Is Mars One a scam?

Finalist speaks out on 'dangerously flawed' application process that is ripping off supporters

Mars One recently made headlines after it revealed a shortlist of 100 applicants who could win a one-way mission to the red planet in 2025.

Now one of these candidates has spoken out against the 'dangerously flawed' project that he says could cause people to lose faith in genuine space research.

Dr Joseph Roche, an assistant professor at Trinity College's School of Education in Dublin, says the Mars One project is disorganised, impractical and has already failed to live up to its promises.

The former Nasa researcher told Medium's Elmo Keep that as he progressed in the rounds, he began to see a major problems with the competition.

He claims some leading contenders for the mission bought their way into their current high-profile position and they are encouraged to 'donate' any appearance fees.

'When you join the "Mars One Community," which happens automatically if you applied as a candidate, they start giving you points,' Roche explained to Keep in an email.

'You get points for getting through each round of the selection process, and then the only way to get more points is to buy merchandise from Mars One or to donate money to them.'

Dr Roche is also concerned that he hasn't met anyone in the selection process in person. Instead of having a regional interview, as he was promised, he was selected over a 10-minute Skype call.

He also did not receive any psychological or psychometric testing, which Mars One claims is a key part of the appraisal.

'You have to applaud the ambition, but sadly the whole project feels very much like wing-and-a-prayer stuff when you start to look into the details,' said Giles Sparrow, author of Mars: A New View of the Red Planet.

'They say they can put a first crew on Mars for $6 billion [£3.9 billion], which is a shoestring budget compared to the Apollo program which cost $25 billion [£16.2 billion] - and that was in 1960s money!

It sounds like they're playing a shell game for now. Watch the shell over here, you sure you're watching your shell? Oooh, thanks for playing, you should have been watching this shell. Plus, if people are being paid appearance fees, it's a bit "off" to ask them to "donate it" or to buy something to get up to 75% of that appearance fee. Seriously disingenuous. You feel bad for the people who sign up for this big adventure, yet are getting robbed, in every sense of the word. What are they being told, give us the money, you won't need it up on Mars?

Why bother with the testing when they are all going to die anyways.

I haven't seen the subject addressed in this manner ...

... but I always suspected what you intuit to be the case.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
Why bother with the testing when they are all going to die anyways.

I guess you have a good point, but you know the purists, they don't want the psychos up there with them. LOL

The People behind the Mission took too much on their plate , a manned mission to Mars with zero experience in the field of space technology , they do not even have a vessel to even get in orbit , to Mars , land and carry tons of equipment and life support systems.

I do like the idea of a manned mission to other planets , but they just do not got the capability.

originally posted by: TheGreazel
The People behind the Mission took too much on their plate , a manned mission to Mars with zero experience in the field of space technology , they do not even have a vessel to even get in orbit , to Mars , land and carry tons of equipment and life support systems.

I do like the idea of a manned mission to other planets , but they just do not got the capability.

i'd agree they haven't got a hope in hell of getting anywhere near mars - if that was their intention

they only need an attractive story and a bank account to scam people though

a reply to: Anyafaj

Anyone with sense should have seen this from the beginning. Instead of a "contest" that narrows down the "contestants," a true mission of this significance, even if an almost certain death sentence, should be composed of qualified people: biologist, scientist, doctor, engineer, psychologist, etc, not some people who "just want to go to Mars" because they want to selfishly be remembered for something other than what their pathetic lives offer.

These people are idiots. Yes, going to Mars would be cool as hell, but this is no amusement park ride. You're there, you can't leave, you're stuck in a hostile (climate) environment, and you're not going nowhere no matter how hard you scream or cry or lose your mind.

Truman Show on Mars. Hell yeah.

a reply to: Anyafaj

Well, that's interesting. I always assumed it was legit with the amount of media coverage the whole mission has... Initially I thought this article was nothing but sour grapes for not being selected, but some valid points were made in the article.

- The first lander is said to be sent to Mars in 2018, yet the company has no space ship or rocket or any proof that they are even building anything that resembles a firecracker. And they're not going to need just one, considering they're going to need at least 8 by 2022 and that's just to get the necessary rover, cargo and equipment there before the humans start going.

- The money... They say it's going to cost them $6 billion? It cost NASA $2.5 billion to get Mars Curiosity up and running on Mars. That is a single rover. Mars One intends to send a total of 10 missions to Mars by 2027...? For a measly $6 billion?! And we need to keep in mind that NASA already had the infrastructure to send Curiosity to Mars. Mars One started from scratch, so there's the start-up costs... Mars One is a non-profit organization... No indication where the $6 billion is coming from.
They had an initial fundraiser for the intended "Mars Lander and Satellite mission in 2018" last year. Their target was $400 000. They got $313 744... Crowd Fundraiser

It's already considered a suicide mission, but from the looks of things they'll be lucky if the astronauts make it past the troposphere.

