For me the prospect of propulsion outside of the so-called Einsteinian max so something outside our immediate neighborhood would be one of the most beneficial - or most dangerous - discoveried of humanity, perhaps in league with the invention of fire, the wheel, fracturing atoms for power, etc. It would (by extrapolaton) lead to so many new scientific processes and inventions that someone coming back 250 years would shudder at how primitive we were... or it would not because there would be nothing left.

Me? I say... BRING IT ON!!! ;-) I would love to bw able to travel safely through vast, vast distances of space (hopefully with my family) and then come back to tell my great grandkids about it.

The best way to explore Mars, whether for mineral wealth or just to see what one can find there, is with robotic tele-operators with on-the-scene, or close-to-the-scene, human supervision. Unless your robots are self-repairing (or unless you send a special kind of robot that can repair other robots, including others of its specific type), the life of your mining or exploratory operation is only as long as the useful life of your equipment. And that is necessarily finite without a regular inspection and repair schedule.

But there's no reason to send men to dig for minerals.

Fascinating, Susanne -- I too have a list of people whom I would "volunteer" for this ... except that it would assuredly turn into the ultimate boondoggle. Worse than Fox's "surfer dude" on the left coast soaking up the rays and the food stamps, these folks would soak up $$ faster than BHO's incestuous voting blocs. -- j

Duly noted.

And you were answered. Yes, you are just a lunatic.

No sir I was asking a question as I did. Bring the head up out of the sand sir.

Actually, you were, by Godwinning the space program. More importantly, you were talking total crap, because Mars One is privately funded, so NASA isn't even germane to the discussion about it

Was I making a cheap shot? Was just asking a question. Going to outer space should be privatized. So excuse me for hurting your feelings. Like a duck on water.

Humor detector circuit failure?

Why, in God's name, would anyone consider "colonizing" Mars? These aren't pioneers, as they will be almost totally dependent upon their home planet for the extent of their natural lives. If support from home stops, they all die! Our pioneer forefathers had something real to look forward to...Mars has no air, no water, no other people. No, you might as well consider colonizing the moon...at least, it's closer to home.
Now, if you wanted to make Mars a maximum security prison...

The ultimate mark of the statist, telling people to do what they would not do themselves....

NASA has precisely nothing at all to do with the Mars One mission, so save your cheap shots, luddite.

Woot! Give her my regards and - Good Luck. What a great adventure...to step onto another planet and explore it. New footsteps, everywhere you walk. ( I hope that we get an effective FTL breakthrough and the trip these people take will not be one-way. Then they can be a waystation to further exploration.)

Would it not be great if there were a new frontier that we could reach (as reasonably as our pioneer forefathers could). We could go somewhere else and start afresh.

Jan

overman would likely agree with you. How interesting. Maybe you can do a Q&A with your niece for the Gulch? or is she not allowed to talk about the project? It is interesting to hear from people who would agree to do something like this. The whys are more important than the hows on some level.

Mars One is real. My 25yo niece is a current finalist. She is the opposite of this - crazy active, over achiever, smart, a born leader. Probably more typical of the applicants.

I wonder if there was bias in the selection of interviews; that the producer wanted to discredit the effort.

And, were I not 55, and outside their criteria, I would go in a heartbeat. This is about colonizing, not merely exploiting, so robots don't fit the need.

By 2024 robots will be available to go and do a good job without the difficulties of sending humans. The mining companies should fund it in exchange for mineral rights (without any environmentalists to complain.)
If I was uber wealthy I'd be talking to BHP and Rio Tinto now. They are already using unmanned trucks for mining here.

That was incredibly depressing to watch. All I could think was "anyone that really is like this, needs some serious therapy and loads of vitamins". If you can't make yourself productive and essential on earth, then going to a barren planet probably isn't going to make a positive difference.

I would rather stay here and select those who go. I already started a list.