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"Mars One" Colony project; privately-funded Mars colony
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Topic Started: May 8 2013, 08:11 AM (652 Views)
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MSantor
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May 8 2013, 08:11 AM
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For those who'd rather not enter the AXE Space Academy contest just to get into space; this program has received 78,000 applications so far.
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Mars Colony Project to Begin Astronaut Search by July
SPACE.comBy Rob Coppinger, SPACE.com Contributor | SPACE.com – 7 hours ago.
LONDON — A nonprofit organization that aims to land four astronauts on Mars in 2023 will kick off its two-year, televised search for Red Planet explorers by this summer.
The Netherlands-based Mars One will begin accepting application videos sometime between now and July, charging a fee to weed out folks who aren't serious about their candidacy. The group hopes to raise millions of dollars this way, with the proceeds paying for the ongoing selection process and technology studies.
"We expect a million applications with 1-minute videos, and hopefully some of those videos will go viral,” Mars One co-founder and chief executive officer Bas Lansdorp told SPACE.com on April 10. He was in London to speak to the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) that day.
Mars One now has 45,000 people registered for its mailing list and has already received 10,000 emails from interested individuals, Lansdorp added. The organization will unveil more details about its astronaut selection process at a press conference in New York City on April 22.
A one-way trip to Mars
Mars One is casting a wide net, seeking applicants from all over the world. Application fees will vary from country to country, with folks from poorer nations getting a price break, Lansdorp said. The maximum fee will apparently be $25.
Anyone who is at least 18 years old can apply by sending in a video explaining why he or she should be selected. But prospective colonists must be prepared to say goodbye to Earth forever; there are no plans at this point to bring Mars One astronauts home.
By July 2015, Mars One wants to have 24 astronauts, organized into six teams of four people. Those teams then face seven years of training that will include spending three months at a time in a replica of the Mars colony.
"We will give them all the most stressful situations,” Lansdorp told the BIS audience on April 10, adding that the training base will have a 40-minute communications delay to replicate the time lag that would exist due to the vast distance between Earth and Mars.
Mars One officials expect some individuals and teams to fail these tests, so from 2015 on, the nonprofit will have an annual process to select 12 people (in three teams of four).
"We will always have about 10 groups [of four] in training, so if one group drops out, there will be replacement crews," Lansdorp told SPACE.com. This will continue even after 2023, because Mars One plans to send more colonists to the Red Planet every two years for as long as funding levels will allow.
Interplanetary 'Big Brother'
Mars One estimates that it needs $6 billion to send the first four astronauts to Mars. This money will cover developing the landing systems, habitats, Mars Transit Vehicle (MTV), rovers, solar arrays and other technologies associated with the colony, as well as pay for the crew's journey from Earth.
Every subsequent crew trip would cost $4 billion, Lansdorp told SPACE.com. Just sending a supply lander would cost $250 million.
Mars One plans to raise this money largely through a global reality television series that will follow the colonization effort from astronaut selection to the first landing and the settlement’s expansion.
The audience will vote for who gets to go to Mars from a pool of candidates selected by Mars One’s experts. Lansdorp points to the 2012 London Olympics and the $4 billion it generated from television revenues over its three weeks as evidence that such a funding plan can work.
Meanwhile, the application video revenue will finance early technology studies and prove there is demand for a television show. ['Big Brother' on Mars? (Video)]
“We can prove to the broadcasters that there is real demand and interest, and we will start negotiations after the [astronaut] selection procedure begins,” Lansdorp told SPACE.com.
Beyond the applicant videos and television show, future revenues include crowdfunding, exploiting the technologies developed for Earth’s markets and doing research on Mars for governments. For example, Mars One could eventually send samples of Martian soil to Earth, officials say.
Mission details taking shape
While the Mars spacecraft has yet to be designed, Lansdorp told the BIS audience that for the 210-day journey, the vehicle would have a hollow 660-gallon (2,500 liters) water tank with four compartments.
Astronauts would sleep in this area and use it as shelter from extreme solar radiation events. The water equates to a 9.84-inch (25 centimeters) column for radiation protection, which Lansdorp told the BIS is what NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) suggest for a return mission.
When the first team of four lands at the settlement’s location on April 24, 2023, the settlers will find a colony whose habitats and solar arrays started working before they left Earth. Lansdorp told SPACE.com that the colony will be located between 40 and 45 degrees north latitude.
"We want to be as south as possible for sunlight and north enough for water," he said, adding that the colony would be at a location that is 1.55 miles (2.5 kilometers) lower than Mars’ average ground level, to give the arriving spacecraft more time to land.
The colony will initially have rovers, two habitats, two life support landers and two supply landers. Mars One is designing five types of landers for life support, supplies, habitat and those that land the crew and rovers. The first equipment to be sent to Mars will be a communications satellite, a demonstration rover and a 5,500-pound (2,500 kilograms) supply lander, officials said.
