Mars One Picks 100 to Compete for One-Way Red Planet Trips

originally posted by: boohoo

originally posted by: Borisbanger
In fact I cant understand why its even lawful to invite people to exile them self with out hope of return.
why isnt there an out cry  .. Whats the difference in putting idiots in a steel container with food and water and dropping them into the Mariana trench
Crazy

....
I'd bet they don't EVER actually attempt to send anyone into space because its a Reality TV show, based on Ad revenue, ala American Idol. The ad money and TV viewer numbers ride almost entirely on showing these people "getting ready" for space travel and colonization, NOT the actual space flight and colonization.
...

Exactly! I actually a little surprised that anyone hear is taking this seriously... but then again, a lot of people believe reality TV shows are real.

And they actually never have to admit that it was a planned scam at all. They'll simply drag it out as long as people will continue to watch it, and then have some lack of funds (blame it on the viewers etc.) or other unforseen problem and call the whole thing off.

Don't worry everyone, nobodys going anywhere, but there is a lot of money to be made in the meantime!

a reply to: smurfy

If people want to do what early American pioneers did, let them.

They know the risks, and there is a possibility they won't fail.

There is also the great possibility of new arrivals and resupply.

A competent and sane adult should be allowed to make a decision like this for themselves.

We don't need to nanny state ourselves out of the opportunity for space exploration, and for the opportunity to learn how to make Mars habitable. We have proven there is no life there, so humans won't despoil anything by colonizing and growing life on Mars and making it habitable.

Bas is one of the biggest Scam artists of our time for perpetuating this Mars One garbage. The financing isn't anywhere even close and they haven't done anything except talk a lot.

If you believe in Mars One then you clearly haven't considered the costs or reality of the technical issues involved. "Off the Shelf solutions" is a gigantic joke.

originally posted by: grandmakdw
a reply to: smurfy
If people want to do what early American pioneers did, let them.

They know the risks, and there is a possibility they won't fail.

There is also the great possibility of new arrivals and resupply.

A competent and sane adult should be allowed to make a decision like this for themselves.

We don't need to nanny state ourselves out of the opportunity for space exploration, and for the opportunity to learn how to make Mars habitable. We have proven there is no life there, so humans won't despoil anything by colonizing and growing life on Mars and making it habitable.

Despite what many here say and believe, this is nothing like riding the wave of your wits and survival skills to make a new colony across the Atlantic on a sailing ship. You can't live off the land on Mars like the colonists of America could and there are no earthling natives to beg or steal from. The Mars colonists will NEED a network on earth, supporting their survival on Mars, which costs MONEY. And as we know, when money is low or exhausted within corporations, rank and file workers tend to start getting laid off, dying or getting injured to save a buck, maintain share prices and preserve executive bonuses. What happens to "Laid-off Mars One Astronauts? Mark my words if these people get to Mars and survive, sooner or later an executive is going to pull the plug on them to save money and no one on earth is going to know any better.

Bas Lansdorp plans to pay for this with a Reality TV business model. OK, did anyone here notice that the projected time to properly train these astronauts is 8-10 YEARS? Yes, I agree that is what could be necessary, time wise, BUT again, how do you get 8-10 years of consistent TV viewer numbers and demand for advertisement slots from companies? They won't be leaving for Mars until 8-10 years later! There will NEVER be enough prolonged viewer demand/numbers, in conjunction advertisement slot being sold, to support this trip to Mars, let alone the development of an actual working project. NO WAY, NEVER, NOT EVER!

Bas Lansdorp found a way to reduce his costs with a sham non-profit. Essentially when he asks for "Donations" to help "seed" the project it goes to the non-profit, called Mars One, which includes HIS salary expenses etc. BUT, when the time comes to "sell" the show for TV, those profits solely belong to his for-profit company, Interplanetary Media Group.

Sound like a good way to get "other peoples money" to pay for Bas Lansdorp's "life style" while he gets to "play" scientist/inventor/media mogul, while not actually creating anything at the end of the day. Sounds like a good business plan/scam to me, I'm definitely going to start something similar this week! I too would like 8-10 years worth of salary, by simply selling tall tales on someone else's dollar and if it all works out in the end, getting residuals from reruns for decades. Its nearly as good as being a politician or a Wall Street executive as far as I am concerned.

