NASA / STScIMars looms large in a Hubble Space Telescope photo - and in the imaginations of those who have signed up for a one-way trip to the Red Planet. "It's not that I'm trying to get away," says 18-year-old Kayli McArthur, one of te...
NASA / STScIMars looms large in a Hubble Space Telescope photo - and in the imaginations of those who have signed up for a one-way trip to the Red Planet. "It's not that I'm trying to get away," says 18-year-old Kayli McArthur, one of tens of thousands of applicants. "It's like I'm trying to strive for something more."By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
Follow @b0yle
A one-way trip to Mars sounds like something you'd wish on your worst enemy — so why would more than 78,000 people from around the world pay up to $75 for a chance to die on another planet?"I can say I have an ulterior motive," said David Brin, who has written more than a dozen science-fiction novels — including "The Postman," which was turned into a Kevin Costner movie in 1997. "I'd get a lot of writing done, and it might be memorable."As a master of hard science fiction, the 62-year-old Brin knows better than most applicants what the first Red Planet settlers would face if they're sent off in 2022, as the Dutch-based Mars One venture has proposed.The settlers would have to be sealed up in habitats, protected from harsh radiation, supplied with machine-made air and water, and nourished by whatever food can be grown on a cold, barren planet. They'd have to keep their sanity, millions of miles away from their families and Mission Control. Worst of all, they'd have to face the fact that there's no guarantee of ever going back.
Survey
Q: {{& data.question}}
{{data.totalVotes}} votes {{#data.commentCount}}with {{data.commentCount}} comments{{/data.commentCount}}
{{#data.answers}}
{{& title}}
{{/data.answers}}
View results
{{#data.answerData}}
{{& title}}
{{percent}}%
{{/data.answerData}}
Total Votes: {{data.totalVotes}}
Voting
{{> poll_counts}}
{{#data.answerData}}
{{/data.answerData}}
{{#data.answerData}}
{{percent}}%
{{numVotes}} votes
{{& title}}
{{/data.answerData}}
{{> poll_counts}}
{{#data.answerData}}
{{& title}}
{{percent}}%
({{numVotes}} votes)
{{/data.answerData}}
{{data.totalVotes}} votes
You commented:
“{{info.data.answerText}}”
{{{info.data.commentText}}}
{{info.data.date}}
Optional short answer: 140 characters
To view your comment please validate your account. If you did not receive a validation email, click here to have it resent.
Your account is not activated yet. In order to participate you need to finish registering.
Will this scheme actually work? "I give it a low probability of happening," Brin said, "and I don't consider it to be the most responsible thing I've ever seen."Nevertheless, the venture has an attraction for Brin and tens of thousands of others, The ages of those listed in Mars One's database range from 18 to 71. All those applicants are facing a long road even before the first four-person crew gets off the planet. Mars One is accepting applicants through Aug. 31. The field of applicants would first be whittled down by panels of experts. Then they'd undergo trial by reality TV, followed by years of training."This may sound crazy, but it kind of reminds me of 'The Hunger Games,'" said Kayli McArthur, an 18-year-old student who's one of the youngest Mars One applicants. "It's cool that it would be televised, but that's not my whole thing."On the other end of the age spectrum, 71-year-old psychiatrist Sanford Pomerantz is a little surprised that it's taking this long to get something like Mars One off the ground. "I thought by now we would have colonized Mars," said Pomerantz, who's currently the oldest applicant on Mars One's list.So what's the appeal of Mars One? It's too early for Brin, McArthur and Pomerantz to give a lot of thought to their adventure on Mars, let alone their death
