Over 1000 Volunteers For 'Suicide' Mission To Mars

They've already announced their picks for the crew by crazyjj · 2012-12-05 02:35 · Score: 5, Funny

"We've carefully reviewed the 1,000 candidates who volunteered online and have put together a team of our finest candidates," said Mars One head Bas Lansdorp:

Captain:
Jack Meov

Pilots:
Bob A. Booey
Ivana Bloweau

Mission specialists:
Mike Hunt
Jean Luc Picard
George Washington
Richard Flair, N.B.

--
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?

Just a few more Jedi Knights... by Vexler · 2012-12-05 02:37 · Score: 2

...and we can call this mission "Outbound Flight".

I would go if there was a suicide booth by erroneus · 2012-12-05 02:41 · Score: 4, Insightful

The thing about suicide missions most people aren't considering is body disposal. There must be an effective and sanitary means of handling the body. It would be nice if they could make soylent green, but at the very least there should be a device which would render a body as "gone" in a clean and sanitary manner. A body disposal bot would be pretty ideal... "bring out your dead... bring out your dead..."

Anyway, I'd be all for it. I have produced three viable offspring and don't plan to produce more. If departure is within the next 20 years, I'll be a perfect candidate for such a mission... I doubt my wife would agree though.

Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by trout007 · 2012-12-05 02:48 · Score: 5, Insightful

On Mars it's known as Outside.

--
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-12-05 03:00 · Score: 3, Informative

Last thing I heard, there is still no sign of life on Mars, so shouldn't "tossing the body out of the window" be perfectly clean and sanitary, as long as you don't mind seeing eternally-preserved bodies outside?
We now know something about martian dust airflow, so you could probably get a rough calculation of how long it would take for a frozen corpse to be sandblasted beyond usable recognition...
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 03:01 · Score: 3, Interesting

The microbes in your body and any brought along with the spaceship will make sure your corpse won't go to waste.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-12-05 03:01 · Score: 5, Insightful

The thing about suicide missions most people aren't considering is body disposal. There must be an effective and sanitary means of handling the body. It would be nice if they could make soylent green, but at the very least there should be a device which would render a body as "gone" in a clean and sanitary manner.
Deathstills, clearly. A man's flesh is his own, his water belongs to the other astronauts.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by erroneus · 2012-12-05 03:46 · Score: 2

My children understand me better than my wife does. They are a lot like me in most respects. I see life as a whole bunch of comings and goings. We only "mourn" when we have a body and a certainty that the last time has passed. We don't freak out when we part ways after lunch even if in reality, that might be the last time you see someone alive! So when you take it apart, you realize that the mechanism is based in no small part on the notion that it is final.
I would continue to be able to interact with them and so it would be little different than what we have now. We part ways and spend less time together. The magnitude of physical distance has little bearing on the notion.... only that there is a physical distance. These days, we try to plan time over holidays and stuff. My little one still lives with me though. So it would be best if he were on his own before I go off to Mars right? And between now and then, I hope to express my philosophies in a way that provides a useful framework for him to experience and manage life that works for him as I have with my first two sons.
That's parenting after all.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by paiute · 2012-12-05 03:56 · Score: 2

Last thing I heard, there is still no sign of life on Mars, so shouldn't "tossing the body out of the window" be perfectly clean and sanitary, as long as you don't mind seeing eternally-preserved bodies outside?
We now know something about martian dust airflow, so you could probably get a rough calculation of how long it would take for a frozen corpse to be sandblasted beyond usable recognition...
GIS corpses on Everest. Probably a fair prediction.

--
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by Runaway1956 · 2012-12-05 03:58 · Score: 4, Interesting

How about lichens?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen
They grow in the most inhospitable places on Earth. They may possibly adapt to some of the more hospitable places on Mars. Given the chance, they may thrive, and change the face of Mars. Just scatter a bunch around in the best looking places, give it a thousand years, and take another look!

--
"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
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by wonkey_monkey · 2012-12-05 04:40 · Score: 2

And let all that tasty flesh go to waste?

--
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by SilentStaid · 2012-12-05 04:46 · Score: 2

That would be an incredibly heavy load to first get to a space station. Even with commercial space flight taking off (teehee), you're still looking at a roughly estimated LEO payload cost per lb (kg) = $4,729 right now. So if you figure an even split between 25 men (180lbs) and 25 women (115lbs) all of whom should be physically fit so they conform to averages, you're bringing 4500lbs of male flesh, and 2875lbs of female flesh. To bring all 7375lbs of that to space you're looking at $34.876 mil just to bring the bodies up!

That doesn't include food, water, clothing, essentials, toiletries, and all the other crap that even the most realist of people would bring knowing that they're never, ever going to see their home world again.

Bas Lansdorp (Mars One's main entrepenure) has stated they'd use the Falcon Heavy launcher from SpaceX... a 125mil ship in its own right... that only gives them 117,000 pounds of total load just to get to LEO! Side note, he said that while talking about a reality TV show based on the 'astronauts'...

I'm just saying... this is a pipe dream still for private enterprise, a government could (and should) fund this... but I'm doubting this happens. Here's to hoping I'm wrong.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by SilentStaid · 2012-12-05 04:58 · Score: 4, Informative

Replying to myself with the wiki excerpt... First 4 astronauts will cost 6 billion.

