Mars One - Human settlement of Mars in 2023

[sisko]

Mission, Vision and Feasibility
Mars One’s mission objective

Mars One plans to establish the first human settlement on Mars by April 2023. The first crew of four astronauts emigrate to their new planet from Earth, a journey that takes seven months. A new team will join the settlement every two years. By 2033 there will be over twenty people living, working and flourishing on Mars, their new home.

The vision of Mars One

A manned mission to Mars is one of the most exciting, inspiring and ambitious adventures that mankind can take on. We see this as a journey that belongs to us all, and it is for this reason that we will make every step one that we take together. This will also be our way to finance the mission: the mission to Mars will be the biggest media event ever!
The entire world will be able to watch and help with decisions as the teams of settlers are selected, follow their extensive training and preparation for the mission and of course observe their settling on Mars once arrived. The emigrated astronauts will share their experiences with us as they build their new home, conduct experiments and explore Mars. The mission itself will provide us with invaluable scientific and social knowledge that will be accessible to everyone, not just an elite select few. Join us in this adventure. Put it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or whatever platforms are available to you, and spread the word!

A realistic plan

The Mars One team has worked on this plan since early 2011. That first year saw us research the feasibility of the idea extensively and exhaustively, scrutinizing every detail with countless specialists and expert organizations. In this analysis we not only included the technical elements, but also comprehensively discussed the financial, psychological and ethical aspects.
We have met with several established, international aerospace companies who can design and deliver the essential hardware components for the Mars mission. These have written letters of interest that support our plan.
We have an impressive list of people who support the mission to Mars, our ambassadors. One of them is professor dr. Gerard 't Hooft, Physics Nobel Prize winner of 1999.
We were this thorough in our preparations for a reason. A project as ambitious as sending a manned mission to Mars can only be presented credibly when it can stand on its own two feet. We have a feasible plan and a way to finance it. We are ready to go, will you join us?

they have a project, they have the suppliers and a forseeable timeline, but they have no money.. at least, till now.
the plan is to broadcast everything and make it a "Big Brother" show. this will attract potential sponsors in their view.
but who wants to watch Big Brother in space every day? (besides a bunch of SMACers, of course)

so, is this really going to happen or not?

[Buster's Uncle]

You know I root more than a little for space exploration, but I bet not.

[Buster's Uncle]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QoEEGySGm4&amp;feature=player_embedded" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QoEEGySGm4&amp;feature=player_embedded</a>

Mars One: One-way ticket to the red planet

By Claudine Zap | The Upshot – Tue, Jun 5, 2012.. .



 It sounds like a science-fiction fantasy, but the company Mars One says it's for real—and that it will really establish a settlement on the planet Mars by 2023.
 
The privately financed Dutch company has a plan. All it needs is a lot of cash, equipment and four Mars-bound astronauts who are willing to take a one-way trip to the red planet.
 
The idea is to first send rovers, which will stake out a good site for a settlement and then build out living units. In 2022, the crew will take a "transit habitat" for the seven-month trip to Mars and settle in to their new home. The intention is that the crew will live on the planet for the rest of their lives. Every two years after that, another group will join the settlement to populate the colony.
 
Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp has a very modern approach to funding the project: media exposure. "We will finance this mission by creating the biggest media event ever around it." He said in a company video, adding, "Everybody in the world can see everything that will happen in the preparations and on Mars."
 
Think of it as a "Big Brother" for outer space. Lansdorp explained to Yahoo! News, "This would be 'real' reality TV -- adventure is automatically included, we don't have to add fake challenges." He added, "By sending a new crew every two years, Mars will have a real, growing settlement of humans -- who would not like to follow that major event in human history?"
 
Who, indeed? The other-worldly idea has certainly intrigued the Web. The Mars One video has received over 232,000 views on YouTube since it launched less than a week ago.
 
Beyond entertainment, some scientists certainly seem intrigued by the possibility of interplanetary travel. Theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner Gerard 't Hooft, a "mission ambassador" for Mars One, endorses the plan. He says, "This project seems to be the only way to fulfill humanity's dream to explore outer space. It's going to be an exciting experiment."
 
Next year, according to its website, the company will begin an astronaut selection process. Those who have the right stuff will then undergo a decade of preparation. And, we assume, the Mars travelers will be ready for their out-of-this-world close-up.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/mars-one-one-way-ticket-red-planet-192011042.html

[Unorthodox]

Saying they get the money to get it built and get people up there.  There's no escape plan at all.  One way trip, period, with no benchmarks for what that environment would do to the human body.  And the cost to provide food/water/air would be absolutely atrocious. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Yeah; that's talking billions -- quite a few of them, overall -- which is a mighty optimistic revenue projection for a TV show.

