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Elon Musk: First Humans Who Journey To Mars Must 'Be Prepared To Die' (theverge.com)
At a conference yesterday, Elon Musk outlined his company SpaceX's plan to send humans to Mars. The vehicle is called the Interplanetary Transport System and it is capable of carrying 100 tons of cargo (people and supplies). Musk added that this rocket ship could take people to Mars in just 80 days. But he also reminded that the first batch of people who are brave enough to go to Mars should be well aware that they are almost certainly going to die. The Verge adds:During the Q&A session that followed, the question inevitably came up: what sort of person does Musk think will volunteer to get strapped to that big rocket and fired toward the Red Planet? "Who should these people be, carrying the light of humanity to Mars for all of us?" an audience member asked. "I think the first journeys to Mars will be really very dangerous," answered Musk. "The risk of fatality will be high. There's just no way around it." The journey itself would take around 80 days, according to the plan and ideas that Musk put forward. "Are you prepared to die? If that's okay, then you're a candidate for going," he added. But Musk didn't want to get stuck talking about the risks and immense danger. "This is less about who goes there first... the thing that really matters is making a self-sustaining civilization on Mars as fast as possible. This is different than Apollo. This is really about minimizing existential risk and having a tremendous sense of adventure," he said.
Basement on Earth, basement on Mars, the view's all the same...
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The fact of the matter is he's right. And even if they do make the trip back, the probability that they will have crippling health issues is high. Exploring any frontier was dangerous throughout human history.
I nominate Congress to go on the first voyage. This would be the best use of taxpayer money ever.
Ill respect a guy who can fail and ask for help over a guy who is successful without failure. The latter is always hiding something.
Jesus managed to send a rollback instruction to the server, so it was more like hacking whether it ever happened than necromancy.
Keanu Reeves is still under investigation.
What is the difference if you are not prepared? Will you fail at it?
When things get complex, multiply by the complex conjugate.
Isn't that also in the Microsoft License Agreement?
Table-ized A.I.
And on that date in the future when they unthaw your brain you will see not one but TWO stories on /. about it.
Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
So I have this friend with a father who is a Vietnam war hero. When the base was under attack, he would grab the nearest weapon he could get his hands on and run toward the enemy. He won a medal for demonstrating that after the enemy shoots the tail off your helicopter, it is indeed still flyable if you go just go fast enough. Funny thing was, his very successful military career was something of an accident. Before joining the army, when there was nothing at stake and nothing to be gained by it, he would get in trouble by doing some damn fool wild thing. After the umpteenth time the judge finally told him, it's the jail or the military, you choose.
It took a long time for me to understand because I am not like that myself, but some people need high-risk, crazy adventure to thrive. If that is denied to them, they will seize it anyway, however they can. So those people might as well expend that impulse on something socially redeeming, like establishing off-world human colonies, while the rest of us cower here on earth until interplanetary transport is proven safe.
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
It is honest but is also sad but more terrifying than anything else. If an individual is so self centered that they cannot imagine dying for someone else we are in trouble as a society. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" isn't just a movie quote but is, in fact, what makes society work. Hopefully, if ever faced with a real threat that makes this choice necessary, you will find the strength to put others first.
Would die to save your mother? Your father? Your wife and/or kids? How about another person and their family? Would you let a dozen people die to save yourself?
Don't be glib. Others have died so you could live. Why is your life more important than theirs. What color is your snowflake?
Australia should send all their prisoners to Mars just to be ironic.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Until you have found something worth dying for , you have never really loved, If you have not loved, you haven't really lived either.
âoeTolerance applies only to persons, but never to truth. Intolerance applies only to truth, but never to persons.
Go be fat, disgusting, lazy, undisciplined, uneducated and unhealthy somewhere else...like Mars. Since fat people don't do anything for the world in life, maybe they can contribute some small amount in death.
The ghosts of Winston Churchill, William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, Catherine the Great, Ben Franklin, Babe Ruth, Alfred Hitchcock, Thomas Aquinas, Queen Victoria, and Theodore Roosevelt would like a word with you. The rest of us are mildly curious about what you as an individual have done "for the world".