Mars One plans to establish the first human settlement on Mars. According to their schedule, the first crew of four astronauts would arrive on Mars in 2023, after a seven month journey from Earth. Further teams would join their settlement every two years, with the intention that by 2033 there would be over twenty people living and working on Mars.

As of June 2012, the mission plan is as follows:[4]
2013: The first 40 astronauts will be selected;[14] a replica of the settlement will be built for training purposes.[9]
2014: The first communication satellite will be produced.
2016: A supply mission will be launched during January (arriving October) with 2,500 kilograms (5,500 lb) of food in a 5 metres (16 ft) diameter variant of the SpaceX Dragon.[9] The fallback if this is not ready in time is either to use a 3.8 metres (12 ft) Dragon or to delay by two years.[17]
2018: An exploration vehicle will launch to pick the location of the settlement.[9]
2021: Six additional Dragon capsules and another rover will launch with two living units, two life support units and two supply units.[9]
2022: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy will launch with the first group of four colonists.[9]
2023: The first colonists will arrive on Mars in a modified Dragon capsule.[9]
2025: A second group of four colonists will arrive.[9]
2033: The colony will reach 20 settlers.[1]
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by Quiet_Desperation · 2012-12-05 05:07 · Score: 4, Funny

I got to "2875lbs of female flesh" and then my mind wandered to a very happy place.
Man clearly likes his women on the large side.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by morgauxo · 2012-12-05 05:09 · Score: 4, Interesting

-- That would contaminate the soil forever
Only if something manages to survive Mars' surface environment. That seems very unlikely. Now if you buried the bodies deep enough and did so very quickly... maybe... I doubt they would do that though, not unless it is determined that there is no native life first. Or.. native life is found and it turns out to be just the same microbes we have here already anyway (possible given meteor transport)
-- It's in one category with global genocide
Now you are assuming that not only do body microbes survive in the Martian environment (reasonable since freezing, desiccating low pressure environments with lot's of UV exactly mimics what microbes inside our guts see every day right?) but also that microbes adapted to our bodies' environment will actually out-compete native microbes which are adapted to the martian environment even in the martian environment
Yes, we do see non-native species out-competing native ones here on Earth but they are only crossing continents. Normally when this happens the new environment is quite similar to the old one with the exception of a lack in well adapted predators. This is hardly the same as taking a microbe adapted to the human body and putting it on Mars which is almost the exact opposite of the human body (warm, wet and well shielded from pretty much everything vs cold dry and without most of the protection from space which we enjoy at the Earth's surface)
-- we could never ever tell if there actually was life on mars
anything found on Mars that isn't found on Earth is probably Martian. Any fossil from before human presence is definitely Martian.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by interkin3tic · 2012-12-05 05:21 · Score: 2

IANA forensic microbiologist, but I'd guess that the decomposition wouldn't be complete. Anerobes in your body would probably do well, but there wouldn't be anything to eat outside in, and once the internal anerobes digested to a point where they were opened up to the external environment and exposed to mars, I would expect they'd die.

The leftovers and the bacterial byproducts would probably just sit there. So there wouldn't be a body sitting around, but I'd guess that there would be a partially decomposed and collapsed, dried out corpse that would look much more ghastly than an eternally preserved body or a simple skeleton.

On the other hand, you wouldn't need to bury a body very deep since there would be no scavenging animals to dig it up. Just bury it deep enough that the winds aren't going to expose it. Or drop the bodies off in a valley that you never had to look at until the next person died.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by Andrio · 2012-12-05 05:29 · Score: 2

Here's an interesting thought. Should dead bodies have some kind of long-lasting metal tag to indicate that they were not native of the planet? Perhaps a simple diagram that indicates that this fossilized skeleton found is from the third planet from the sun, not the fourth?

Thousands, maybe millions of years from now the skeletons of these people may be found by non-human creatures (be it from Earth or from another planet). I'm sure they would have an appreciation of truly knowing the origin of these skeletons.

--
The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by DanielRavenNest · 2012-12-05 05:30 · Score: 2

Everything past 2013 is fantasy at this point, because they don't have funding. Mars One is just promotional advertising for a reality show based on selecting astronauts instead of surviving on a tropical island, that's all.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by orgelspieler · 2012-12-05 05:55 · Score: 2

Hopefully nobody named Bill Tong signs up for the mission. He might get jerky.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by lenart · 2012-12-05 06:41 · Score: 3, Insightful

And why would that be a problem? We're not talking about a temporary experiment setup for fun. The goal is colonization! Looking at all previous colonization efforts (of which the USA is most probably the clearest example) contamination of the local flora and fauna is a certainty. Just look around and count the number of bison's, native americans and horses. As a reference, the continent used to be filled by the first two and devoid of the last (for the last 10.000 years or so of course).
In addition to that, would it not make sense to have the people on Mars search for proof BEFORE they kick the bucket? And when we contaminate the soil in a way that makes it impossible to detect signs of life native to Mars with our current detection techniques, we will have to invent new ones. It's been going on for about 150 years on earth. Hell, we've even found a name for it: Scientific Progress!
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by khallow · 2012-12-05 09:46 · Score: 2

Doing "not so well" doesn't mean that they can't do well enough. I wouldn't rule out altogether an engineered species tailored for Mars.

