It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
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!
originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
Why bother with the testing when they are all going to die anyways.
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.
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.
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
a reply to: Gemwolf Yes but gov make a toilet seat cost 1 million. This is not a gov project.
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.
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.
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.