I'll use the revenue from the Olympics as another example of how much money the Mars One project will need to make. If the Olympics were longer than 3 weeks and took 8-10 years to determine success or failure, how many episodes would the average view watch before moving onto another form of entrainment? Lets say, the Olympics ran for an hour episode, once a week on TV for 10 years, without announcing winners until year 10, how many viewers do you think the show will have at the beginning of season 2? I can tell you the only proven way a TV network will accept such a show, however, they will have to make this an actual semi-scripted reality show ala "Survivor" or "The Amazing Race". But, can they make it to launch date, 10 years later, on that business model alone? No viewer is going to wait that long and fewer new younger viewers are going to watch a 5+ year old show, when the older long-time viewer gives up on watching. What will happen when TV ratings are too low in season 3 and the Mars One show gets cancelled? Is the mission over? Do the long term astronaut volunteers need to go out and look for day jobs again, after having been trained to be astronauts/colonists for the last 3+ years? No ones talking about that pickle it seems. Where can they apply for the next Astronauts/colonist jobs that open up, that matches their training/experience? This is TV ratings 101 stuff.


The same TV Business model goes for the previous televised Apollo mission, it was only 5 hours long in one stretch. There would have been huge viewer drop off, if it had been cut up, into 40 one-hour episodes, aired twice a week, like American Idol is. At its peak, in 2006, American Idol drew in around 36 million viewers an episode The Apollo mission drew in 125 million total, which is a lot, but remember it also had no other shows competing with it on TV in 1969. Could the Apollo missions have sustained 125 million viewers per episode, twice a week for 4 months? I don't have the answer, but my gut says no.

So sure, they will be able to make some TV ad money on the aired selection of the semi-final 24 to final 4, BUT how many seasons can this be stretched out for and what is the MAXIMUM amount of viewers and ad revenue that they are likely to get per episode? Not more than American Idol or Big Brother, that's for SURE and CERTAINLY NOT more than the $2 billion gross James Cameron got with Avatar, which had a $425 million starting budget (BTW, which is now over 6 years old, making another $750 million from DVD's, licensing, reruns, toys, games, etc). If the networks thought differently, this guy would already have a TV show contract in place and an initial production budget, with start up money to boot from the network, to air the testing of the astronaut finalists for selection. Seeing that he does not, shows evidence that when the show is eventually aired, it will NOT make Olympics/American Idol/Big Brother/FIFA kind of money or viewer number.

My American Idol and Avatar revenue examples are perfectly valid analogs for estimating how much such a TV show could make, at BEST.

a reply to: boohoo

The people who go to Mars will know the risks.

If they want to take those risks, let them.

What is it to you or to me to big brother them?

In the Netherlands, people who have simply lost the will to live are allowed euthanasia,
so why shouldn't we allow adults
who want to go to Mars
go there being fully cognizant of the risks.

Why can't they make it work? Maybe they can. There is no evidence that they can't.

To those who want to forbid it, I say, MYOB.

you ask me its a good publicity stunt but i,ll bet the 100 they have picked get no where near mars,they may have a hand in sending people to mars in the next hundred years but that will be as close as they get.

originally posted by: Bybyots
MarsOne should be the next subject for discussion on NLBS. The record for staying in space is 437 days.

The human body can't survive out there and we are nowhere near figuring out the problems we need to solve to get off this rock.

MarsOne: Interplanetary Corpse Wagon.
It's a joke, and a cruel one.

There are many possibilities for failure but there is also great potential for success. There are new technologies out there that will ensure successful habitation on MARS. Like I said, I wouldn't want to be in the first boat ride to Mars but I'd go; nonetheless. It WILL happen because some powerful people have already set things in motion......

Hmm. Forever is kind of a long time.

If we can get them there, we can get them back home too, I say.

Or we can wait to get them there until we know we can get them home.

Why does this have to be a forever thing?

Sounds a bit suspicious to me.

originally posted by: boohoo

originally posted by: smurfy
"No new technology developments are required to establish a human settlement on Mars. Mars One has visited major aerospace companies around the world to discuss the requirements, budget and timelines with their engineers and business developers."

whether you agree or not, that's a not a bad starting point for estimating the cost of getting something off earth and into space. This project needs an estimated $6 billion.