It's worth noting that there is a huge gap between the worst survivable environments of Earth and the best of Mars. For example, the pressures that lichen survives at on Earth (roughly half of an atmosphere at 19,000 feet) and the best spots on Mars ( Hellas Planitia with a bit over 1% of Earth's atmospheric pressure).

Carbon dioxide partial pressure is actually higher for Mars than Earth, but that's not going to be the main constraints on lichen growth. Nitrogen partial pressure would be about a thousand times less dense for Hellas Planitia so it's going to be very hard for lichen to fix nitrogen.

Similarly, temperatures are vastly colder even at the best spots on Mars (once again Hellas Planitia) with high summer temperatures near 0C (according to this site). Lichen could operate at the hottest parts of the day, but night time temperatures are around -50C in summer in the best location on Mars. So needless to say, until someone builds up a heat-preserving atmosphere, lichen is going to grow very little only in the warmest parts of the day during the warmest parts of the summer in a single deep impact crater on Mars.

So far, I just mentioned gaps in temperature and pressure, both which stop lichen on Earth apparently around 19,000 feet well above the levels found in Hellas Planitia.

Water is probably not that bad. It might even be liquid at rare times in Hellas Planitia. There might be enough vapor/frost for lichen to harvest water from air. I certainly wouldn't consider it as big an obstacle as the rest.

Finally, there's UV and cosmic radiation. This is a huge problem due to how slowly any lichen would grow on Mars. Even a very radiation resistant lichen will have to repair damage to its DNA at some point. And that will only be able to occur during the infrequent periods during the Martian summer day when it is remotely active.

So can it repair itself, while surviving and reproducing? I think so, but not with any currently living lichen on Earth.
Re:I would go if there was a suicide booth by jonadab · 2012-12-05 13:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

> Doing "not so well" doesn't mean that they can't do well enough.

I don't think you've grasped the magnitude of exactly how much atmosphere Mars doesn't have. The surface pressure is zero point something kPa. That's REALLY low pressure. Water at pressures that low is a vapor regardless of temperature. It can't solidify (on its own), let alone exist as a liquid. A standard college physics classroom vacuum pump can't create a vacuum with pressure that low.

For comparison, standard pressure on Earth at sea level is 101.325 kPa. On top of Mt. Everest, the pressure is about a third of standard, which is still somewhere around 50 or 100 times as much pressure as on Mars.

> I wouldn't rule out altogether an engineered species tailored for Mars.

To function in the near-vacuum of Mars, it would need to be engineered to be significantly different from anything found on Earth, except perhaps a small handful of anaerobic microbes, and I'm not even sure about those. Even most Earth life that can *survive* pressure that low can't perform metabolic functions to any significant extent without some source of metabolic gasses -- they just wait until they get some air and then start back up again. The ones that don't need oxygen generally need something else, and on Mars they won't have it -- unless you keep them in a pressurized container of some sort.

> It's worth noting that there is a huge gap
> between the worst survivable environments
> of Earth and the best of Mars.

Yes, exactly. It's not even really comparable.

> Carbon dioxide partial pressure is actually
> higher for Mars than Earth

I can cut a thirty-inch super-extra-large pizza into six slices and give you just one slice -- only a sixth of the pizza. Or, if you prefer, I can make a pizza an eighth of an inch in diameter and use a microscope and precision laser to cut that eighth-inch-diameter pizza into twenty slices and give you nineteen of those slices -- almost the whole pizza. Which is more? This is admittedly a simplification. Partial pressure does also matter, up to a point -- but only up to a point. When you're comparing the atmosphere of Mars to Earth, any small advantage Mars might have in the partial pressure department is overwhelmingly dwarfed to nothingness by the spectacular disadvantage in absolute pressure.

I do not for one minute believe that Earth's lichens (let alone the plain old green algae that terraforming enthusiasts always think is magic) will grow on Mars (except in a pressurized container). There isn't any air. Plants don't grow unless they're immersed in air (or water or something).

--
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.

Have the actually verified the Volunteers... by MADCOWbeserk · 2012-12-05 02:44 · Score: 5, Funny

I wouldn't be surprised if lots of guys didn't just volunteer their ex-wives.

Re:Have the actually verified the Volunteers... by hymie! · 2012-12-05 03:07 · Score: 2, Interesting

"My Ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I have left are my bones."
That quote was one of the many many reasons I hated that movie. "Gee, we need to force a perfectly reasonable medical nickname onto this character. Is this mallet large enough?"
Re:Have the actually verified the Volunteers... by SternisheFan · 2012-12-05 04:06 · Score: 4, Informative

from wikipedia: McCoy was born in 2227. [2] The son of David, [4]:257-258 he attended the University of Mississippi [2] and is a divorcé. [5] In 2266, McCoy was posted as chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk who calls him "Bones". [2] McCoy and Kirk are good friends, even "brotherly". [4]:146 The passionate, sometimes cantankerous McCoy frequently argues with Kirk's other confidant, science officer Spock, [1] and occasionally is bigoted toward Spock's Vulcan heritage. [6] McCoy often plays the role of Kirk's conscience, offering a counterpoint to Spock's logic. [1] McCoy is suspicious of technology, [7] especially the transporter; [2] as a physician, he prefers less intrusive treatment and believes in the body's innate recuperative powers. [1]
The character's nickname, "Bones", is a play on sawbones, an epithet for physicians, [8] in particular, those qualified as surgeons. [9] http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_McCoy#section_1
A sawbones is a slang term used to describe a physician, and more specifically a surgeon, especially one who would have served in battle. The term is often tied to the Civil War, but in fact predates it. Dickens uses it to refer to a doctor in the 1837 novel Pickwick Papers which suggests common use of the expression at least 20 years prior to usage during the American Civil War. http://m.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-sawbones.htm

