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Mars One Delayed 2 Years, CEO Releases Video In Response To Criticism

Posted by samzenpus on from the just-a-little-longer dept.

CryoKeen writes It's interesting how different news sites spin #marsgate. From Yahoo News: "The private colonization project Mars One has pushed its planned launch of the first humans toward the Red Planet back by two years, to 2026. The delay was necessitated by a lack of investment funding, which has slowed work on a robotic precursor mission that Mars One had wanted to send toward the Red Planet in 2018, Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp said in a new video posted today... 'We had a very successful investment round in 2013 that has financed all the things that we have done up to now. And we have actually come to an agreement with a consortium of investors late last year for a much bigger round of investments. Unfortunately, the paperwork of that deal is taking much longer than we expected,' Lansdorp said in the video." This Astrowatch article is a lot more scathing and to the point: "Mars One, the Dutch company planning to send people on a one-way trip to Mars, that recently selected a group of 100 hopefuls, struggles with criticism. In a Medium story this week, Mars One finalist Joseph Roche presented multiple reasons as to why he believed the entire operation is a complete scam. In response, the company published a video Thursday in which Bas Lansdorp, CEO and Co-founder of Mars One, replies to recent criticism concerning the feasibility of Mars One's human trip to Mars. He also revealed that the mission will be delayed for two years. Roche said that the 'only way' to get selected for the next round of the Mars One candidacy process was to donate money. 'My nightmare about it is that people continue to support it and give it money and attention, and it then gets to the point where it inevitably falls on its face,' Roche told Elmo Keep for Medium."

6 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. delay by itzly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In other words: the scam is working nicely, and we'd like to milk this cow for another 2 years.

    1. Re:delay by burtosis · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well I can think of three reasons.
      1) you want to popularize reality snuff tv shows
      2)You want to embezzle the funds and flee to a country with no extradition laws
      3)You want to blow investor money on pseudo legal expenses like corporate bentleys and 'business trips' where the per diem includes hooker and blow expenses.

  2. Lack of funding by wiredlogic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The delay was necessitated by a lack of investment funding

    Maybe because they don't have a rocket, a ship, a way to land, a way to ferry supplies, a way to fund those supplies, or a way to live on another planet long term. Only a fool would dump money on this adventure.

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    1. Re:Lack of funding by burtosis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Only a fool would dump money on this adventure.

      ahh so its a perfectly viable business plan with a wide consumer base. I was worried there for a minute.

    2. Re:Lack of funding by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Funny

      come on, they only need couple of months for the paperwork to go through and then the nigerian space program will transfer the funds.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  3. Re:Costs? by itzly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    On one side -how do they plan to raise that amount of money?

    After the selection process, the candidates will enter a "rocket" that's really a cardboard prop with hidden cameras. During the journey, they'll face some challenges that will force them vote for the next candidate to be pushed out of the airlock.