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Sending Astronauts On a One-Way Trip To Mars
The Narrative Fallacy writes "Cosmologist Lawrence M. Krauss, director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University, writes in the NY Times that with the investment needed to return to the moon likely to run in excess of $150 billion and the cost of a round trip to Mars easily two to four times that, there is a way to reduce the cost and technical requirements of a manned mission to Mars: send the astronauts on a one way trip. 'While the idea of sending astronauts aloft never to return is jarring upon first hearing, the rationale for one-way trips into space has both historical and practical roots,' writes Krauss. 'Colonists and pilgrims seldom set off for the New World with the expectation of a return trip.' There are more immediate and pragmatic reasons to consider one-way human space exploration missions including money. 'If the fuel for the return is carried on the ship, this greatly increases the mass of the ship, which in turn requires even more fuel.' But would anyone volunteer to go on such a trip? Krauss says that informal surveys show that many scientists would be willing to go on a one-way mission into space and that we might want to restrict the voyage to older astronauts, whose longevity is limited in any case. "
Are they any less doomed here on Earth? Or do you have some immortality serum you've been keeping hushed up? People die anywhere and everywhere. At least on Mars it'd be a historic first as opposed to on Earth among millions every day.
Dick Cheney? Oh - wait - we want someone smart enough to make observations and keep journals. And, there's a good chance that there is no one to torture up there.......
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
I volunteer the good doctor for the glorious one way journey. Suicide has never appealed to Americans, valorous though we historically are. American's prefer a sporting chance. That is why events such as Apollo 13 or SpaceShip 1 are celebrated so. Americans love it when pilots face the abyss, and pull it back at the last second. Read "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe and understand. The one way mission option may appeal Europeans and Muslims, however.
an ill wind that blows no good
Wow! Wait a minute... After weeks of your colleagues denying the suggestion, that classifying patients by someone as "terminal" — and thus not worthy of continuing care, as already happens in the UK — has never even entered the minds of the respectable authors of "Obamacare", you just had to blurt it out on Slashdot, that you'd really prefer to have such a system...
Shame on you, comrade. Loose lips sink (dictator)ships... Should I report you for spreading this fishy rumor about someone wanting death panels?
Yes, I know, you said, "we can't" (have death panels) — but if you want them to happen, and have the "Yes we can!" attitude, you better be stopped now, because where there is a will, there may some day be found a way...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
"Not sure if there's some sort of official authority for this sort of data that is reliable though"
Of course not, this is the food industry we are talking about and nutritionists and dieticians argue about most everything. But there is pretty much no dissent out there regarding hemp seed aside from knee-jerk reactions about getting high (which is impossible with hemp seed of course).
Probably the most authoritative source is the nutrition labels on hemp seed product which are mandatory and governed by federal regulations.