Au Contraire by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 02:47 · Score: 4, Funny

I'll be a perfect candidate for such a mission... I doubt my wife would agree though.

Au contraire. Just last night she was telling me that she'd do anything to get rid of you.

I'm pretty sure she'd be a for shooting you at Mars.

Telephone sanitizers? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 02:48 · Score: 4, Funny

How many of those 1.000 candidates are telephone sanitizers?

Collecting volunteers on the internet by Hentes · 2012-12-05 02:51 · Score: 3, Interesting

Shooting random volunteers on a one-way trip to Mars so they can Make a reality there? Sounds like a scam to me.

Re:Collecting volunteers on the internet by Smidge204 · 2012-12-05 02:59 · Score: 5, Funny

"Wanted: Somebody to go to Mars with me. This is not a joke. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed."
=Smidge=

Not a Former NFL Linebacker! by eldavojohn · 2012-12-05 02:51 · Score: 3, Funny

Mike Hunt

Yeah right, you're trying to tell me that former Green Bay Packer Michael Anthony Hunt signed up for this? Mike Hunt received a total of two interceptions while playing only twenty two games. Mike Hunt knows how to play the field. It's ridiculous to think that we would waste Mike Hunt, a national treasure that has been enjoyed by millions of burly men, by putting Mike Hunt on a Mars suicide mission!

--
My work here is dung.

Re:Not a Former NFL Linebacker! by crazyjj · 2012-12-05 03:05 · Score: 5, Funny

Admittedly, Mike Hunt was quite a ballplayer.

--
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Re:Not a Former NFL Linebacker! by fyngyrz · 2012-12-05 04:22 · Score: 2, Funny

Mike Hunt is the poster child for a career of being shafted. From his start with the Toronto Blue Balls, to his career-ending finale when he ill-advisedly swung at a pitch from Wrong-Hole-Harriet, Hunt moved deeper and deeper until the truth finally penetrated: All this time, they'd treated him like a dick. He knew it was time to pull out, and pull out he did. Some analysts think it's pushing it to say so, but those in the know speak of the collapse of walls of the sport, giving Hunt the nod for stretching it out as long as possible. Now Hunt seeks a private life, trying to avoid the press and the associated innuendo.

--
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.

Hmmmmm by slashmydots · 2012-12-05 02:52 · Score: 4, Funny

And yet when my company kills people as a cost cutting measure, ohhhh, suddenly that's illegal, lol.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by cheaphomemadeacid · 2012-12-05 02:53 · Score: 3, Insightful

Yeah you're right, we should never have climed down from the trees, or walk out of the sea for that matter...

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by ledow · 2012-12-05 02:59 · Score: 5, Insightful

I think that even some royalty probably said the same about traders who crossed the Atlantic, or tried to climb certain ranges of mountain to get to the next village, or ride the around around certain Cape around South Africa at some point.

You don't need to be stupid to want to go live on a planet of your own (effectively), especially if follow-up missions are likely. You *do* need to screen people for suicidal tendencies, because that can be a major factor - but there's nothing to say that a perfectly sane person wouldn't choose suicide in tough circumstances like they are likely to face anyway.

In fact, one of Man's greatest moments was called "stupid" at the time and ended up suicides. Or you wouldn't know *shit* about the South Pole now.

"I may be some time" doesn't ring a bell about one of our greatest explorers ever?

Elon Musk wants 80,000 colonists by WillAdams · 2012-12-05 03:00 · Score: 5, Informative

"SpaceX founder Elon Musk wants to create a colony on Mars consisting of a population of 80,000, ferried to the planet in a reusable rocket. For the initial trip, the rocket would contain fewer than 10 humans, and enough equipment to found a colony ready for the other 79,990."

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-11/what-do-we-know-about-elon-musks-plan-mars-colony

--
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.

Funnly last sentence by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 03:01 · Score: 3, Funny

Am I the only one who misread it as "The natural selection process starts early next year"?

Re:WATER? by rudy_wayne · 2012-12-05 03:03 · Score: 3, Funny

Where the hell are they going to find water? Shipping it surely isn't an option....

Don't call me Shirley.

Re:one condition by codewarren · 2012-12-05 03:05 · Score: 5, Informative

This isn't 30 second latency we're talking about. When mars is furthest from earth, best case latency is a whopping 42 minutes. That means after you click a link, the very best case is that there are 42 minutes before you get a reply.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by Bardez · 2012-12-05 03:06 · Score: 2

Those who volunteer are clearly stupid or suicidal. Both disqualify them for participation.

