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How about a ONE-WAY trip to Mars?

Just wondering if any of you who think you WOULD go for something like this, what do you think your life would be like? Do you think you'd go nuts after a while? I know I would. Wouldn't you miss what you've left behind? Knowing that it's not reversible, regardless of what happens to you, your mind, your family, whatever, how would you deal with that?
 
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Just wondering if any of you who think you WOULD go for something like this, what do you think your life would be like? Do you think you'd go nuts after a while? I know I would. Wouldn't you miss what you've left behind? Knowing that it's not reversible, regardless of what happens to you, your mind, your family, whatever, how would you deal with that?

Depends on whether I'd be able to get a 3G signal.

But I guess it would be a bit like the first immigrants to make the move to North America from Europe, but worse. More like the English prisoners being shipped to Australia, knowing they can never go back.

But I'm sure that for some people it would be a dream come true - SPACE TRAVEL!!! And you could actually call yourself in all sincerity a Martian! It would be like living in a Ray Bradbury story!
 
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Depends on whether I'd be able to get a 3G signal.
:D

But I guess it would be a bit like the first immigrants to make the move to North America from Europe, but worse. More like the English prisoners being shipped to Australia, knowing they can never go back.
Yes, I see it much more as the latter. Kind of like being banished with no way back.

But I'm sure that for some people it would be a dream come true - SPACE TRAVEL!!! And you could actually call yourself in all sincerity a Martian! It would be like living in a Ray Bradbury story!
So true, so true.

I wonder if individual doses of cyanide are included among the supplies each colonist will take with them...
 
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How many hotties are going with me? Because I'm not going if its gonna be a sausage fest! :p
If not for the fact that I WOULDN'T want to spend the rest of my life on Mars, I'd go if the rest of the group was all guys. :D Of course, I don't know how much of a "hottie" I'd be considered at this point in my life... Disabled, out of shape, middle aged... :eek: Yeah, let's just scratch the whole idea. :laugh:
 
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I wonder if individual doses of cyanide are included among the supplies each colonist will take with them...
Baaad plan: a place like that you'll need all of your resources to survive, so removing yourself will endanger everyone else.
I see the point you're making, but suicide will SURELY be part of the aftermath of this project. Once the reality sinks in that there's no way home, you're stuck on Mars with its inhospitable environment, there's virtually nothing to do, almost no one to socialize with, etc., boredom and, most likely, insanity will follow. So if not pre-supplied cyanide, they'll find some other way.
 
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How about if the "preparation" for the first colonists was to set up a great Las Vagas-like resort, focusing on entertainment. So that whenever new colonists arrived, they had a social environment in which to stop going crazy, replete with bars, cinemas, etc. You could easily set up a comms link that would provide the latest cultural products from earth - such as film and music etc. Not to mention androidforums ;) and Facebook.

Imagine the pioneering Martians could even engage themselves in creating the first cultural exports for Earth consumption - Martian Cinema, Martian music.

Admittedly the image on the homepage of Mars One paints a grim picture with the twelve or so little pods to live in, but let's face it, there are a lot of people who spend a lot of time on the internet in their houses, and I don't see it too difficult to imagine they could cope with being cooped up in their prefabricated accomodation as long as they had Internet access.

Admittedly the ping to Earth and back would be diabolical :)
 
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That's just it, though, @davoid. There's no way the infrastructure up there can possibly be ready for that kind of demanding use by the time the first colonists arrive. And there will only be a handful of them. So there will be neither huge numbers of people to socialize with nor the kind of entertainment you're talking about. And then what happens when their Internet connection goes down?! :eek: I'm in the technology epicenter of the world, California, and have had to go for as long as three WEEKS without Internet after rain caused a widespread outage.

What would happen to them if their power failed? or their water source? Of course there will be backup systems in place for everything but, still, redundancy is no 100% guarantee.
 
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That's just it, though, @davoid. There's no way the infrastructure up there can possibly be ready for that kind of demanding use by the time the first colonists arrive. And there will only be a handful of them. So there will be neither huge numbers of people to socialize with nor the kind of entertainment you're talking about. And then what happens when their Internet connection goes down?! :eek: I'm in the technology epicenter of the world, California, and have had to go for as long as three WEEKS without Internet after rain caused a widespread outage.

With only 4 people in a confined area, I would think the experience would be pretty dull. There have been a number of astronauts who have spent months in the international space station. However, the trip itself will take a little less than a year. Then you still have to live in a less confined space. I think perhaps the training on earth will involve isolating them for years so they get used to it enough.

The other thing I would wonder about is offspring. How would it be for the child/children growing up in such an environment. With the lower gravity on Mars, their physical development will be different than if they had grown up on earth. These offspring would have difficulty functioning on earth if they every came here as our gravity is higher than on Mars.

What would happen to them if their power failed? or their water source? Of course there will be backup systems in place for everything but, still, redundancy is no 100% guarantee.

I guess they'd have to find that Martian reactor and release breathable air into the atmosphere. :)
 
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We don't have the greatest image in the universe.
 

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I think perhaps the training on earth will involve isolating them for years so they get used to it enough.
And if it does, I believe many FORMERLY enthusiastic would-be colonists will decide it's not really their cup of tea. :eek:

The other thing I would wonder about is offspring. How would it be for the child/children growing up in such an environment. With the lower gravity on Mars, their physical development will be different than if they had grown up on earth. These offspring would have difficulty functioning on earth if they every came here as our gravity is higher than on Mars.
I doubt that offspring and their potential problems will be an issue--because I can't convince myself anyone will live long enough up there to HAVE children. I'm just not seeing how the insanity factor won't kick in.

Here's how I see it: Unlike settlers in the US and other countries on Earth, colonists who go to Mars will not have a NATURALLY hospitable, livable environment. Everything about their lives will depend on artificial support. While early settlers in North America had to deal with natural problems like brutally cold winters, at least they could do things like find wood to build fires, make materials for clothing and blankets, grow food, find plenty of sources for fresh drinking water, and so on--and when they got sick of freezing their asses off, they could mosey on out west to find sun and warmth. :) On Mars, they won't even be able to go outside dressed normally, let alone grow anything, and there won't be anywhere to move TO that'll be better than where they already are.

So, for me at least, it comes down to ultimately realizing they goofed by going up there, and as that reality sinks in more and more, they're either going to turn on each other or themselves.
 
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