A Dutch firm is planning to send 2 men and 2 women on a one-way trip to Mars. The venture will be financed by transforming it into a reality television show.
The start-up, called “Mars One”, says it is dead serious about landing four astronauts on Mars by 2023, seven years ahead of the US space agency’s target, and plans to start the search for volunteers next year. Experts are sceptical, but “Mars One” has won backing from none other than Dutch Nobel laureate Gerard ‘t Hooft, who won the 1999 prize for physics. “My first reaction was: ‘this will never work’. But a closer look at the project convinced me. I really think this is possible.”
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Under Lansdorp’s plan, choosing and training the astronauts, their months-long space journey and their lives on Mars would all be televised — along the lines of “Big Brother” where a small group was isolated in a house and constantly filmed by TV cameras.
More details can be found at the Mars One website.
Is this actually real? Isn’t it essentially murder (or assisted suicide)?
As far as I can tell it is for real, though maybe just a publicity stunt. The idea is to create a permanent, sustainable colony of 20 or so individuals who will basically be moving to mars, hopefully to live long and prosperous lives. Though I doubt the line at Vegas will favor that outcome.