"We have a conceptual rover right now. It is very likely there will be two rovers — one trailer rover and one intelligent rover that does all the advanced tasks,” Lansdorp told SPACE.com. The trailer rover will move landers from their landing point to the settlement, a distance not expected to exceed about 1 mile (1.6 km).
The colony’s habitats will be connected by fabric tunnels and covered in 6 feet (1.8 m) of Martian soil, to provide radiation protection. Lansdorp told the BIS audience that with the colony’s expected outdoor activities, the colonists will get a radiation dose over 10 years equal to that of ESA’s maximum allowed for its astronauts, which he described as “very safe."
At the same time the first team lands, the second crew’s habitat lander will also arrive. As well as being ready for the second crew's 2025 arrival, this habitat can be used by the first crew if they encounter problems with their own equipment.
The colony will have inflatable greenhouses and use water from the Martian soil and nitrogen from the atmosphere to grow crops. The crew will cultivate rice, algae and insects for their high protein content and will also likely grow mushrooms, along with tomatoes and other plants. [The Boldest Mars Missions of All Time]
Tapping private industry
Solar rather than nuclear power will be used for the base, Lansdorp said, and all the landers may be larger versions of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.
“We’ve discussed upscaling of Dragon capsule with SpaceX,” Lansdorp told the BIS audience.
In March, Mars One announced it had signed a contract with Paragon Space Development Corp. for a conceptual design study into life support and space suit systems.
Paragon has also been contracted by Dennis Tito for his Inspiration Mars project, which aims to launch two people on a Mars flyby mission in 2018 that will neither land on nor orbit the Red Planet. Lansdorp is slated to meet Tito in May in Washington, D.C.
As well as Paragon and SpaceX, Lansdorp is in discussions with Canada’s MDA Robotics for the rovers; Italy’s Thales Alenia Space for the MTV; ILC Dover, Astrobiotic and the U.K.’s Surrey Satellite Technology.
Lansdorp declined to answer questions about how much money Mars One has already raised, saying only that it's enough to start the selection process and to fund the Paragon contract. However, Mars One has named its first investors. Described as silver sponsors, they include Verkkokauppa.com, Finland’s second largest consumer electronics retailer, and Byte Internet, a Web hosting service.
This story was updated to reflect the fact that Mars One will accept video applications by July, not necessarily in July.
That's a lot more applicants that I would have expected for just two weeks...
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78,000 Apply for Private Mars Colony Project In 2 Weeks
By Mike Wall | SPACE.com – 3 hours ago
Huge numbers of people on Earth are keen to leave the planet forever and seek a new life homesteading on Mars.
About 78,000 people have applied to become Red Planet colonists with the nonprofit organization Mars One since its application process opened on April 22, officials announced today (May 7). Mars One aims to land four people on the Red Planet in 2023 as the vanguard of a permanent colony, with more astronauts arriving every two years thereafter.
"With 78,000 applications in two weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired job in history," Mars One CEO and co-founder Bas Lansdorp said in a statement. "These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants."
Mars One estimates that landing four settlers on Mars in 2023 will cost about $6 billion. The Netherlands-based organization plans to pay most of the bills by staging a global reality-TV event, with cameras documenting all phases of the mission from astronaut selection to the colonists' first years on the Red Planet.
The application process extends until Aug. 31. Anyone at least 18 years of age can apply, by submitting to the Mars One website a 1-minute video explaining his or her motivation to become a Red Planet settler. (You can also watch other applicants' videos at the site.)
Mars One charges an application fee, which ranges from $5 to $75 depending on the wealth of the applicant's home country. United States citizens pay $38, Lansdorp said.
When the application process closes, reviewers will pick 50 to 100 candidates from each of the 300 regions around the world that Mars One has identified. By 2015, this pool will be whittled down to a total of 28 to 40 candidates, officials said.
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"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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Ayoshi
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May 8 2013, 03:55 PM
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5 Pinoys sign up for one-way trip to Mars www.interaksyon.com <snipped>
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As of May 8, 2013, five young Filipinos have lined up. Their application videos identify them primarily by their first or nicknames: Bai, Ronald Ray, Maricia, Catherine Jane, and Daniel Andrei.
Bai and Ronald Ray identify themselves as students of Ateneo de Davao. Maricia is a registered nurse who is studying to be a doctor. Catherine Jane is a pre-production engineer in Singapore. Daniel Andrei doesn't list what he's doing, but he says he's into "farming, writing, playing the guitar, taking pictures, basketball and reading." Oh, and, he adds, "science fiction."
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jvelarde
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May 8 2013, 04:29 PM
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Mars One estimates that it needs $6 billion to send the first four astronauts to Mars. This money will cover developing the landing systems, habitats, Mars Transit Vehicle (MTV), rovers, solar arrays and other technologies associated with the colony, as well as pay for the crew's journey from Earth.
