Mars One – the first plan for a human settlement on Mars

[thestaggy]

Source

In the words of Luke Skywalker;

That's impossible!

NASA/the US predict the soonest a (wo)man will be put on Mars will be sometime in the 2030s. . .

And that's just a landing, not colonisation. A little hop, skip and a jump and no more. Okay, maybe a few samples and a round of golf, but that's it.

[dualmeister]

It never worked out too well for the last group than went

[RiaX]

Lol a human settlement huh. Well they better produce better medication for radiation poisoning :/

[dirkieman]

I wonder if warrant officer Ellen Ripley will be part of this crew??
And what happens if one of those MOFO goggas come back to earth?

[zippy]

There are 2 ways of sustaining a settlement:
1. There needs to be sufficient resources locally to sustain long term settlement
2. If there aren't sufficient resources locally, then there needs to be a reliable transportation system to keep the settlement supplied.

1. There is no evidence that there are sufficient resources locally on Mars.

2. Transport between Earth and Mars is by no means reliable. It's massively expensive and therefore at the mercy of recessions(which will always occur)

Initially a landing on Mars will take place purely for the science. I can't see them staying longer than supplies will allow which they will need to either take with them or the supplies will be sent ahead(very risky option. Imagine getting there and you find your chow strewn across the Martian ground).

After that they will return. Unlike the moon they won't go back a second or third time until the transportation issue is radically improved.

I can't see a sustained stay on Mars for at least 5 centuries. I'm sure we will see a manned landing within 50 years though.

The only way the private sector will fund these trips us if there is an economic reason to do so. There are only 2 possible reasons :

1. Tourism
2. Off world mining

1. Tourism prices will be prohibitive to make it a viable long term reason.

2. Mars can serve as base for asteroid mining. But we can still get enough resources on Earth now, making mining on Mars or asteroids uncompetitive and economic suicide. But this will probably become the driving force in a few centuries. Tourism will then piggy-back on this.

So other than the once-off "let's go for the lolz/science" we won't do much on Mars other than robotic probes

[Scooby_Doo]

Why would you use Mars for asteroid mining?

The/A moon/large asteroid would be a better bet because of the lower gravity.

[zippy]

No atmosphere production does not equal terraforming, "atmosphere production" is actually a bs combination of words. In order to terraform a planet you need to alter its entire atmosphere and climate in order to make it habitable by humans. Im pretty sure whatever they were referring to is supposed to be for inside the habitats. This is colonisation of Mars not terraforming.

Yup, the problem with Mars is that there probably isnt enough locked in the ground anyway. As they "manufacture" atmosphere, it will disappear into space.

It's a waste even trying. The solution is to tunnel down and into the mountains and live there. Like moles. Occasionally coming to the surface to do...whatever.. .

Actually sounds to me like the ideal spot for a prison.

Lots of space. Out of sight. Out of mind

[chrisc4290]

Humans on Mars could not live in the open, they will have to live in radiation-shielded enclosures, or underground

Terraforming will take 10 to 20 000 years to complete.
We do not know whether insects will survive. Without insects, there is no possibility of plants surviving
We also do not know if there is sufficient water. Earth is covered with water to 70% yet the amount of fresh water is only just enough

The cost of this exercise is beyond our means

[RiaX]

Terraforming is science fiction nonsense. You cant terraform mars because of its low gravity and lack of its magnetic field. The solar storms will destroy what little atmosphere you are able to produce

[beans100]

1942: Land restitution started. Humans will have the opertunity to give back land to the Martians or it will be forcefully removed.

[bdt]

Okay, some of the recent points graphically:

[Kompete]

I do not see why we should rush for human settlement. There are too many other things we can should solve about planet exploration, and worrying about where and how humans will eat and sleep on another planet should be the last thing we should worry about.

What we need is a 1000 more Curiosity probes and rovers - one more advanced then the next. To the point where the last few bots are basically humanoids that can basically live, explore, experiment, build, repair, etc, etc and be controlled by humans on earth. To the point where we have build a safe settlement for human occupation and we have repeated proven trips back and forth.

I think taking virtual exploration, advanced robotics, etc to the next level, will offer a lot more (and be safer, cheaper) than a narrow and single minded goal of human settlement only

[RiaX]

we need better transportation firstly