[Davyboy]

As one of your Presidents said: "It's the economy, stupid."

Much as I'd be a supporter of this (and trust the Dutch to go a-colonizing) the business model seems 'weak'.

The similarity to Big Brother (and Heliconia) are clear but insufficient economically except in the short term - people get bored, and there ain't going to be any "vote-outs" because this isn't Martian Chronicles either.

My suggestion to them would be to play for 'suspense' value by aiming to form a colony, but starting by mining a moon for revenue and sending smallish chunks back to Terran orbit (where the market is after all) via slow, low-energy transfer orbits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network

Thought I heard some buzz earlier in the year about Google wanting to mine asteroids in a similar manner. Might be these guys need to talk to Google.
The point I'm making is this; early explorers to the New World didn't go there out of altruism, the British, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish went for loot pure and simple.
Besides which, a "mining venture" has one huge advantage that the colonizing proponents have not mentioned. It doesn't inoculate the body of Mars itself with recent Earth biota, something that exploration missions take great efforts to minimize or even avoid completely.
The upshot of that is that the scientific community will scream bloody murder about a proposed colony - but maybe not about a 'moonmine'.
Also, since the energetics for return orbits are reasonable with the ITN, going to Mars wouldn't be a life sentence necessarily, even though the medical problems of long term low-G living are probably a big negative.

Just my 10 €-cents. I'm thinking more Space Family Stone and Outland than BB

[Buster's Uncle]

Reality Show on Mars Could Fund Manned Colony by 2023
By Mike Wall | SPACE.com – Tue, Jun 26, 2012...

 
A Dutch company aims to land humans on Mars by 2023 as the first step toward establishing a permanent colony on the Red Planet.
 
The project, called Mars One, plans to drop four astronauts on Mars in April 2023. New members of the nascent colony will arive every two years after that, and none of the Red Planet pioneers will ever return to Earth.
 
To pay for all of this, Mars One says it will stage a media spectacle the likes of which the world has never seen — a sort of interplanetary reality show a la "Big Brother."
 
"This project seems to be the only way to fulfill humanity's dream to explore outer space," theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Gerard 't Hooft, an ambassador for Mars One, said in an introductory video posted on the company's website. "It is going to be an exciting experiment. Let's get started." [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]
 


The plan
 
Mars One hopes to launch a communications satellite and a supply mission to Mars in 2016, then send a large rover to the Red Planet in 2018, according to the video.
 
This rover will scout out suitable sites for the new Mars colony. The company will then launch settlement components — such as habitat units, life-support equipment and another rover — in 2020. The two rovers will prepare the settlement for the arrival of the first humans in 2023.
 
Mars One officials say they've talked to a variety of private spaceflight companies around the world and have secured at least one potential supplier for each colony component.
 
They plan to launch many components on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, for example, which is expected to be the world's most powerful launch vehicle when it starts flying. The Falcon Heavy is still in development, and SpaceX officials have said the rocket's first test flight could come as early as next year.
 


A media spectacle
 
Mars One estimates that it will cost about $6 billion to put the first four astronauts on Mars. While this may seem like a daunting sum for a non-governmental entity, the company is confident it can raise the needed funds by selling corporate sponsorships.
 
"We will finance this mission by creating the biggest media event ever around it," Mars One co-founder Bas Landorp said in the video. "Everybody in the world can see everything that will happen in the preparations and on Mars."
 
If all goes according to Mars One's plans, companies looking to advertise will pay big bucks for that exposure.
 
"This is going to be a media spectacle; 'Big Brother' will pale in comparison," 't Hooft said. "The whole world will be watching and experience this journey."
 
Mars One will begin selecting its first group of astronauts in 2013, according to its website. Though the company just made its plans public in the last few weeks, it's been developing them in secret since January 2011, officials said.
 
Mars One isn't the only organization with its eyes on putting boots on Mars. President Barack Obama directed NASA to work on getting astronauts to the vicinity of the Red Planet by the mid-2030s, and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said his company hopes to fly people to Mars within the next 10 or 20 years.

http://news.yahoo.com/reality-show-mars-could-fund-manned-colony-2023-134519052.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Private Manned Mars Mission Gets First Sponsors
By SPACE.com Staff | SPACE.com – 22 hrs ago.. .

 
A Dutch company that aims to land humans on Mars in 2023 as the vanguard of a permanent Red Planet colony has received its first funding from sponsors, officials announced this week.
 
