Mars colony by 2023?

[wewantutopia]

Just read this: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47963043/ns/technology_and_science-space/ and was surprised it wasn't discussed here already.

A Dutch company is planning on setting up a colony on Mars and funding it by making a reality TV show with the people living there.

What do you guys think? Some good points made in the comments.

[Whovian]

In all honesty I don't see a mars colony by 2023. Maybe a moon colony but Mars is a bit of a reach. Logically it be good to have a test run on a orbital body an see if the current or near future technology could handle the strain of space. That's one of my current beef's with the colony idea on mars. Baby steps first than leaps.

[angry_johnnie]

that sounds really interesting. maybe mars is a bit far fetched, but any kind of civilian space colony sounds like a good idea, even if it's just a station orbiting around mars or the moon or wherever. too bad i'll be too old by then. :)

[trivialpackets]

Personally, I would much rather they concentrate on making living underwater an affordable reality. I would love to have an ocean view from below the ocean. Not sure how you grow plants, but with some kind of grow lamps, not to mention you can import stuff like that, IDK.

[Paqman]

This story looks less like a viable project at present, it's just some marketing splash put out to try and drum up investors. So far they've actually achieved very little.

Their website says the company has only been extant since Jan last year and:

We plan to fund it by making it the biggest media spectacle in history

Mars One is now looking for a round of funding to pay our potential suppliers to perform conceptual design studies
Right, so do they have any funding right now? VCs? Who exactly is behind this? What are they going to do for money between now and 2023?

All sounds pretty flimsy so far TBH. Their first big milestone is putting a satellite in orbit around the red planet, if they get that far it'll start to get a bit more interesting.

[drawkcab]

I would classify this as a pipe dream but that would be giving it too much credit.

[click4851]

I like the novels "Red Mars" "Blue Mars" "Green Mars", even though they were novels the author went along way to make the plot line at least feasible. I believe the first characters to arrive are told up front this a one way trip. I think it would be much more interesting than the moon.

[WinterMadness]

Just read this: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47963043/ns/technology_and_science-space/ and was surprised it wasn't discussed here already.

A Dutch company is planning on setting up a colony on Mars and funding it by making a reality TV show with the people living there.

What do you guys think? Some good points made in the comments.

I dont want corporations going to Mars first. The last thing we need are corporations claiming ownership of a planet that could be used to help solve an over population problem here on earth and to push science forward.

[Cheesehead]

Certainly not viable.

Cost to move one human-mass to Mars seems close to one billion US dollars, not including the vast amount of mass needed to keep that human alive during the trip, land them and keep them alive on Mars...or to return them to Earth.

Cost of moving a small crew and minimal equipment and years of supplies merely to Low Earth Orbit is several orders of magnitude greater than the revenue any TV program is going to generate.

The equipment is expensive, but the *big* cost is fuel, fuel , and fuel.

[Paqman]

The last thing we need are corporations claiming ownership of a planet

They can't. The Outer Space Treaty says you can't own any of it, despite what all the dudes selling plots of land on the moon or Mars say. That might change in the future, but as of now there's no legal framework for anybody to claim any kind of ownership of anything beyond the Earth.

As for "pushing science forward", what makes you think corporations don't do this? Was the computer you're reading this on developed by a government, or a corporation? Who designs the rockets used to get into space?