Topic: 200,000 people apply to be first to live on Mars - page 4. (Read 7520 times)

Umm, no.  Food and materials is a major issue.

The reason is that we need to look at Mars as having the basic elements from the periodic table that are necessary for life.  Then we have to figure out how to remove them from the compounds they are in, and put them into the compounds that we need.

This isn't nearly as simple as it might seem.  It might take 50-100 years.  But after that is accomplished, then Mars is whatever we make it to be - within limits.  It will still have a crappy worthlessly thin atmosphere, and it'll still be bitterly cold, with a weak Sun.

Oh no not gonna happen then ill stay home

New propulsion technologies may blast astronauts through space at breakneck speeds in the coming decades, making manned Mars missions much faster and safer.

Souped-up electric propulsion systems and rockets driven by nuclear fusion or fission could end up shortening travel times to the Red Planet dramatically, proponents say, potentially opening up a new era in manned space exploration.

"Using existing rocket fuels, it's nearly impossible for humans to explore much beyond Earth," John Slough of the University of Washington, leader of a team developing a fusion-driven rocket, said in a statement earlier this year. "We are hoping to give us a much more powerful source of energy in space that could eventually lead to making interplanetary travel commonplace."

[...]
One possible solution is the nuclear fusion rocket being developed by Slough and his team, with funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, or NIAC.

Such a system could get astronauts to the Red Planet in just 90 days or so, the researchers say. In fact, they're designing their work around a reference mission that lasts a total of 210 days — 83 days for the flight out, 30 days on the Red Planet's surface and a 97-day journey back to Earth.

Harnessing the power of nuclear fusion— the same process that fuels the sun and gives hydrogen bombs their enormous destructive potential — would make such speedy trips possible, team members say.

In their engine, bubbles of plasma — made from deuterium and tritium, "heavy" isotopes of hydrogen — would be injected into a chamber, where a magnetic field would collapse metal rings around them. This would briefly compress the bubbles into a fusion state, releasing energy that would vaporize and ionize the metal. The metal would then be accelerated out the back of the spacecraft through a nozzle, creating thrust.

A lot of work will be required to bring this concept to reality, but there's no reason to think that it won't work, the researchers say.

http://www.space.com/23445-mars-missions-superfast-propulsion-incredible-technology.html

The biggest (long-term) problem with modern entertainment on Mars is the travel time between Mars and Earth. However, it is only a matter of resources and energy to solve the remaining recreational issues, which should not be a problem for someone who has the money and technology to travel to Mars. Regarding food, it is already possible to print pizzas and hamburgers, so that should not be a major issue on Mars. Radiation and lack of oxygen are probably the biggest problems, but that has nothing to do with recreation, only survival.

You could always buy a ticket to Mars.

One way ticket. Good luck!

Imagine you have a crush on someone and they are just going on this mission for decades . You know that they live and have a new life there but youll never have the chance to see them in person again.

... Unless Budweiser is sponsoring one of the space pods?

Remember, no beer on Mars.

I would go, but now when I have a chance to become a millionaire i'm not sure that I wanna go

I need to clarify my prior comment.

A) Because a landing craft of the size to hold four humans is heavy, it cannot land except by rocket power.  Some of the braking can be done by air friction, yes.  But if that lander is correctly designed, it would be able to both land people, and take them back to low Mars orbit.  Say good old reliable RL10 rocket motors, (H2/O2).

B) Transport from low Earth orbit to low Mars orbit would be via VASMIR style propulsion systems, which would essentially be a interplanetary ferry, good for nothing but going between planets.

C) assuming the two styles of vehicles could be refueled by work done on the red planet.

D) There is no reason whatsoever the trips would have to be one way.

I personally would not want to go there, because I will be missing out on a lot of the amenities that I enjoy here on Earth. I mean, what are we supposed to eat on Mars? How about recreation? No tv, internet, video games, movies, or radio? That's worse than being on Survivor! I think that the 200,000 people that applied for it think that they wouldn't miss Earth anyway, so they are completely ok with being stuck in Mars forever. I find it weird, but hey, it's their life, so let them be.

That is too bad if they only get people from the same age group.
Sorry for your loss.

I figured I was a good candidate for it.

I currently work in Afghanistan living in something the size of half of a truck trailer so I have some experience with living in harsh/confined spaces. My wife passed away last year and we never had any children so I will only be leaving behind family that I hardly ever see anyway.

I have some experience with comms so I could be of some use with the satellite communications and the computer systems.

I also have little confidence in the way the US is headed so I don't plan on returning anyway.

And I would love to be involved in something as historical as being one of the first people on a planet.

I was not chosen however. Perhaps because I would be around 50 by the time the flight was ready and they likely want young people who would be more physically fit.

In 50 years or so Planned Parenthood will be part of the United Nations Security Council for population control to keep this scenario from happening...

In about 100 years or so there would be no place to live on earth,living on mars means preparing for the future.

Go MarsCoins 

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That is the plan, yes.  Everything is television and monetized.

Really?  What made you do it? And did you get selected to the next stage, the 1058 candidates they chose?