"That's some catch."

--
Perception is the thin dividing line between reality and fiction.

What would you do before you died on Mars? by madhatter256 · 2012-12-05 03:07 · Score: 4, Funny

If you're in Mars doing a one-way mission with no hopes of returning. What would you do before you died?

I'd make an effort to fuck with people's minds in the future.

I would make an elaborate treasure map of ancient alien civilizations in areas that are suitable for future human settlements. That way when people find my map and realize a government building is built on a location that apparently has ancient alien bones, treasure, etc., they think it was a government conspiracy or cover up and madness will ensue (but I'll be laughing from the heavans).

I would look for a cave and set up fake cave paintings like Prometheus pointing towards the Sun. That way they may send some poor sap to go explore the sun for possible clues (and possibly make great discoveries along the way) but in the end a lot of people will die because the Sun is really dangerous.

And the day I will fall to near death I will walk as far as I can, fall flat on my face, break my protective suit and have my right arm point in some arbitrary direction, so when rigormortous kicks in, my arm stays in that position. That way people will wonder what the hell I was pointing at.

I guess I want to be an asshole astronaut lol.

--
Previewing comments are for sissies!

Re:What would you do before you died on Mars? by ledow · 2012-12-05 03:23 · Score: 3, Funny

Walk backwards for several miles from a crack in the rock. Some future explorer will follow that trail and think I disappeared.
Leave any colony in a state like the LV-426 colony, just for the laughs. A little-known, ugly-looking, smuggled Earth creature stuck in a specimen jar for bonus points.
Sketch out a Turing machine calculating flight trajectories in the dust on the ground, just for the hell of it.
Hunt down the Mars Rovers and turn them into Roomba's. Bonus points for making it look like Wall-E.
Write "Beware of the...." in the sand before I die.

Is humanity "too big to fail"? by concealment · 2012-12-05 03:08 · Score: 2

We keep hearing about how banks, firms, etc. that were "too big to fail" have ...failed.

Then we hear about how humanity is now global and the future is bright. Are we too big to fail, and thus prone to failure?

The interest in Mars seems less about exploration and more about looking for another planet to inhabit. Taken as a whole, this one may be about done, or rather, the human civilizations on it appear to be teetering over the precipice of internal disaster.

Re:Is humanity "too big to fail"? by Floyd-ATC · 2012-12-05 03:48 · Score: 2

I think it was the other way around. Our ancestors messed up Mars and then some of them managed to escape to Earth.

--
Time flies when you don't know what you're doing
Re:Is humanity "too big to fail"? by JaredOfEuropa · 2012-12-05 04:30 · Score: 4, Informative

Calling banks "Too big to fail" doesn't mean that they can't fail, it means that we cannot afford to let them fail, hence the massive bailouts. Humanity as a whole is of course similarly too big to fail.

--
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 03:09 · Score: 3, Interesting

In all fairness the last expedition of Scott was pretty stupid. Plus, the man seemed to be kind of douche.

Re:WATER? by ledow · 2012-12-05 03:13 · Score: 4, Interesting

In an air-tight environment, almost all of that water is excreted again at some point. Most as water vapour in your breath, some as urine, some as sweat, some in your faeces etc.

If you put a human in a hermetically-sealed box and gave them enough food and water for a week, that water would still be around in the box at the end. It's just a matter of collecting it.

Move forward to a non-hermetically sealed box and imperfect collection mechanisms and all you have to do it make up the difference. That's significantly less.

Your primary fuel will be hydrogen and oxygen. We actually think we can find most of that for a "return journey" by breaking down water found on the planet itself, it's so plentiful. Ignoring that, igniting said fuel (say, for warmth) produces pure water as the exhaust gas. Failing actually finding it on the planet, you can capture those gases from the air and make water by igniting hydrogen in oxygen. It's just a matter of time and electricity, both of which would (presumably) be plentiful on a mission to Mars.

Ignoring *that* - there is water ice on Mars. We know it. And in 20 years time, we'll know it even better. If there isn't, then taking along enough to make up the losses for several months/years at a time is a no-brainer. Hell, we got to the moon for several people without water shortages, any mission to Mars will scale up similarly.

Water really isn't a problem. Heat is your problem. Heating makes up a HUGE fraction of our energy usage even today, and Mars is colder (-143 to about 35 centigrade on the surface depending on latitude and time of day). So the hottest part of the hottest day on Mars is a warm summer's day, the coldest part of the coldest day is colder than the coldest recorded temperature ever on Earth.

So whatever way you look at it, the energy needed to keep you warm, and your surroundings warm, especially if you're going to build a colony to support life long-term, is through the roof compared to the difficulty of digging down or extracting water from the atmosphere with even the most inefficient tools.

..Suicide? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 03:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

Suicide? More like immortality.

The greatest privilege I can imagine is the chance to live out your years on a frontier, working your fingers to the bone every day to up the survival chances for everyone else. It would be a rough haul, that's for sure - but like bacteria, you'd dying to prepare the ground for later life.

Re:..Suicide? by thereitis · 2012-12-05 03:48 · Score: 2

You live on a planet for awhile and die there. In this case it will be on Mars. I don't see why this is being dubbed a "suicide mission".

