One Way trip to mars?

[jyaku]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_one_way_to_mars

For those too lazy to click on that link: scientists want people to be like the explorers of north america, knowing they would never return home. going up to help build colony's and make the planet livable.

[Spud]

Maybe, if i could play everquest from mars

[Hasbinbad]

colonies*

[Itchybottom]

It's too expensive, unless multiple countries put their money in a pile - there's no race to Mars, so politically it'd be suicide. More science is also required on the surface of Mars before you can risk sending anyone. I'm all for NASA and ISA making a push for exploring further into the vacuum, but it's just not conceivable with current world dilemmas.

[RKromwell]

Had you asked me when I was 20, sure. Two kids later...no chance in hell.

[Lanvaren]

No EQ; no.

[Japan]

I would get on the rocket now without telling my family or packing clean undies if that's what it took.

[Kava]

Had you asked me when I was 20, sure. Two kids later...no chance in hell.

^^^^ This. Hell yes, 15 years ago. Hell no, now with 3 kids. If I could bring my entire family, maybe.

[Darklake]

Give a few years and those people with kids will be elbowing grannies in the face to get a seat.

[YendorLootmonkey]

Are we talking Mars with the triple-breasted chick from Total Recall, or without?

[RKromwell]

Without, she would not come along until many years later.

[YendorLootmonkey]

Then the answer is no.

[Kelven]

This would be a lot like touring with the Army/Navy/Marines for the rest of your life, on another planet full of nothing. I'll pass.

[fuji]

Shouldn't we be concentrating our efforts on making a warp one engine first?

[Omnimorph]

Well as soon as we discover the dormant alien technology on mars and find the mass effect relay on the outskirts of our solar system, we'll be Golden... except for the first contact war... damn turians.

[Kava]

LOL Omni. Ahh Mass Effect... number 3, please hurry.

[mgellan]

Read "The Case for Mars" - we can manufacture return propellant right on the surface using gaslight era technology, so there's no reason why it should be a one way trip.

Regards,
Mg

[Jarnin]

Shouldn't we be concentrating our efforts on making a warp one engine first?
Warp drive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive) isn't going to happen for a long, long time. The amount of energy required to warp spacetime is so great that we'd be better off using that energy to make things better right here in our solar system. That means making places like Luna, Mars, and the big moons of Jupiter and Saturn a bit more friendly to life as we know it; we might not be able to make them exactly like Earth, but we can get them to the point where people can live out their lives.

All our dreams of FTL space travel are at least a thousand years off. Better get comfortable with that idea.

[jyaku]

Jarnin there is still hopes of a friendly encounter with a advanced alien species to teach us the secrets of FTL travel.

[Hasbinbad]

Warp drive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive) isn't going to happen for a long, long time. The amount of energy required to warp spacetime is so great that we'd be better off using that energy to make things better right here in our solar system. That means making places like Luna, Mars, and the big moons of Jupiter and Saturn a bit more friendly to life as we know it; we might not be able to make them exactly like Earth, but we can get them to the point where people can live out their lives.

All our dreams of FTL space travel are at least a thousand years off. Better get comfortable with that idea.
lol
In a thousand years, we'll have magic, apparently.
From your link:
"A bubble macroscopically large enough to enclose a ship 200 meters across would require a total amount of exotic matter equal to 10 billion times the mass of the observable universe."
lol

[Trademaster]

Jarnin there is still hopes of a friendly encounter with a advanced alien species to teach us the secrets of FTL travel.

It's a cookbook!

[Japan]

why invent FTL when I can just plug myself into the matrix and simulate FTL

[SlankyLanky]

It's a cookbook!

YES! my favorite episode by far.

[Jarnin]

Jarnin there is still hopes of a friendly encounter with a advanced alien species to teach us the secrets of FTL travel.
The odds of us actually meeting an advanced, intelligent alien species is pretty slim. Communicate with? Possibly, but meet? Probably not. Besides, if I were aliens I wouldn't give us FTL tech. We'd just fuck up the galaxy. Maybe in a couple hundred thousand years after our species has matured a bit.

lol
In a thousand years, we'll have magic, apparently.
From your link:
"A bubble macroscopically large enough to enclose a ship 200 meters across would require a total amount of exotic matter equal to 10 billion times the mass of the observable universe."
lol
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

[OngorDrakan]

42

[Rhalous]

Send self replicating autonomous robots to terraform it instead of humans. Technology grows exponentially, so it won't take that long to get the tech to do it. Waiting for the terraform to complete is the longest part.

[Japan]

Send self replicating autonomous robots to terraform it instead of humans. Technology grows exponentially, so it won't take that long to get the tech to do it. Waiting for the terraform to complete is the longest part.

humans are self-replicating autonomous machines. why wait?

[azeth]

Send self replicating autonomous robots to terraform it instead of humans. Technology grows exponentially, so it won't take that long to get the tech to do it. Waiting for the terraform to complete is the longest part.

We ought to just upload our consciousness into surrogates and getr dun.

[Smyd]

Depends... would there be internet on Mars?

[TanDemain]

The odds of us actually meeting an advanced, intelligent alien species is pretty slim. Communicate with? Possibly, but meet? Probably not. Besides, if I were aliens I wouldn't give us FTL tech. We'd just fuck up the galaxy. Maybe in a couple hundred thousand years after our species has matured a bit.


Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

^ have always loved that quote...

Indigenous Medicine-men/Shamans have been in communication with terrestrial and extra-terrestrial life since before civilized man even conceived of other life beyond this planet.

