One way ticket to Mars.

[khalltusk]

Population will not spiral out of control. Studies have found that populations stabilize in countries once they shift into first-world countries. India and China are in that phase right now, which is why the population is climbing so high lately; stabilized parts of the world are not increasing.

This is all from memory. I could link an article if you want to read it for yourself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_England Here is a fairly good one for England. Showing how its grown over the years. Seems to have slowed in some places but its still growing.

[Elegiac]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_England Here is a fairly good one for England. Showing how its grown over the years. Seems to have slowed in some places but its still growing.

Due to immigration; the birth rate in most developed countries is actually rather low. The only one with a birth rate significantly higher than replacement is France. First world countries typically have diets high in protein which has a negative impact on fertility rates, as well as generally preferring to have fewer children.

[khalltusk]

Due to immigration; the birth rate in most developed countries is actually rather low. The only one with a birth rate significantly higher than replacement is France. First world countries typically have diets high in protein which has a negative impact on fertility rates, as well as generally preferring to have fewer children.

Immigration is helping but the English population is still increasing. Just not as fast. Mainly due to how many people are born into families. Women working more and having children later impacts this. Never heard of protein affecting fertility rates though that's interesting.

[Elegiac]

Immigration is helping but the English population is still increasing. Just not as fast. Mainly due to how many people are born into families. Women working more and having children later impacts this. Never heard of protein affecting fertility rates though that's interesting.

One of the reasons why China has been historically more fecund; its staple crop is lower in protein compared to that of West Asia/Europe.

[ringpriest]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/22/wo...ket/?hpt=hp_t3

Honestly, i find it sick and disgusting. What is so important to go to Mars asap?
Wait until you can send a spaceship there in day and not months. Who ever goes there will likely die during the flight, the landing or shortly after because some system probably fails.
I think this is a suicide mission and nothing else.

It isn't necessarily a "suicide mission" any more than leaving Europe to live in North American was a suicide mission back in the 1600s. Dangerous even if done right? Sure. Certain death? Not anymore than death is for anyone else doing something risky. The idea of sending people to Mars on a one-way trip (as colonists, effectively) has been around for quite a while.

As for why it's important to get to Mars ASAP.... rockets keep getting cheaper. Before the end of this century, a small group is going to be able to buy or build one that can reach Mars. Sooner or later, someone is going to decide, "Hey, why don't I start terraforming Mars!" and fire off a rocket with a payload of bacteria, lichen, etc. Once that happens (and I don't think we can stop it) Mars is going to be permanently contaminated with life from Earth. Before that happens, I think it would be very good to know if there is any native Martian life at all.

[khalltusk]

One of the reasons why China has been historically more fecund; its staple crop is lower in protein compared to that of West Asia/Europe.

Odd I will have to look into that, which gender does it affect? or does it affect both? I do know that the high protein foods we eat affect our height (thats why asian people are usually shorter but their height is rising like japans due to access to things like beef etc).

Still regardless our population will increase the rate of which we can only guess or at least predict.

[Deleted]

Id make an application but I know Im not the kind of person they're looking for.
But if they asked me to join I would go. Would be cool as hell.

[Deleted]

Everything abou the mission will be broadcasted live via tv. It is like big brother. I just think they try to do that before we actually have the tech and knowledge to do it right. I doubt they will be able to set up a steady base that will last years until new supplies arrive. what i find sick about it is that i think the risk is so extremly high that it will likely be a 100% suicide mission.
Also they will send inexpierienced people which just adds to that.
I dont think there is something special on Mars that we need to rush for. Better to make it safe.

How do you know if we have the tech or knowledge to do this? This company have a plan, and they are fairly certain that they will be able to do it. Certain enough to pump a shit ton of money into the project.
Inexperienced people? Anyone can APPLY for the job, but not anyone can get it. The people who actually get sent to mars wont just go from their day job, hop into the rocket and fly off. There will be years of training, just like any astronaut.

You haven't got a CLUE about the risks. These people do.
It will never be completely safe, but if these guys think that it's safe enough, and find people who are willing risk it, then I say go for it. If you want it as safe as walking out in your own back garden then we would still be living in the stone age. Being on the front lines of exploration is risky. Armstrong wasn't exactly safe as a babe when he took those first hops on the moon.

Edit:
If you want to know more about the planning, see this page: http://mars-one.com/en/mission/summary-of-the-plan
Provided that things don't get delayed, the base will be setup and ready early 2022, with the first group of astronauts leaving earth in September 2022 to arrive in 2023. Noone will be sent there before everything is ready.

[Brosemon]

I, for one, find space exploration to be a very interesting and important thing. If people want to go on a one way ticket to Mars, let them. It's going to mother effin' Mars! It's an unimaginable journey that I think would be sick as hell to go on. Would I throw my life away to go there? I don't know, probably not. If we had the technology to go there and back would I go then? More than likely if I could. It is a once in a lifetime thing, for now anyway.

[Deleted]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/22/wo...ket/?hpt=hp_t3

Honestly, i find it sick and disgusting. What is so important to go to Mars asap?
Wait until you can send a spaceship there in day and not months. Who ever goes there will likely die during the flight, the landing or shortly after because some system probably fails.
I think this is a suicide mission and nothing else.