Some things not thought of... by liquidweaver · 2012-12-05 03:17 · Score: 2

Lets assume they establish a viable colony on Mars, which is so successful it outlives the parent company. Whose responsibility is it then? The Dutch government?
Will they have a virtual seat at the UN?
What about laws with clear legal language that specify the "earth". "globally", etc... will those laws apply to Mars?
If a martian worker wants to telework in the US, will they require a visa or some sort of space permit?

--
mov ah, 4ch
int 21h

Suicide mission? Or one-way trip? by mozumder · 2012-12-05 03:18 · Score: 2

It's a suicide mission if the intent is to kill them. It's a one-way trip if the intent is to live there.

Re:Suicide mission? Or one-way trip? by Overzeetop · 2012-12-05 03:24 · Score: 2

Intent is all a matter of perspective. If it were a one way trip to the Sun, or even the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, it would still be a suicide mission.

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Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?

Ridiculous Title by machinelou · 2012-12-05 03:26 · Score: 5, Funny

Newsflash: Rest of Earth's population chooses 'suicide' mission at home.

Not really by EzInKy · 2012-12-05 03:26 · Score: 2

There are many of who have had children and even grandchildren by now. We've contributed to the gene pool as much as we can. What else do we have left other than to look forward to death by one means or another? Wouldn't it be better to go in a project that might advance humanity than sit around wasting its resources?

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Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.

But there are way more than 80000 lawyers on Earth by Overzeetop · 2012-12-05 03:29 · Score: 5, Funny

What the hell are we going to do with the rest of them?

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Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?

All or nothing by petes_PoV · 2012-12-05 03:32 · Score: 5, Funny

Either there should be no lawyers among the 80,000 or they should ALL be. One group stands a chance of establishing a utopian society, the other would, at least, be doing all us earthlings a huge favour.

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politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons

Re:one condition by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 03:33 · Score: 5, Funny

so like comcast then?

Re:WATER? by Tarlus · 2012-12-05 03:36 · Score: 2

Stillsuits.

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/* No Comment */

Re:But there are way more than 80000 lawyers on Ea by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 03:37 · Score: 5, Funny

Colonize the Sun?

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by allcoolnameswheretak · 2012-12-05 03:45 · Score: 2

I was wondering about the same thing. But maybe some people are just incredibly ambitious (in the sense of acquiring honor & fame) to be genuinely OK with sacrificing their lives without otherwise being bonkers.

In 1492, some people would have called Columbus' voyage a suicide mission, yet obviously enough people could be found to man three ships.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by rubycodez · 2012-12-05 03:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

a one-way mission is not a suicide mission, resupply is a much easier and less resource intensive operation. You are merely judging more adventurous people, those with a pioneering spirit, by your very sheltered and coddled lifestyle.

Just a publicity stunt by Wdi · 2012-12-05 03:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

They are now starting the astronaut selection program for a trip in 10 years, but there is no indication whatever that they are concerned about the much more fundamental task of designing a transport ship?!?! Really, really suspicious. What are the prospects supposed to train on/for ?

"People in thirty seven countries have purchased our merchandise, demonstrating their support for Mars One"

OK, I understand. Presumably the foundation managers are well paid. That is no problem even for a non-profit.

Re:Just a publicity stunt by CanHasDIY · 2012-12-05 05:23 · Score: 2

They are now starting the astronaut selection program for a trip in 10 years, but there is no indication whatever that they are concerned about the much more fundamental task of designing a transport ship?!?! Really, really suspicious. What are the prospects supposed to train on/for ?
"People in thirty seven countries have purchased our merchandise, demonstrating their support for Mars One"
OK, I understand. Presumably the foundation managers are well paid. That is no problem even for a non-profit.
Best "against" comment, by a long shot.

Most rational, too.

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An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re:Just a publicity stunt by Monty845 · 2012-12-05 05:38 · Score: 2

That isn't even the biggest issue for me. There are several key challenges a real attempt would face, and little to nothing is said about them. 1. Money - Not even considering design, construction or training, and even presuming future price reductions in orbital launch, the launch costs would run north of $100M, and likely much more. Yet almost nothing is said of how that or anything else would be funded 2. Radiation - Both during the trip to Mars, and while on the surface, the crew would be exposed to solar and cosmic radiation, while to some extent increased exposure is just one of the risks, without any mitigation, the crew could be exposed to lethal doses just on the trip there. 3. Landing - Nothing is said of the difficulties of landing on mars. The concept art has heat shields like you would expect of an earth landing module, but nothing is said about dealing with the martian atmosphere. There are of course plenty of other challenges, but that those huge ones are totally unaddressed, and instead they are moving ahead with crew selection, seems very suspect. They are putting the thing they can certainly achieve first, selecting a crew, to distract from the things they may not be able to deal with.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by dpilot · 2012-12-05 03:58 · Score: 3, Interesting

I find it odd/annoying that they call this a "suicide" mission rather than a "colonization" mission. The real essence here is that it's a one-way trip. I haven't seen anything to suggest that they're abandoning the colonists, or sending them to any more certain a death than we'd all see here on Earth.

