Funny enough, when Mars One launched I happened to be at a conference that was sharing a venue with another conference on Mars planetology. It was great because of all the conversations it allowed us to start. However, I think about half the scientists I talked to agreed with my assessment that it was either a 2012-era social media pipe dream (e.g. Kony) or a scam.
I mean, pay to apply? Any company serious about this effort knows they should be chasing the handful of people mentally and physically capable of surviving timhis endeavor, not the other way around.
If they are actually spending their money on things to advance their cause then it is not a scam. It is likely an unwise enterprise and a terrible investment, but a scam is different...
Even the Chinese government called Mars One to be a scam [1], and advised their citizens to avoid the organization.
So when you've got China calling you out to be a fraud, then you must definitely be doing something wrong, in order for them to bother issuing a public statement like that.
EVEN the Chinese government? You say that like they're in business of scamming people.
And honestly reading the original Chinese articles it doesn't look like an official government position or anything. It's just a newspaper that happens to be owned by the ruling party posting an article on things happening in the west.
I will be willing to bet that by 2040 SpaceX significantly helps send people to Mars, either by launching the people to orbit, launching a lot of the supplies (at least 40% by mass), building the Mars lander that lands people there, or even the whole-hog BFR/ITS architecture as Musk presented here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qo78R_yYFA
Willing to bet a $beverage?
SpaceX has the largest (by payload) current launch vehicle in the world, and pioneered supersonic retropropulsion for landing (a critical technology for human-scale Mars landers) which they use to reduce the cost of space launch with most flights. They're the only US company that does regular orbital capsule flights (including reentry and recovery), and they're one of two US companies that will be flying people to orbit within about a year. Their Falcon 9, also one of the largest rockets in the world, launched more often to orbit than any other rocket (of any size) in the world last year. They're also currently building a reusable upper stage (which is also a human-scale Mars lander) for an even larger launch vehicle. If anybody is going to be landing people on Mars within the next couple decades, they'll most likely be at least substantially helped by SpaceX.
> They are as likely to go to Mars as Elon musk so at least they are in rare company
While I've left your comment unvoted-upon, the downvotes are justified, in my view.
That said, I think Musk's optimism about Mars is pretty unjustified, but for reasons unrelated to launch vehicle technology, reasons that are shared by Mars One. The main reason is that we simply do not know how to sustain human life, in the long term, in less than 1 Earth gravity without deleterious effects, including the possible cessation of reproduction. This is to say nothing of the lower light levels on Mars, the rigors of designing CELSSs, the psychology of performing while never being able to go outside again (or possibly even never being able to return to Earth due to bone loss), and so on.
Musk has even said that the trip to Mars will be "fun" because you'll get to throw a ball around and play games in zero-g. He betrays a lack of serious engagement with the challenges of human spaceflight, to say nothing of the ongoing challenges of living on Mars. He understands the romance of gritting your teeth and eking out a living in a space Western, but not the realities of it. Mars One seems to share similar problems of vision.
Eventually, I think that, among other possibilities, either grown-ups will step in with regulation, or the grown-ups will stay away in droves from either project.
ccccccccccccc|8 years ago
jdpigeon|8 years ago
celim307|8 years ago
upofadown|8 years ago
blackrock|8 years ago
So when you've got China calling you out to be a fraud, then you must definitely be doing something wrong, in order for them to bother issuing a public statement like that.
[1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/24/chinese_papers_bran...
zingmars|8 years ago
fastball|8 years ago
Or, China could feel threatened by the project because they want to get to Mars first?
voidmain|8 years ago
[1] http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/21/news/economy/south-dakota-ma...
8bitsrule|8 years ago
shmerl|8 years ago
novalis78|8 years ago
hinkley|8 years ago
And more importantly, I think you are forgetting Robert Zubrin and Mars Direct:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin
saas_co_de|8 years ago
Robotbeat|8 years ago
Willing to bet a $beverage?
SpaceX has the largest (by payload) current launch vehicle in the world, and pioneered supersonic retropropulsion for landing (a critical technology for human-scale Mars landers) which they use to reduce the cost of space launch with most flights. They're the only US company that does regular orbital capsule flights (including reentry and recovery), and they're one of two US companies that will be flying people to orbit within about a year. Their Falcon 9, also one of the largest rockets in the world, launched more often to orbit than any other rocket (of any size) in the world last year. They're also currently building a reusable upper stage (which is also a human-scale Mars lander) for an even larger launch vehicle. If anybody is going to be landing people on Mars within the next couple decades, they'll most likely be at least substantially helped by SpaceX.
theothermkn|8 years ago
While I've left your comment unvoted-upon, the downvotes are justified, in my view.
That said, I think Musk's optimism about Mars is pretty unjustified, but for reasons unrelated to launch vehicle technology, reasons that are shared by Mars One. The main reason is that we simply do not know how to sustain human life, in the long term, in less than 1 Earth gravity without deleterious effects, including the possible cessation of reproduction. This is to say nothing of the lower light levels on Mars, the rigors of designing CELSSs, the psychology of performing while never being able to go outside again (or possibly even never being able to return to Earth due to bone loss), and so on.
Musk has even said that the trip to Mars will be "fun" because you'll get to throw a ball around and play games in zero-g. He betrays a lack of serious engagement with the challenges of human spaceflight, to say nothing of the ongoing challenges of living on Mars. He understands the romance of gritting your teeth and eking out a living in a space Western, but not the realities of it. Mars One seems to share similar problems of vision.
Eventually, I think that, among other possibilities, either grown-ups will step in with regulation, or the grown-ups will stay away in droves from either project.
decacorn|8 years ago
[deleted]