This Mars One thing is one big scam. $ 6 billion dollars to land four people in Mars!
During the time of the first President Bush, NASA came up with a study that said they needed 30 years and at least $ 400 billion dollars to land a man in Mars. Since prices have gone up since then, the price tag is certainly more than $ 1 trillion by now. And these scam artists say then can go to the red planet with less than 1% of what NASA is asking for?
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Mckoyzzz
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May 8 2013, 06:25 PM
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Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est
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- jvelarde
- May 8 2013, 04:29 PM
This Mars One thing is one big scam. $ 6 billion dollars to land four people in Mars! During the time of the first President Bush, NASA came up with a study that said they needed 30 years and at least $ 400 billion dollars to land a man in Mars. Since prices have gone up since then, the price tag is certainly more than $ 1 trillion by now. And these scam artists say then can go to the red planet with less than 1% of what NASA is asking for?
Perhaps you were referring to the statement of then President Bush (senior) in 1990 of his target plan of landing a man on Mars in 30 years. Timeframe of that plan is by 2019. The $500 billion budget includes an establishment of base on the moon and an advanced launch system from Moon to Mars which is considerable. They were planning to launch manned spacecraft from Moon to Mars and back (no staying on Mars until death).
On the case of Mars One, the astronauts will be sent directly from Earth to Mars and there's no turning back, which lessens the budget amount. I've also read that they (Mars One) are now receiving a lot of sponsors and other financial support. They are also aided by several well-known advisers from different Aerospace and Space agencies globally, and yes, including NASA. Prices may have gone up, but take note that technologies are also getting better and cheaper compared in the 90s, which then were non-existent.
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 "Do not condemn the judgment of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong -- Dandemis"
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jvelarde
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May 11 2013, 04:19 PM
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Perhaps you were referring to the statement of then President Bush (senior) in 1990 of his target plan of landing a man on Mars in 30 years. Timeframe of that plan is by 2019. The $500 billion budget includes an establishment of base on the moon and an advanced launch system from Moon to Mars which is considerable. They were planning to launch manned spacecraft from Moon to Mars and back (no staying on Mars until death).
McKoyzz,
Yes, I was referring to this overly ambitious schedule the Bush I. $ 500 billion in 1990 is nominally $ 805 billion today. But we also have to reckon that the price of oil, copper, steel, aluminum, etc has more than tripled since 1990 so the price tag is at least a trillion dollars!
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On the case of Mars One, the astronauts will be sent directly from Earth to Mars and there's no turning back, which lessens the budget amount.
Yes, you will but a several billions in bypassing the moon but still, sending men from here to Mars will still cost several hundreds or even trillions of dollars!
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I've also read that they (Mars One) are now receiving a lot of sponsors and other financial support. They are also aided by several well-known advisers from different Aerospace and Space agencies globally, and yes, including NASA. Prices may have gone up, but take note that technologies are also getting better and cheaper compared in the 90s, which then were non-existent.
But there has been no breakthrough rocket or space technology that would dramatically lower the costs of sending a man to space and beyond. For Mars One to claim that they can send four astronauts to Mars for "only" $ 6 billion is just plain laughable.
In comparison, the development cost of the James Webb Space Telescope alone has already ballooned to more than $ 8 billion.
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MSantor
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Oct 18 2014, 11:42 AM
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Growing food on Mars? Will the soil even be compatible with plants from Earth?
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Mars One plan has potentially deadly flaws, scientists say
Volunteers who want to take a one-way trip to Mars and spend the rest of their lives on the Red Planet could expect "the rest of their lives" to be as short as 68 days — if the project blasts off at all, a new study suggests.
The plan for Mars One, a project that aims to establish the first human settlement on Mars by 2025, has potentially deadly and astronomically expensive flaws, according to a feasibility study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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The first run showed that without special nitrogen-generating equipment, the first human would suffocate in 68 days, the researchers reported in a paper presented recently at the International Astronomical Union conference in Toronto. That's indirectly because the habitat would have to vent itself to prevent pressure buildup from oxygen produced by crops in the habitat.
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Importing all food from Earth recommended
That suggests Mars One would need to make some changes to its plan, the researchers suggest. They could grow the plants in a unit isolated from the astronauts' living space or import all food from Earth instead of growing it on Mars. The researchers recommend the latter.
Further study suggested that even if all food is imported from Earth, 15 heavy rockets would be needed to carry the first four settlers and their supplies to Mars, costing $4.5 billion US, not including the costs of development, operations, communications, and power systems. If food is grown on Mars, the cost would be $6.3 billion.
(...SNIPPED)
Edited by MSantor, Oct 18 2014, 11:42 AM.
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"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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