There is one problem with calling it "colonization", in that we're generally thinking of post-reproductive-age people, and at some point any viable colony is going to need kids for its future. But given the assumption of a second wave, sending older people on the first wave probably is a good idea. Get the basics nailed down before worrying about kids.

Or have I got this all wrong, and made assumptions myself? Are they planning on sending people on a one-way, fixed-duration mission, and there is no surviving past that duration?

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The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by Runaway1956 · 2012-12-05 04:03 · Score: 3, Insightful

I have traveled literally millions of miles in my lifetime, just to see what lay over the horizon, as often as not. I was fortunate enough that other people paid for my traveling, so I was able to earn a living. But, the travel is what it has all been about.

So - tell me again about stupidity and suicide, please?

At age 56, and with bad knees, moving my carcass to a planet with lower gravity would be a nice thing. Throw in the new horizons, and it's a complete win-win situation for me. Suicide? Driving to work is a suicidal stunt, in and of itself, for most Americans.

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"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

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by queazocotal · 2012-12-05 04:04 · Score: 4, Interesting

As some context on supplies.
Completely open loop - no recycling - is 4.5Kg/day.
If you recycle the dehumidifier water and urine, that comes down to 1.6kg/day.

It's plausible to get it down to about a kilo a day, without having to do really hard things - close the carbon/nitrogen loops.
This means ten tons gets you 30 years of food.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by Immerman · 2012-12-05 04:10 · Score: 3, Interesting

Some people find the geological and potential biological history of Mars intensely interesting. Not to mention the potential biological *present* of Mars - if it ever had life then some/most of it is probably still there, just not on the surface (it's estimated that the vast majority, possibly high 90s%, of Earth life is subterranean microbes) Just because *you* don't think it competes with the next episode of Desperate Housewives isn't any sort of claim as to how inherently interesting it is. We've only begun to scratch the surface of the science to be done on Mars, and everything we've done to date could have been done in a week or two by a research team that was there in person.

Then there's the thrill of being part of Man's first serious offworld expedition and breaking ground for the first offworld colony. Many would say that's worth probably never setting foot on Earth again, and as for the risks of living in a hostile environment, there's plenty of people who risk their lives on a regular basis working hazardous jobs and playing extreme sports. Not really that much of a difference here, except that you're risking your life for a far more magnificent cause and will likely make it into the history books.

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--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.

black. by leuk_he · 2012-12-05 04:16 · Score: 3, Informative

White object radiate less enery but also absorb less. Black objects radiate more energy, but also absorb more. As pointed out it mainly is cold there, you you want to keep your energy instead of absorbing it.

The solutions:
-Solar power. No clouds on mars.
-nuclear power densest energy you can carry.
-really long extension cord.

Don't talk crap by Viol8 · 2012-12-05 04:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

"That would contaminate the soil forever."

It would contaminate nothing. The body's water would freeze dry within hours and the UV radiation and near vacuum would make sure any organics soon decomposed or evaporated and the ice itself would sublime eventually. All you'd be left with after a few years would be minerals from the bones and teeth.

Re:Don't talk crap by Viol8 · 2012-12-05 04:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

What do you think all the dead space probes already on the surface are? Besides which , if humanity is to be a permanent presence on mars which is the whole premise behind the mission then "contamination" is inevitable.

Re:They've already announced their picks for the c by ddd0004 · 2012-12-05 04:16 · Score: 2

Guess the entry requirements were too hard on Mike Hawk.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Weaselmancer · 2012-12-05 04:20 · Score: 4, Funny

After you die, there should be a mechanism in the spacecraft to expose you directly and slowly to the vacuum of space. You should be frozen and preserved as best as you can be. Then the ship should gently deposit you on the surface of Mars as intact as you could possibly be. Why?

What if there is an event on Earth like the flame deluge from A Canticle for Leibowitz? A nuclear event where 99% of the world is destroyed and thousands of years later we rediscover science?

Just imagine how surprised they will be to find a human skull on Mars.

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Weaselmancer
rediculous.

Re:A Canticle for Leibowitz by CanHasDIY · 2012-12-05 04:55 · Score: 2

After you die, there should be a mechanism in the spacecraft to expose you directly and slowly to the vacuum of space. You should be frozen and preserved as best as you can be. Then the ship should gently deposit you on the surface of Mars as intact as you could possibly be. Why?
What if there is an event on Earth like the flame deluge from A Canticle for Leibowitz? A nuclear event where 99% of the world is destroyed and thousands of years later we rediscover science?
Just imagine how surprised they will be to find a human skull on Mars.
OOH, and make sure they position the first body in the "Han Solo frozen in carbonite" pose prior to freezing!

Nothing like a thousand year old inside joke!

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An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by smooth+wombat · 2012-12-05 04:26 · Score: 3, Insightful

So like Polo, Columbus, Magellan, Hillary, Wright, Gagarin, Armstrong and a whole host of other people who volunteered or took on the adventure of going somewhere where no one else had been.

Yeah, those are the last type of people we want to go to Mars. :eyeroll:

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We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by DaveAtFraud · 2012-12-05 04:27 · Score: 2

Those who volunteer are clearly stupid or suicidal. Both disqualify them for participation.

I have a solution to this dilema. I can think of several politicians, ex-coworkers and other people I know who I would gladly "volunteer" for such a mission.

