News Mars One - settlement funded via reality TV in 2023

[T.Neo]

I care. Maybe I want to own a nice waterfront property in Valles Marineris someday. :lol:

 

[FADEC]

It won't work. Not via TV and especially not in 11 years from now.

There is certain hardware required as well as solid planing and proper financing in order to fly to anywhere beyond earth orbit with humans aboard. It annoys me that people almost take it for granted and make "fun" of it. It's never meant to be serious. This even includes smart people like Elon Musk, how really knows that it's all just PR.

Realistically I can expect to see humans on Mars at the declining years of my life. If at all.

I am 33 years old.

 

[Zachstar]

Again the "issue" is that once this fails Oldspace WILL use it to attack newspace. And eroded support at this critical stage in politics can knock a number of players out of the race before it even begins.

Newspace is already wrongfully portrayed as "PowerPointSpace" and "PrettyPicturesSpace"

 

[statisticsnerd]

http://mars-one.com/ and fund the venture by turning the astronauts lives into a reality TV show.

:rofl:

 

[C3PO]

The basic problem with an idea like this is that the best personality for a Mars mission would be very boring on a reality show.

 

[statisticsnerd]

The basic problem with an idea like this is that the best personality for a Mars mission would be very boring on a reality show.

Yeah, I watched the U.S. Big Brother one year, I think it was season 2 or 3. Most of the contestants were obnoxious, immature morons. The average IQ of that crowd must have been in the 80-90 range. Their stupid antics made for good tv, but you don't want dummies flying a Mars mission.

The last thing that needs to happen is for some Hollywood casting agency to pick typical reality tv idiots to go on a year long Mars mission.

 

[Zachstar]

Yes this will completely be a no go when it comes to "TV Funded" The only chance in hell it could even remotely work is if most of the billionaires on earth agreed to fund it.

Not that it even matters.

 

[T.Neo]

It isn't necessarily that all astronauts are emotionless robots. It's just that both spaceflight and reality TV have specific requirements. The requirements of spaceflight are that you keep calm and do your job properly, lest you die.

The requirements of reality TV is that you've got an interesting cast who know how to play it up for the camera.

With reality TV- normal reality TV, anyway- you can switch the cameras off, you can stop everything and get help fairly easily if things go wrong. But this is incredibly high stakes stuff. It's almost like some sort of gladiatorial 'Hunger Games' entertainment- the intention might not be for the participants to die, but the threat of death in this case is pretty alarming.

And it isn't as if spaceflight is some 'sciency' thing that the 'unsophisticated masses' couldn't care for (or shouldn't care for), it's that spaceflight is mundane. Noone is going to watch these people eat MREs and float around all day doing undescribed obscure technical tasks. And if the psychological and interpersonal relationships of the crew are massively played up for drama, there are huge ethical questions to be asked as well. Dealing with those issues during a Mars mission are bad enough, but to have that played for entertainment to millions back home? That too sounds like a form of brutal entertainment.

But no worries- I'm sure the idea of mundane people doing mundane things would be an absolute reality TV hit. In fact, (wink wink, nudge nudge) I plan to demonstrate it myself- I will launch a rocket from the Overberg Test Range by 2023, and I plan to build it in my backyard, funded by the profits from my new television series proposal, based on the trials and tribulations of launch vehicle development...


...it will be titled Paperwork. :rofl:

 

[Eli13]

Hey guys, I got a great idea for a TV show! Lets get an audience all excited with this big, dramatic rocket launch! Then months of nothing! How great does that sound? But wait! It gets better. They land on this place they call "Mars". They get there, they don't have a lot of supplies, or air! Then they have to get back! Just for months of more nothing! Then they come home to be some glorious hero or something.

Risks? No... there's... there's no risks...

I mean, it's not like they aren't going to come back!

This will definitely get great ratings, I promise you. There's nothing better than watching some guy float around all day. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll be doing something amazing, like math! Everyone loves math!

We already have a team of what, FOUR people and some spacey sounding space companies offering space... stuff with some nerdbaits being some "Ambassadors" for us. One won a nobel prize for peace in physics or something like that, gotta stop those moleatoms. A couple other people were science-y too. Oooh, this one woman is an author! Common people just adore authors. But here's the crown jewel! We have the first producer of Big Brother with us!! There's no possible way this can go wrong! We'll be rich!

 

[statisticsnerd]

So in most reality shows, they kick people out periodically. They call it "evicting" in Big Brother.

How will that work in Mars One? Will they suit up, the mission commander states "The Tribe has spoken, it is time for you to go," and then the least popular one is pushed out the hatch?

 

[T.Neo]

It looks like they 'plan' to run some sort of simulation of their Mars base in a desert somewhere first. Throwing someone out of the habitat is a whole lot easier when the habitat is in fact superfluous...

 

[Goth]

I remember NASA have already done some kind of simulated trip to mars with some volunteers staying 7 months in a fake capsule. Can someone confirm this? Or it's just me confusing things?

 

[Screamer7]

This is NOT gonna work.
Mars is NOT Earth. Period.

 

[T.Neo]

I remember NASA have already done some kind of simulated trip to mars with some volunteers staying 7 months in a fake capsule. Can someone confirm this? Or it's just me confusing things?

You're probably thinking about [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_500"]Mars 500[/ame], which involved Russia, China and ESA (it was not performed by NASA).

The Mars Society has also been playing astronauts for several years in Nunavut and Utah (the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Analogue_Research_Station_Programme"]Mars Analogue Research Stations[/ame])

 

[C3PO]

The Mars Society tests were more about the "ergonomics" of habitat and tools then the isolation bit.

 

[gattispilot]

Mars One

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

Might be a good add-on

 

[rodion_herrera]

Sorry for necro-ing this old thread, but since there appears to be no new topic on the matter, I thought I'd dig this up.

I know, some of you with the necessary engineering background think that Mars One is a joke. But still, in terms of letting people dream big things, I think it's hitting the mark. I mean, Orbiter itself is supposed to be a "window" for people to dream about going to space, right? So I believe this project is also kind of like that.

Well, at least the applicant videos are entertaining enough to watch I wonder how many of them have any Orbiter experience?

And do share your "TOP FOUR"...I think it would be interesting to compare notes

http://applicants.mars-one.com/overview/rating/

-RODION

 

[orb]

Discovery News: The Biggest Flaw in Mars One's Business Plan:

{...}

When discussing the colonists’ need for privacy (despite the fact they’d be signing up for a reality TV show), Lansdorp dropped a bombshell: “Mars One would not allow 24/7 coverage … the people of Mars wouldn’t allow it. If they don’t like a particular camera, they’d put a piece of duct tape over it and there’s nothing we can do about it. They are in charge.” Rather, he trusts that the colonists would be “proud” to show off their lives to the world. And there it is, the biggest flaw in using a reality TV model to fund a mission to Mars.

The admission that the colony will be “in charge” would likely stop any TV executive in their tracks. Dolling out billions of dollars for exclusive rights to a live Mars video feed that may or may not be switched on is the epitome of “risky.” Sure, the “one small step” episode would likely attract billions, but what of the rest of the mission?

{...}

 

[orb]

SpaceRef: 78,000 sign up for one-way mission to Mars

SpaceNews: 78K People Have Signed Up for a One-way Trip to Mars

 

[Alfastar]

78,000 people payed for something what leads to nothing :facepalm: