Applicants wanted for a one-way ticket to Mars

[Neil]

I can think of a few names to put forwards :) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22146456


Dutch organisation Mars One says it will open applications imminently. It would be a one-way trip, and the company hopes to build a community of settlers on the planet.

Uncharted waters, mountains or far away lands have always drawn explorers. History books show that desire for adventure, even in the face of extreme danger, did not deter the likes of Columbus or Magellan.

So it is perhaps not surprising that Mars One has already received thousands of prospective applicants. But there is no return - unlike the mission which hopes to fly to Mars and back in 2018.

Lots of question arise:-
- What if the show runs out of money? What happens to supplies?
- What if kids are born?
- What happens if no other mission occur? These folks would just grow old, ill and die till what feeble person left to die all alone?

[EvilNed]

I think the point, and part of the risk, is that you might very well die alone. I remember reading about this in a magazine a couple of years ago. This is a serious proposal, and this is one of many, and one of the more realistic proposals to start colonizing Mars.

This would also be the first step to a terraformed Mars. In the same magazine I remember reading that this is how a permanent colony would have to start. I forgot the details of it, and I might be mixing this up with Total Recall, but the ice/water thought to exist on the planet could be used to create a human-friendly atmosphere within a 100 year of human settlement. Mars One would essentially be "the first step" towards that terraforming.

I don't remember reading anything about how they'd fix the muscle deterioration problem, tho.