Cheers,
Dave

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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben

Do any of these propeller-heads know how nasty... by Squidlips · 2012-12-05 04:34 · Score: 2

Mars is??? If you returned any of these colonists back to Earth and plunked them down in the worst place you could find such as a dry valley in Antarctica or the top of K2/Everest, they would think they were in paradise.

In other news... by hazem · 2012-12-05 04:53 · Score: 2

Nearl all but 1,000 humans volunteer for a suicide mission to remain on Earth.

Re:WATER? by LaggedOnUser · 2012-12-05 04:58 · Score: 2

Clearly, once we accept the premise that it is in fact a suicide mission, it would be far more efficient to kill all the astronauts BEFORE launch and THEN shoot their dead bodies to Mars, leaving off all those unnecessary expenses for both heat and water...

Re:Too old in a decade by Reapman · 2012-12-05 05:02 · Score: 2

I disagree with your example, but not completely with what your trying to say.

80 is far too old. You'd have to put in to your calculations the odds of someone surviving, and at 80 I would say you have a greater risk of health issues, even if your healthier then most 30 year olds in a lot of respects.

I think a mix of ages would be best.. because your looking at such a long period of time, you woun't have anyone under say 35 probably eligable for this, so I'd say 35-60 or so might be good.

It's a pitch for a reality TV show by Rogerborg · 2012-12-05 05:08 · Score: 2

This is entertainment, please treat it as such.

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If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.

Having read Mary Roach's "Packing for Mars..." by dpbsmith · 2012-12-05 05:10 · Score: 2

I highly recommend it. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, by Mary Roach, really tells you everything you wanted to know about space travel but were afraid to ask. In fact it tells you things you never even thought to ask about. Like "What really does happen to clothing that is kept in contact with skin without being changed, for weeks?" Like "When they see a turd floating through the cabin, due to someone's carelessness, how do astronauts handle the situation?"

After reading that book, I asked myself the question, "Well, if you won a free all-expenses-paid monthlong trip to the International Space Station, would you accept?" And my honest answer is... I... am... not... sure.

So, my hat's off to those who volunteered, and I hope they have thought it through. Not just the suicide part, but what comes before. Because it sounds like being homeless and living in a car, only not as comfortable.

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"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by Immerman · 2012-12-05 05:18 · Score: 4, Interesting

Obviously you've never spent time with dedicated scientists - I'm talking the "I've got a closet and comfortable sofa in my office and go home at least a couple times a week" sort. I assure you they do exist and are often very passionate, dynamic people. They just don't really care about the sorts of things most people care about.

As for a lingering death, that's one thing you're pretty much guaranteed not to have on Mars. On Earth yes, especially in the U.S. - you're almost guaranteed one here as you spend your last weeks/months/years in the clutches of a medical industry that's going to go to extraordinary lengths to force your failing body to survive just a little bit longer. On Mars you'll probably die within seconds or minutes, possibly with a few hours beforehand to know it's coming (i.e. if stranded without hope of rescue with X hours of air left). You *might* get terminally sick/injured and be temporarily kept alive in the "medical bay", but it won't linger nearly as long as it would here.

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--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by CastrTroy · 2012-12-05 05:30 · Score: 2

I think there's a difference between

you will travel to Mars and die as soon as your food, water, or air supply runs out, whichever comes first. Not only that, due to some spacecraft malfunction, you may not even make it out of earth's atmosphere. There is no chance of coming back, ever.

and

you will travel across the ocean, it's very dangerious, and you may never make it, but if you reach land on the other side, there's a good chance you could live another 20 or 30 years over there, or possibly even make a return trip and see your friends and family again, and you will be treated like a hero by all.

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Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.

Re:If you volunteer, then you are not qualified... by Beardo+the+Bearded · 2012-12-05 05:45 · Score: 4, Interesting

I would go for the engineering challenge.

I would fully understand the risk... the certainty that I would never again see my home. I'd never go scuba diving again. I'd never watch the sunrise in a forest. Shit, I'd even miss going to the gym! I'd never see my kids (they're 6 and 8) or any of their kids ever again. I'd never be able to pop down to the store and pick up a McGuffin or widget or a burger.

I'd never get another FP on Slashdot.

But I'd be on Mars. We'd be living with the leading edge of human technology, all alone, with no supplies ever coming by. Yes, I would die on Mars. Maybe within hours of landing. I've got somewhere between 60 and 70 years left on Earth, max. I'd get less than that on Mars, almost certainly. What I've learned, and learned the hard way, is that how long you live isn't as important as how WELL you've lived. Did you push your life to the limits? Did you live up to your potential? What do you regret not doing? Do it. Tomorrow never comes.

Think of what the species would learn from a mission to Mars. That's well worth my life and gladly traded.

And I'd do it for free. Just give me the use of the company vehicle for a few months, then room and board afterwards.

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ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.

How far slashdot has fallen by whitroth · 2012-12-05 05:56 · Score: 2

A dozen years, I'd have been overwhelmed in my desire to go by all the other slashdotters asking where to sign up. These days, too many of the assholes who used to come out of alt.syntax.tactical....

mark, probably too old to be accepted, dammit

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Over 1000 Volunteers For 'Suicide' Mission To Mars

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