It would need far more than that, but if I got the gist right, the idea is that the initial outlay is to be a direct funding from donors and fund raising, and that all the other stages would be a partnership of some kind between all concerned, including the builders, that's pretty much the way a lot of business deals are done, the idea being that the project would flourish as a future market, and more and more want to be in the Mars business. It's something like the railroad building in the 19th century, except there is a tightish schedule to meet when it comes to farting between planets.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
Hmm. Forever is kind of a long time.

If we can get them there, we can get them back home too, I say.

Or we can wait to get them there until we know we can get them home.

Why does this have to be a forever thing?

Sounds a bit suspicious to me.

I was kidding about the forever part. Even though they say that the Martian colonists will spend the rest of their lives there I doubt they will. Once the colony is established and they break the mold for Earth Mars infrastructure, the flood gates will open for Earth-Mars trade/transportation.

originally posted by: grandmakdw
a reply to: smurfy

If people want to do what early American pioneers did, let them.

They know the risks, and there is a possibility they won't fail.

There is also the great possibility of new arrivals and resupply.

A competent and sane adult should be allowed to make a decision like this for themselves.

Sorry I missed your post. Put it this way, I'm only making a statement about what the Mars One project themselves have put down on paper, and asking if there are any flaws there, because it appears that the builders don't see any, or if they do, no one is saying. Mars One states that they are a foundation, meaning a not-for-profit organisation. Had someone tried this idea in the 1950's or even later, they would have been kicked off the planet themselves..but it's different now, but by how much?
As for new arrivals, there will be, it's not a Noah's Ark going out there, the first mission is for four astronauts..that's where the $6 Billion comes in, including all the initial R&D on the ground, and each mission after that is a given $4 Billion.
So, on the face of it, this Mars One project/foundation only needs to exist up to the time the project is completed, or if totally successful, it could be extended, but likely by that time the worldwide economy will be revolutionised, and Boeing and Space-X will enjoy the success for a time, and after all they are also in the similar deal with NASA and the rest. After that, so many questions...what is there on Mars that might be a good idea to bring back to Earth and why? that will surely be a cry, as will be the same Vice Versa. It's no good arguing about this Bas guy being a Charley or a scammer, because he will be watched like a Hawk, and if the whole thing does get off the ground, it will be interesting to see how it is all presented..especially when they get to Mars.

a reply to: lostbook

It may well be forever though. It hasn't ended well for anyone in the movies who's gone to Mars, has it? It's a risk for sure. One I would so not be willing to take.

I don't understand why some of you think this is real.

Bas Lansdorp has done the same tax scam that many non-profit "think tanks" in the USA do. These organizations do conduct "research" and "R&D" and their executive leadership is paid MILLIONS, but at the same time, money coming into the organization is NOT TAXED, just the executives salary and payroll taxes. HOWEVER, there are MANY benefits that the typical non-profit CEO has access to, which would normally be paid by their taxed salary alone. These benefits include expenses solely carried by the non-profit, such as, cars for the CEO to drive, housing for the CEO to live in, a private jet for the CEO to fly in, trips to do Business Development/fund raising in the Bahamas for two weeks, etc, etc, etc. For example the Heritage Foundation CEO is paid over $1 million a year in salary and bonuses, not including the company car and other stuff that DOES NOT COME OUT OF HIS SALARY. All on a gross revenue/budget of $70+million for the whole company. So we are supposed to believe that these non-profit CEO's bring in $1 million dollars of "value" to an organization that uses $80 million a years for operating expenses and pays no taxes.

Where do I sigh up for that? Seems Bas Lansdorp has definitely found a way to sign himself up for those bennies.

originally posted by: boohoo
I don't understand why some of you think this is real.

Bas Lansdorp has done the same tax scam that many non-profit "think tanks" in the USA do.

Exactly! Eventually some real investigative journalist is going to expose Bas and then Uncle Sam is going to take him out to the Woodshed and pound him into history.

frontiermultimedia.com...

www.telegraph.co.uk...

marsonescam.wordpress.com...

