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Mars One is Dead (engadget.com)
The company that aimed to put humanity on the red planet has met an unfortunate, but wholly-expected end. Engadget reports: Mars One Ventures, the for-profit arm of the Mars One mission was declared bankrupt back in January, but wasn't reported until a keen-eyed Redditor found the listing. It was the brainchild of Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, previously the founder of green energy company Ampyx Power. Lansdorp's aim was to start a company that could colonize one of our nearest neighbors. Mars One was split into two ventures, the non-profit Mars One Foundation and the for-profit Mars One Ventures. The Swiss-based Ventures AG was declared bankrupt by a Basel court on January 15th and was, at the time, valued at almost $100 million. Mars One Ventures PLC, the UK-registered branch, is listed as a dormant company with less than $25,000 in its accounts. There is no data available on the non-profit Mars One Foundation, which funded itself by charging its commercial partner licensing fees. Speaking to Engadget, Bas Lansdorp said that the Foundation is still operating, but won't be able to act without further investment. Lansdorp declined to give further comment beyond saying that he was working with other parties "to find a solution."
Their invent-new-month-names department blew up their budget.
The needed a lot of names. On Mars, there is a new month every seven hours and 40 minutes.
Seriously, anybody that thought that this had a chance does not understand what is involved in space travel.
Right now, only 2 private ventures, Spacex and Blue Origin, are doing what is needed.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
No, the dumbest thing is to move off-earth.
I'm sitting here wondering what your logic is behind this. It really defies common sense to have this mind set. Sooner or later there will be a extinction level event that we will not be able to prevent. Logically, it doesn't make any sense to remain planet bound once we develop the technology to move off planet.
I agree that Mars isn't best place to spread too. Personally, I think we should focus our efforts on Venus. But staying planet bound is a death sentence for our civilization, if not our species, at some point.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
The reason is that if you set up a station on mars, you have to assume that you can have as much as 3-6 months outage due to dust storms.
As such, Amundsen–Scott offers the REAL extreme needed for testing (other than maybe putting a station on top of Everest or K2). Need real external power, so a SMALL 1MW nuclear power station really needs to be developed. In fact, that would be ideal for south pole so as to quit bringing diesel fuel for electricity.
Likewise, the ppl would have to explore in space suits and gear in 0-40 C. This would give a decent testing of the equipment.
Of course, doing similar in high planes desert would be smart as well, but that will only test a worn out dust.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.