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One way trip to Mars

Would you take a one way trip to Mars

  • Sign me up

    Votes: 16 32.7%
  • Are you freamin insane?

    Votes: 33 67.3%

  • Total voters
    49
Sure, I do.

The vast, ludicrously large distances to the nearest star systems remain insurmountable to us, for now, though talk of generation arks or terraforming probes are already in their infancy.

But it's not ludicrous at all to think about exploration and colonisation of our solar system!

It is at this time. This isn't like pioneers sailing off to a new continent. What planet in our solar system do you think could be "terraformed" - or for that matter, any known planet? Earth has a very delicate eco-system for which it would take very little change in air, temperature, radiation levels to essentially obliterate all life here. Finding a planet that earth-life could be terraformed on is probably 1 in 100,00,000,000,000 - and it only takes one thing for everything to die.

They tried this even on earth, to build a huge arboretum that was self sustaining in self isolation. Even using external power and all the rest, not only did it all ecologically go to hell fast, the people quickly psychologically couldn't handle it. Every experiment of how people can handle being isolated - even if fully supplied in every way, such as in a large cave network - but can't leave it - fails quickly.

Humans aren't made of it, even psychologically. Seems like it should be NO problem, but it is.

For example, how long could you handle being conscious in true, pure silence? Seems no problem, huh? Easy as easy can be. But guess what? The record is how long? 45 minutes! That's the longest anyone has been able to handle total silence.

How Long Could You Last in the World’s Quietest Room? The Record Is Only 45 Minutes | Video | TheBlaze.com

The author who wrote about Devil's Island (the penal camp) told of horrific torture, beating, rape, people being whipped, starved... and you know what was THE MOST feared punishment? Solitary confinement. ANYTHING but that. Rather be ripped apart, put in a hot box in the sun with no water, beaten - than put in isolation.

Humans can't handle it for long. And if confined in a space for long, even other people present, people literally go insane, desperately insane, frantically "I GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!"

For now and into the foreseeable future, there is nothing out there but livelessness and void. Desolation. It would be almost infinitely easier to "colonize" Anartica and the oceans' bottoms than Mars. Even to build a second story level to earth.

Star Trek really is just fantasy.
 
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The psychology of such isolation has actually been extensively studied for the Navy in terms of submarines. Guess what? There are real problems even in that type isolation - and that is with the crew knowing "the trap" they are in underwater has a fairly soon ending. That's a reason they usually schedule surfacing subs, even though don't have to with nuclear submarines. To assure the crew they aren't trapped. There are real challenges "in prevention of morale deterioration, performance decrements, and in some cases, debilitative psychopathology in submarine crew members during long submerged missions."
 
Call it the "spirit of adventure."

Besides, Earth sucks. :lol:

My wife mentioned flying to Hawaii over Christmas just a few days to get away. Besides the $4000 for the tickets, I did not cherish the thought of 16 hours of flight. So we're going to NYC.

The trip to Mars?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Flight 1531 from Houston to Mars. We will be taking off soon and conditions for the flight path are clear. So we will be arriving in 4,323 hours, 18 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts."
 
It is at this time. This isn't like pioneers sailing off to a new continent. What planet in our solar system do you think could be "terraformed" - or for that matter, any known planet? Earth has a very delicate eco-system for which it would take very little change in air, temperature, radiation levels to essentially obliterate all life here. Finding a planet that earth-life could be terraformed on is probably 1 in 100,00,000,000,000 - and it only takes one thing for everything to die.

They tried this even on earth, to build a huge arboretum that was self sustaining in self isolation. Even using external power and all the rest, not only did it all ecologically go to hell fast, the people quickly psychologically couldn't handle it. Every experiment of how people can handle being isolated - even if fully supplied in every way, such as in a large cave network - but can't leave it - fails quickly.

Humans aren't made of it, even psychologically. Seems like it should be NO problem, but it is.

For example, how long could you handle being conscious in true, pure silence? Seems no problem, huh? Easy as easy can be. But guess what? The record is how long? 45 minutes! That's the longest anyone has been able to handle total silence.

How Long Could You Last in the World’s Quietest Room? The Record Is Only 45 Minutes | Video | TheBlaze.com

The author who wrote about Devil's Island (the penal camp) told of horrific torture, beating, rape, people being whipped, starved... and you know what was THE MOST feared punishment? Solitary confinement. ANYTHING but that. Rather be ripped apart, put in a hot box in the sun with no water, beaten - than put in isolation.

Humans can't handle it for long. And if confined in a space for long, even other people present, people literally go insane, desperately insane, frantically "I GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!"

For now and into the foreseeable future, there is nothing out there but livelessness and void. Desolation. It would be almost infinitely easier to "colonize" Anartica and the oceans' bottoms than Mars. Even to build a second story level to earth.

Star Trek really is just fantasy.

This is not universally the case. There are people out there who can handle isolation just fine, and you could consciously select personality types for the mission ahead of time which would serve to complement and reinforce one another to make things more amenable for the people who cannot.