Mars One plans to fund most of its ambitious activities via a global reality-TV media event, which will follow the mission from the selection of astronauts through their first years on the Red Planet. But the sponsorship money is important, helping the company — which had been self-funded for the last 18 months — get to that point, officials said Wednesday (Aug. 29).
 
"Receipt of initial sponsorship marks the next step to humans setting foot on Mars," Mars One founder and president Bas Lansdorp said in a statement. "A little more than a year ago we embarked down this path, calling upon industry experts to share in our bold dream. Today, we have moved from a technical plan into the first stage of funding, giving our dream a foundation in reality."
 
Initial sponsors include Byte Internet (a Dutch Internet/Webhosting provider); Dutch lawfirm VBC Notarissen; Dutch consulting company MeetIn; New-Energy.tv (an independent Dutch web station that focuses on energy and climate); and Dejan SEO (an Australia-based search engine optimization firm). [Video: 'Big Brother' on Mars?]
 
"Mars One is not just a daring project, but the core of what drives human spirit towards exploration of the unknown. We are privileged to be a supporter of this incredible project," said Dan Petrovic, general director of Dejan SEO.
 


Mars One aims to launch a series of robotic missions between 2016 and 2020 that will build a habitable outpost on the Red Planet. The first four astronauts will set foot on Mars in 2023, and more will arrive every two years after that. There are no plans to return these pioneers to Earth.
 
Company officials say they've talked to a variety of private spaceflight firms around the world and have secured at least one supplier for every major piece of the Mars colony mission. The corporate sponsorship money will be used mostly to fund the conceptual design studies provided by the aerospace suppliers, each of which require 500 to 2,500 man-hours to complete, officials said.
 
Mars One estimates that it will cost about $6 billion to put the first four humans on the Red Planet. The company hopes the "Big Brother"-style reality show will pay most of these costs. The televised action is slated to begin in 2013, when Mars One begins the process of selecting its 40-person astronaut corps.

http://news.yahoo.com/private-manned-mars-mission-gets-first-sponsors-125349095.html?_esi=1

[sisko]

...Initial sponsors include Byte Internet (a Dutch Internet/Webhosting provider); Dutch lawfirm VBC Notarissen; Dutch consulting company MeetIn; New-Energy.tv (an independent Dutch web station that focuses on energy and climate); and Dejan SEO (an Australia-based search engine optimization firm). [Video: 'Big Brother' on Mars?]...

that's what?     0.01% of the budget rounded up? 

[Davyboy]

...Initial sponsors include Byte Internet (a Dutch Internet/Webhosting provider); Dutch lawfirm VBC Notarissen; Dutch consulting company MeetIn; New-Energy.tv (an independent Dutch web station that focuses on energy and climate); and Dejan SEO (an Australia-based search engine optimization firm). [Video: 'Big Brother' on Mars?]...

that's what?     0.01% of the budget rounded up? 

At least 0.01%

Methinks they need to 'entice' some of the 0.01% to come on board - it just might appeal to the vanity/hubris of the Bransons/Gateses/Zuckerthings.. Branson would be my fave, let's face it, HE'LL be up suborbital within two years.
But any 'name' would require Mars-->Earth upgrade planing. Not an impossibility either.

[sisko]

..Branson would be my fave, let's face it, HE'LL be up suborbital within two years.

would be nice to have Branson onboard this project but this is not his 'baby'. he likes too much his own ideas to get involved in this.

[Buster's Uncle]

Branson does seem to like himself, doesn't he?

[sisko]

Branson does seem to like himself, doesn't he?

indeed:

[Davyboy]

Branson does seem to like himself, doesn't he?

indeed:

That's our gal!!!!!!!!

..Branson would be my fave, let's face it, HE'LL be up suborbital within two years.

would be nice to have Branson onboard this project but this is not his 'baby'. he likes too much his own ideas to get involved in this.

Just need to convince him that it's his idea to 'bring them back'. Once he's had a bit of suborbital '100-mile high club' (or whatever) he'll be tempted to throw in.

Branson does seem to like himself, doesn't he?

He always has. But he's a shrewd businessman for all of his egocentric vanity. I even owned shares in his outfit when he took it public nearly 30 years ago. He also pretty soon after, took it private again. No-one lost money!). Whisper the big Mars deal in his ear - convince him that there's a high-probability return strategy and I bet he'd bite. He'd also be looking to turn a profit on the deal too - and probably would on past form.

[Buster's Uncle]

There's that - he gets results, and he loves flamboyant, high-profile projects.