I'm off to go do some more digging...

There is no reason that you cant build one for that amount of money. Once in space no massive amount of fuel need so you will hit your location. Just a matter of time. That and i do believe there are already military and scientists there. So civilians will be fine, Just workers and breeders. Probably will be partly funded by them as well, you just won't hear of it. Because they do not want to disclose what is already happening there. You don't think all the Flying Saucers are aliens do you? Though some are. Humans have the technology too. If i had access to 6 billion dollars. I could put together a crew to build one, in that i have no doubt. And it would not be rocket powered or fossil fueled.

originally posted by: Liquesence
a reply to: Anyafaj

Anyone with sense should have seen this from the beginning. Instead of a "contest" that narrows down the "contestants," a true mission of this significance, even if an almost certain death sentence, should be composed of qualified people: biologist, scientist, doctor, engineer, psychologist, etc, not some people who "just want to go to Mars" because they want to selfishly be remembered for something other than what their pathetic lives offer.

These people are idiots. Yes, going to Mars would be cool as hell, but this is no amusement park ride. You're there, you can't leave, you're stuck in a hostile (climate) environment, and you're not going nowhere no matter how hard you scream or cry or lose your mind.

Truman Show on Mars. Hell yeah.

Thats about it....either we have developed over the last 40 years some awesome space faring experience or this is just more lies.......apparently we havent been back to the moon since we went there in a tin foil ship...so where does the truth lie ?

a reply to: roth1

The fuel isn't the expensive item on the shopping list...

The ISS cost $150 billion and it's not nearly as big, far or complicated as the (intended) Mars One settlement.

The ISS is arguably the most expensive single item ever constructed. In 2010 the cost was expected to be $150 billion. It includes NASA's budget of $58.7 billion (inflation unadjusted) for the station from 1985 to 2015 ($72.4 billion in 2010 dollars), Russia's $12 billion ISS budget, Europe's $5 billion, Japan's $5 billion, Canada's $2 billion, and the cost of 36 shuttle flights to build the station; estimated at $1.4 billion each, or $50.4 billion total. Assuming 20,000 person-days of use from 2000 to 2015 by two to six-person crews, each person-day would cost $7.5 million, less than half the inflation adjusted $19.6 million ($5.5 million before inflation) per person-day of Skylab.
Wiki

That is for one space station. Mars One wants to send at least 10 initial ships to Mars. For $6 billion?
Right.




As for "military and scientists already there"? I'm not even going to touch that claim.

From what I have read it will cost money to get to Mars and lots of it. Once there it will keep costing, so money seems a valid priority.

The point I thought was weird was the lack of testing both physically and mentally.

Maybe they just want to do this regardless of the consequences. Trial and error.

The fuel isn't the expensive item on the shopping list... The ISS cost $150 billion and it's not nearly as big, far or complicated as the (intended) Mars One settlement.

a reply to: Gemwolf Yes but gov make a toilet seat cost 1 million. This is not a gov project.

These morons won't be allowed to quit surface of Earth by any gov. Just think who's gonna pay to go rescue them when they cry for help in the radio, as public pressure will push for a rescue mission.

Bas is a scammer. I hope some rich backer decides to get some insider documents and send him to prison.

a reply to: Anyafaj

Does anybody with even a smidgen of knowledge about space and technology believe for a second that Mars One was a viable project? To any that do, I have Moon for sale.

a reply to: Anyafaj

i think the claims should be followed up on while at the same time i question the the person bringing the complaints being a former member of NASA. NASA has made its position clear on Mars One and to an extent I think NASA is doing what it can to undermine the project so they will be the first entity to put a human on Mars.

Thats just my opinion of course.

I thought it was a scam when I first heard of it. Didn't say it anywhere though, but that was my feeling (and only a feeling, so no hard evidence of scamhood from me).

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: Anyafaj

Does anybody with even a smidgen of knowledge about space and technology believe for a second that Mars One was a viable project? To any that do, I have Moon for sale.

At first, I was like everyone else. This is a great idea, I can't wait to see it happen, but reading this article has opened my eyes to the reality. I had no idea that not only are they scamming the public, but they're scamming their own applicants as well by having them "donate" their appearance fees. Is this where they think they're going to get they're $6B from???

originally posted by: Xcathdra
a reply to: Anyafaj

i think the claims should be followed up on while at the same time i question the the person bringing the complaints being a former member of NASA. NASA has made its position clear on Mars One and to an extent I think NASA is doing what it can to undermine the project so they will be the first entity to put a human on Mars.

Thats just my opinion of course.

That is certainly possible, although, it seemed like valid claims he was making.