So what if it is? It's not like they're hiding it, it's pretty up front with the "it's a one way trip" thing, so what exactly is your problem with this?

[Deleted]

It is debatable. We are over fishing the Oceans as is, we do however make more crops etc than we currently use. But the main problem I have with our rising population is over fishing and over pollution. Fresh water is a concern but we can always use other sources to get water though. The other one is housing. You can't just build anywhere. So we often have to build in higher density. Look at tokyo for an example or hong kong for that matter. That would be more normal if the population rises.

Soil degradation is another concern as well. We can provide enough food to cover a rising population but if we continue producing more waste and over fishing and de-foresting then yes we would be over populated as we simply wouldn't be smart enough to use our planets resources wisely.

Scientists (geographs, social science ppl etc) are giving out numbers between 10-20 billion. But yes, most likely living like canned tuna at some breakpoint.

[Ssith]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/22/wo...ket/?hpt=hp_t3

Honestly, i find it sick and disgusting. What is so important to go to Mars asap?
Wait until you can send a spaceship there in day and not months. Who ever goes there will likely die during the flight, the landing or shortly after because some system probably fails.
I think this is a suicide mission and nothing else.

i'm very glad the first explorers didn't share your worldview. it's no different than the colonization of America by the Europeans. their first few settlements all rotted, too.

[Frolk]

It would be a good way to die

[Rusken]

But just imagine the feeling you'd get stepping foot on the surface (should you make it there in one piece) of an alien planet, that's worth the risk in my opinion, and if there wasn't such a stringent requirement for being an Astronaut I would totally be there.

[Deleted]

what i find sick about it is that i think the risk is so extremly high that it will likely be a 100% suicide mission.
Also they will send inexpierienced people which just adds to that.
I dont think there is something special on Mars that we need to rush for. Better to make it safe.

Ok, for one I have looked carefully into this, they are not planning for the first colony ship to leave for another 10 years, in that time training ect will be done (they also have 40 proper astronaughts themselves) If i wasn't ineligable for medical reasons I would of signed up already, progress cannot be made without people willing to take risks.

Yes it is a risky venture but it is needed, the simple fact is that sometime in our future the sun will grow old and die, all life on our planet at that time will cease to exist...for us to survive we must venture out into space.

[kakihara]

I dont doubt that they have the tech to send a ship with some humans to mars in 7 months.
Thats not what i meant. i think they should wait with starting something like that until they at least reduce the risks to as little as possible. just because there are people that would do it doesnt mean the creators of that project arent responsible for it.
for me it sounds like they want to discover america on a raft and not expect to find a great continent with rich rescources
Space travel as we do it now is dangerous as hell, and the moon landings were even more dangerous then that. im sure the moon landings would have been possible earlier if they designed it as a one way trip too.
but they did plan to get them back which they should try to do in that case too.
imho it would make MUCH more sense to invest that money in the research of a better engine to get there faster, so it is possible to get them back. If u actually send humans there wouldnt it be better to push robot technology so that we can build a proper base there and actually test it for a lot of years so we can be sure it works as planned?
for me it just seems rushed... they want to be the first and dont care about anything else.
its not like mars is running away in a few years.

[The Small Hours]

if the had to have a small group of people on Mars, would be disturbing if a psycho managed to get his way into the colony. Dial 911 and the police get there 7 months later...

[khalltusk]

if the had to have a small group of people on Mars, would be disturbing if a psycho managed to get his way into the colony. Dial 911 and the police get there 7 months later...

Thats why I can't go to mars.

I could be the first man on mars and the first MASS MURDERER OF MARS. Not really as I would never do that, BUT I would happily do my best Arnold impersonation and happily go around saying GET YOUR ASS TO MARS all day every day.

[Deleted]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/22/wo...ket/?hpt=hp_t3

Honestly, i find it sick and disgusting. What is so important to go to Mars asap?
Wait until you can send a spaceship there in day and not months. Who ever goes there will likely die during the flight, the landing or shortly after because some system probably fails.
I think this is a suicide mission and nothing else.

You could say the same thing about people who explored the world in ships, back when most people still thought the world was flat. Sometimes you need to risk something in order to benefit. Even though this whole deal sounds more like a big stunt, it would make actual long term colonization more accessible to discuss for a lot of people. And that is only a good thing. We need to start colonization at some point, better slowly let it sink in with some crazy stunt like this than to wait until it's too late.

---------- Post added 2013-04-23 at 03:23 PM ----------

I dont doubt that they have the tech to send a ship with some humans to mars in 7 months.
Thats not what i meant. i think they should wait with starting something like that until they at least reduce the risks to as little as possible.

Hey, they still have 10 years to reduce risks. What do you want to wait for? a 100 years? There will always be risks. There are risks when you drive a car as well.

[Wikko]

Because the training lasts for a decade I surely could go for it. In 10 years they've probably managed to make a real size version of the fusion pulse propulsion engine they are working on, which would cut down the journey to a few months.