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
a reply to: lostbook

It may well be forever though. It hasn't ended well for anyone in the movies who's gone to Mars, has it? It's a risk for sure. One I would so not be willing to take.

My main drawback for going to Mars is for any pathogens and/or viruses which may be there. We just don't know what's there....maybe Mars life was wiped out by an organism eating super-bacteria or a super virus....I just don't know.

They've beaten us to it...

ntelligent robots sent to Mars by Earth's varying space agencies have declared independence for the Islamic State of Mars (ISM). In a communique to the nations of the Earth-West, ISM expressed a desire to start a worldwide Caliphate on the red planet. Although it is unclear if this Caliphate will be extended to the moons of Phobos and Deimos.

Islamic Scholar, Foren Naime, believes that both NASA rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity, may have been converted by an Islamic sleeper agent, believed to be the Mars Pathfinder, Sojourner, which has not been heard from since 1997.
"Sojourner was sent, alone, into an alien environment", said Mr Naime, "is it hardly surprising that he found God on his travels".

Generals have expressed concern that other robots may be recruited by Earth-based Jihadist robots before travelling to Mars to join the Caliphate. A new toaster and microwave were both apprehended at NASA headquarters, before being charged with aiding and abetting the Mars jihadists.

BREAKING: A viral video released by the ISM purports to show the beheading of the missing British rover, Beagle 2, by a masked robot. The video has not been confirmed as authentic by American Defence officials, and there are additional concerns that the robots may be using pirated copies of Final Cut Pro.

David Cameron, Prime Minister of the UK, declared that UK Space Agency would not rest until they had obliterated ISM from Mars.

On a serious note. How the hell do they expect this to turn out in anything but tragedy? I appreciate people wanting to advance our species, especially when so many of us seem hell bent on going backwards but it's a bit too soon. How are they going to fund it? A series of Mars big brother with a 13 minute delay? I don't know maybe I'm being too cynical.

The world needs more people like this girl. These are the kind of stories that can restore some faith in humanity I suppose.

That sounds great. 2024 doesn't seem like a feasible deadline but hey, maybe these people are further along the curve than it appears.

www.mars-one.com...

There's the official website netlink.

I'll wait for the first private/commercial manned orbital flight before I start getting excited. That, along with a space agency-led manned mission beyond the Earth's orbit, is a major hurdle to overcome, both tecchnologically and financially.

Who's to say we won't have a WW3 in the coming years or decades, which would curtail any major space endeavours...

originally posted by: sg1642

The world needs more people like this girl. These are the kind of stories that can restore some faith in humanity I suppose.

That's a media take on NASA more than the child, she hasn't been chosen for anything as yet and is but aspirational, no bad thing, but... but.

originally posted by: sg1642
The world needs more people like this girl. These are the kind of stories that can restore some faith in humanity I suppose.

Actually we need LESS of these kinds of people, a LOT LESS. They are the ones that "grow up" and make horrible policies for regular people because they had things easy and were privileged in their childhood.

Here is her resume:

- Attended Space Camp 7 times, Space Academy 3 times and Robotics Academy 1 time
- The first person to complete all the NASA Space Camps in the world, including Space Camp Turkey and Space Camp Canada
- Witnessed 3 Space Shuttle launches
- Attended Sally Ride Camp at MIT, and three Sally Ride Day camps

How much did all the above cost?
Who paid for it?
Who chaperoned her to these sites?

Her space camp "bill" likely cost more than my car, possibly even more than some peoples homes.

Having the money to pursue the training, is all the "gumption" ANYBODY needs. Lets see how enthusiastic she would have been to pursue this training, if her parents said, "earn some money over the next two summers and then we will see how much you have and if we can afford to send you". THAT is the real dream killer.

Some also have noted that she was doing some "fund raising"? But didi't realize that the "fund raising" was for her "speaking tour", NOT to pay for the initial training, Daddy & Mommy paid for that part. Oh BTW, the "speaking tour" is for TED, so some relative likely has some decent connections too.

Once again it seems that "regular people" are just are not familiar with how "real experts" get trained today and move on to successful, stable careers in the United States. This kid is no different than all the other rich kids that have preceded her.