Besides, in the scenario we are talking about, learning to get by in isolation would be the difference between life and death. Even if not at their psychological peak while doing so, most people should be at least able to survive in isolation.

You would simply have to make sure that they were kept busy and had other outlets available to vent their frustrations (sex, family, leisure activities, communication with back home, ecta) so that they did not have time to linger on their condition.
 
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Say the word, and I can be packed and ready to go by 0500 tomorrow morning. :mrgreen:

Y'all have a nice trip and don't worry, I'll take care of yo' wimmens.

Ain't no freaking way you'd get me on space ship even with a round trip ticket.
 
Y'all have a nice trip and don't worry, I'll take care of yo' wimmens.

Ain't no freaking way you'd get me on space ship even with a round trip ticket.

They'd better be sending some women up as well. If I wanted to spend the rest of my life celibate and living in a 6 x 8 box, I could've stayed on earth and joined a damn monastery. :lol:
 
If I wanted to spend the rest of my life celibate and living in a 6 x 8 box, I could've stayed on earth and joined a damn monastery. :lol:

Funny. When I think of all the ways my life might end up spent living in a 6 x 8 box, religion never quite comes up.
 
As long as there's plenty of legroom on the flight, I'd happily go. Seems to be the most awesome way of committing suicide ever.
 
Amazing... We are talking about a suicide mission to a dead planet and they are arguing over the leg room and getting laid on the way?
Beam me up Scotty ...no intelligent life down here...
 
Reminds me of the poem:

"I went to sea to see that sea.
What did I see?
I saw the sea."

Every world cruiser says the same. It isn't being on the water. It's the destination. Being on the water gets damn tiresome quick. There's nothing to see. It's a flat desert.

There's reason we haven't gone back to the moon. Because there's nothing there. Rocks. Lots rocks.

A lifetime of looking at the same rocks on Mars.

"Houston, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll look at the rocks again." Week after month after year, decade after decade. Same damn rocks.

OH THE ADVENTURE OF IT!
 
I'm sure there are a few people in this forum that wish I would sign up for this but really I just can't imagine. Apparently there is no shortage of applicants though. Beats the hell outa me why.


"An ambitious project that aims to send volunteers on a one-way trip to Mars unveiled plans for the first private unmanned mission to the Red Planet Tuesday, a robotic vanguard to human colonization that will launch in 2018.

Mars One
external-link.png
invited anyone over age 18 to apply to be an astronaut. About 165,000 people answered the first call for applications, which closed at the end of August. There will be four rounds of selection before the finalists are chosen.


Mars One unveils first stage of plan to colonize Red Planet | Fox News


EDIT: FREAKIN insane :lol:




A lot of people in Europe thought pretty much the same thing about those who had the courage to take a chance on going to the Americas.

How did those trips turn out for most people?
 
Well, at my age - no.
But when I was young, I went all over the world by myself seeking fame and fortune. I lived in Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Thailand before they got rich and while the wars were still on. So, yes, I very well might have but of course its easy to say that since I don't have to do it so I might be full of ****.

But I'm a lifelong Sci-Fi guy and I used to love adventure in my fearless youth.




You're only as old as you think you are and you're never too old to dream.
 
It could be done. Could have been done some time ago actually. Main problem is how expensive it would be using current tech. Risks would be considerable too.




The colonists who settled the Americas and other distant lands also took considerable risks.

Getting up out of bed in the morning exposes all of us to risks.

But who wants to spend their whole life in bed?
 
Not sure about a one way trip, but we could definitely get there and come back.

The biggest problem would be food and water, obviously. It would take some great tech advances, but hell, we went to the moon in under a decade. I believe we as a species have the grasp to do this within a reasonable amount of time.
It's all about having the will to do this though, that's the big challenge.




That's it in a nutshell.

We have the ability, but do we have the will and the desire to do this?

I believe that some [people do and some people will be 'left behind'.
 
We might have the tech but we don't have a planet that can be colonized. Mars is dead and has been for a billion years. It is too far from the sun, its atmosphere has been mostly lost into space. We would be better off planning a trip to the nearest Star with a suitable planet.




Totally wrong for more reasons than I have time to lay out here.
 
I see hype and little follow-through. What we have is a 35 year old promising the sky (even a television show), beyond what the most successful private and state attempts at space exploration are willing to attempt, with no explanation as to how they would accomplish this scheme. On top of that, they may have to fundraise up to 1 trillion dollars, an investment that would ordinarily strike as beyond ridiculous.




You don't know what you are talking about.

This is not 'Mission Impossible'

It is a very doable project, but it will take a lot of hard work (Which some people can't handle.).

Do a little research.
 
There is nothing there.
That is an honest and accurate statement.
The only thing that can be said for mars is that it is not here. You would need to bring everything with you to live, food, water, air, fuel, shielding from radiation, cosmic dust and micro meteorites.
"Terraforming " is an entertaining sci-fi pipe dream... virtually impossible.




Nothing is impossible except for those who have no dreams.
 
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