistic than theirs - just $6B muriel_volestrangler Jun 2012 #6

Good luck Motown_Johnny Jun 2012 #4

Make it 2133 jakeXT Jun 2012 #5

If anyone wants to read about past Mars projects, here's a great resource muriel_volestrangler Jun 2012 #7

longship

(40,416 posts)

1. Interesting

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Fri Jun 1, 2012, 05:47 AM

Jun 2012

I wonder how practical this really is. But it sounds like they have solved the problem of getting people to Mars but not return them. That doesn't bode well for the project.

If this is serious, which it appears to be, it's very ambitious. But my skeptical alarm is going off.

We'll see about this.

bananas

(27,509 posts)

2. I read an article about this earlier today

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Fri Jun 1, 2012, 06:01 AM

Jun 2012

thought it was a Darwin Award candidate until I saw some of the supporters,
maybe they really have thought this through:

http://www.hobbyspace.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=38377

<snip>

Ambassadors of Mars One

Mars One has support and backing of several well-known and respected ambassadors:

Professor Dr. Gerard ‘t Hooft, 1999 Nobel Prize winner of Physics: “This project seems to me to be the only way to fulfill dreams of mankind’s expansion into space. It sounds like an amazingly fascinating experiment. Let’s get started!”

Paul Römer, inventor of Big Brother: “This mission to Mars can be the biggest media event in the world. Reality meets talent show with no ending and the whole world watching. Now there’s a good pitch!”

Gerard Blaauw, Chairman of the Netherlands Space Society: “Mars One’s visionary idea to combine media and aerospace in such an innovative way means it is possible! True breakthroughs come from interweaving divergent domains, and that is what is happening here!”

Mary Roach, Writer: “Even before the Mars One team wrote to me, a manned Mars mission had struck me as the ultimate reality television event, and thus an unbeatable funding opportunity. For unlike so much of the "reality" television that exists now, here there would be no need to make up events to add drama, duress, and psychological tension. This mission on its own provides all of that”

There's a lot more information at the link.

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)

3. Heck they only need to raise around 100B to get started, how hard could that be?

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Fri Jun 1, 2012, 07:33 AM

Jun 2012

Cue the "dumb dumb dumb dumb" soundtrack from southpark.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,356 posts)

6. Your estimate of $100B sounds more realistic than theirs - just $6B

Reply to Warren Stupidity (Reply #3)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 04:30 PM

Jun 2012

It costs NASA 2.5B for one unmanned rover, for instance.

Motown_Johnny

(22,308 posts)

4. Good luck

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Fri Jun 1, 2012, 10:55 PM

Jun 2012

http://www.universetoday.com/14979/mars-radiation/

^snip^

NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft was equipped with a special instrument called the Martian Radiation Experiment (or MARIE), designed to measure the radiation environment around Mars. Since Mars has that thin atmosphere, radiation detected by Mars Odyssey would be roughly the same as the surface.

Over the course of about 18 months, Mars Odyssey detected ongoing radiation levels which are 2.5 times higher than the astronauts experience on the International Space Station – 22 millirad per day. The spacecraft also detected 2 solar proton events, where radiation levels peaked about 2,000 millirads in a day, and a few other events that got up to about 100 millirads.

Human explorers to Mars will definitely need to deal with the increased radiation levels on the surface of Mars. To protect against the radiation, long term colonists on Mars will need to build their bases underground – just a little Martian soil will prevent the Mars radiation exposure.

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

5. Make it 2133

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Sun Jun 3, 2012, 08:09 AM

Jun 2012

The dust storms were of great concern when probes were first sent to Mars. Early probes happened to arrive in orbit during large events. The Viking missions of 1976 easily withstood two big dust storms without being damaged. They were not the first missions to survive Martian dust storms. In 1971, Mariner 9 arrived at Mars during the biggest dust storm ever recorded. Mission controllers simply waited a few weeks for the storm to subside, then carried on with the mission. The biggest issue that rovers face during a dust storm is the lack of sunlight. Without the light, the rovers have trouble generating enough power to keep their electronic warm enough to function.

Mars dust storms are of great interest to scientists. Even though several spacecraft have observed the storms first hand, scientists are no closer to a definitive answer. For now, the storms on Mars are going to continue to present challenges to planning a human mission to the planet.

http://www.universetoday.com/14892/mars-dust-storms/

A sustainable base on Mars is capable of generating its own power, sustenance and provisions.

Solar panels can generate all of the settlement's energy with only sunlight as fuel. The base will also recycle as much as they can to avoid more resources having to be sent from Earth or having to delve for more in the local air and soil.

http://mars-one.com/component/content/article/20-faq-sustainability/190-is-this-a-sustainable-mission?

muriel_volestrangler

(101,356 posts)

7. If anyone wants to read about past Mars projects, here's a great resource

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Mon Jun 4, 2012, 04:47 PM

Jun 2012

http://www.astronautix.com/fam/martions.htm

Encyclopedia Astronautica

As far as I know, they have all be proposals to return people, either after a fly-by, or an extended stay on the surface.

The one-way nature certainly cuts down on the complexity of getting a return vehicle into orbit/onto the surface. It does, however, introduce a psychological dimension - will people willing to potentially spend the rest of their life in a tiny environment like that, with all the risks involved, also be the kind of person they'd want to do that with? This really is "till death do us part".

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