Try a mushroom, it's like a ham-radio to the stars.

[Jarnin]

^ have always loved that quote...

Indigenous Medicine-men/Shamans have been in communication with terrestrial and extra-terrestrial life since before civilized man even conceived of other life beyond this planet.

Try a mushroom, it's like a ham-radio to the stars.
That's not outer space, that's inner space.

[TanDemain]

That's not outer space, that's inner space.

"As above, so below. As within, so without."

[fastboy21]

personally, i wouldn't go. there are lots of folks though that would do so, however.

i am a little envious of the type of person who has so little tie to anything on this planet that it would actually make sense for them to colonize Mars knowing the would never likely return to Earth.

How many of the original colonists to North America were able to return to Europe? The analogy isn't perfect because at least in the 15th century the technology existed to get them home, but how many could actually set out with the mentality of "if things don't work out i'll be back in a year"? I would think most left their friends and families behind thinking that they would most likely never ever see them or the place they were born again.

Is that the human spirit of exploration or just desperation to escape the misery of where they were?

[Hasbinbad]

"As above, so below. As within, so without."
I wish this thread was in RnF.

[Japan]

Is that the human spirit of exploration or just desperation to escape the misery of where they were?

one and the same

[stormlord]

No because I don't think I'm strong enough physically or mentally and do not know what I could offer them. I feel that only the most able and most ambitious would be suited for it. I'll be on earth draining healthcare funds in the welfare state or dead before they get things moving on mars.

[stormlord]

personally, i wouldn't go. there are lots of folks though that would do so, however.

i am a little envious of the type of person who has so little tie to anything on this planet that it would actually make sense for them to colonize Mars knowing the would never likely return to Earth.

How many of the original colonists to North America were able to return to Europe? The analogy isn't perfect because at least in the 15th century the technology existed to get them home, but how many could actually set out with the mentality of "if things don't work out i'll be back in a year"? I would think most left their friends and families behind thinking that they would most likely never ever see them or the place they were born again.

Is that the human spirit of exploration or just desperation to escape the misery of where they were?This occurred to me after I made my first reply. It reminded me of my great grandfather. When he came here it was a leap of faith and he came with very little money. He felt he would never return again when he left but he said goodbye like it was a normal day on that day when he left. But it was not just a game to get opportunity or jobs, it was an adventure too. Everything was new to him and he had to learn a lot. It was hard, but it was new. It was tough at first; lot of moving around. He even jumped trains - got rides for free by sneaking onboard. Mining jobs were tough. He liked doing farms and working in cities because of the stability. He eventually settled down and established himself. Ironically, at the completion of his journeys and his life he wrote that the rough and tumble life of someone who travels is not easy and that once he settled down after a few years he was much more satisfied. The whole idea of it goes against exploration and travel, doesn't it?

And he never went back to finland either. He stayed here. So I think it's very similar.

[stormlord]

why invent FTL when I can just plug myself into the matrix and simulate FTLBecause there's the red pill...

But I'm always a sucker for the blue one. And then.. I'm not in the best of shape either.

[Bodeanicus]

Warp drive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive) isn't going to happen for a long, long time. The amount of energy required to warp spacetime is so great that we'd be better off using that energy to make things better right here in our solar system. That means making places like Luna, Mars, and the big moons of Jupiter and Saturn a bit more friendly to life as we know it; we might not be able to make them exactly like Earth, but we can get them to the point where people can live out their lives.

All our dreams of FTL space travel are at least a thousand years off. Better get comfortable with that idea.

And exactly how much energy does it take to warp space and time? 23 Dilithium crystals? A ZPM? You don't know? Right. That's because no one else even knows if it's possible. And yes, I'm aware of the "bubble" theory, and the jokers who made up that "11th dimension" bullshit conveniently say it will take "millenia" before we have the technology or knowledge to do it. In other words, it's bullshit, and we'll all be dead long before we're smart enough to build the thing. But hey, maybe some Vulcans will help us out.

But I do agree that our resources are best spent in our on backyard with Mars, etc.

[Greyhands]

Ummmm no, if the scientists think its such a great idea why dont they go.....

[stormlord]

Ok so I finally read a small section of what's referred to here in the OP's post and I think it's great, but maybe premature. It has merit. Sending the older generation(s) is ok in my mind because you don't want to ruin your reproductive potential as a species by exposing it to suboptimal conditions. I've read that having a baby in space would not be wise because of the radiation levels and the vast unknowns. It makes sense to have our babies where we know things will work out for them: here on earth. Evolution teaches us that we evolved in this earth environment and changing that radically by having a baby in space is very irresponsible. So I think that whatever happens it'll probably be strictly controlled by a governing space agency. This proposal also reminds me of the early explorers that came to north america. It's an invigorating idea. Exploring was often a dangerous affair. This is no less risky sending the best of our older generation on a journey that will kill them. The key difference I see between then and now are the expenses. I don't think we're quite at the stage where space travel is affordable enough to send exploration parties unless you limit it to the scale of space probes. We can and have sent space probes and, at least for now, they're the explorers. I fully expect that when prices come down we will begin to launch manned missions both to the moon and to other planets in this solar system.

One of the potential propulsion systems is linked here:
Travel to Mars in 39 Days? (http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-rocket-vasimr-nasa.html)
Another:
VASIMR, Uranium Hydride Reactor, Direct Conversion of Heat or Radiation to Electricity (http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/10/vasimr-uranium-hydride-reactor-direct.html)