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May 15th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Posted
A Dutch reality TV show which plans to send volunteers on a one-way mission to Mars is raising ethical concerns.
The Mars One project, the brainchild of entrepreneur Bas Landsdorp, aims to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars.
The first four residents who volunteer for ‘Big Brother in Space’ are due to move in 10 years from now.
Mr Lansdorp says the only catch is that, for now, it’s a one-way trip.
“It is really my dream, my ambition to take humans to Mars,” he said.
“This is just the only way – and if a return mission becomes available then I think we will also implement it for people who want to.”
Like Earth, Mars has four seasons – but it’s temperature can drop as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius and its dust storms are ferocious.
Jonathan Nally from SpaceInfo.com.au says although it’s more than 200 million kilometres away, Mars is the most Earth-like planet in our solar system.
“We now know that Mars is a lot more habitable, both in the past and now, than initially thought,” he said.
“So there’s the potential that the only other life in the whole universe that we know of could have lived there, or could still be living there now in the form of microbes.”
Although rovers have been sent to explore the planet, no human has ever set foot there.
Astrophysicist Graham Phillips says the plan to change that, in just a decade, is ambitious.
“When I saw the project, I couldn’t believe it actually,” he said.
“I mean the time scale is amazing. Ten years will be pretty impressive if they can pull that off.”
Within days of launching its astronaut selection process Mars One had received tens of thousands of applications from people all over the world.
After paying an application fee and going through four rounds of a selection process, 40 candidate will undergo full training.
It will be up to the audience to vote for the final four – two men and two women – who will hopefully be on their way to a new life on Mars.
They’ll be looking for stable people – people who can get along for a long period of time, such as the rest of their life.
Mars One sponsor Dan Petrovic says while it’s a reality TV program, they won’t be casting for conflicting personalities.
“They will be selecting people on the basis of their health status, mental psychological attitude and they’ll be looking for stable people,” he said.
“People who can get along for a long period of time, such as the rest of their life.”
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Photo:
An artist’s impression of the Mars Science Laboratory, aka Curiosity, part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. (jpl.nasa.gov)
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A NASA graphic shows what the sky crane landing system will look like when Curiosity is lowered onto the Martian surface. (NASA)
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A graphic shows NASA’s Curiosity rover inspect a rock on Mars. (NASA)
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The shadow of the Mars Curiosity Rover is seen on the surface of the planet soon after landing on August 6, 2012. (NASA)
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This image taken by NASA’s Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover — its main science target, Mount Sharp. The rover’s shadow can be seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes. Rising up in the distance is the highest peak Mount Sharp at a height of about 3.4 miles, taller than Mt. Whitney in California. The Curiosity team hopes to drive the rover to the mountain to investigate its lower layers, which scientists think hold clues to past environmental change. (NASA/JPL-Caltech )
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A NASA image showing the projected landing site for the Curiosity rover circled, near the foot of Mount Sharp in the Gale crater on Mars. (NASA)
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Tracks left by NASA’s Curiosity rover as it completed its first test drive on Mars, August 22, 2012. The rover went forward 4.5 metres, rotated 120 degrees and then reversed 2.5 metres. Curiosity is now 6 metres from its landing site, named Bradbury Landing. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Photo:
An image taken by NASA’s Mars Rover showing the base of Mount Sharp, the rover’s eventual destination. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Gallery:
Mars Exploration: NASA puts Curiosity Rover on Mars
Life on Mars
Many of the applicants so far for the Mars One mission have come from America and also China where space and clean air is becoming increasingly scarce.
But astrophysicist and television presenter Dr Graham Phillips says the reality of life on Mars may shock some volunteers.
“There’s no oxygen in the atmosphere that you can breathe, there’s a lot of radiation belting down on the surface because of the lack of atmosphere,” he said.
“So you’ve got to stay in your pods and your spacesuits and these pods are going to be very tiny.
“It’s going to be tough conditions up there to live the rest of your life in.”
It’s going to be tough conditions up there to live the rest of your life in.
Jonathan Nally, who runs an astronomy and space exploration website agrees.
He says the Mars One project is unrealistic for a number of reasons.
“$US6 billion is a very low cost for getting people to Mars and sustaining them there,” he said.
“The other problem is of course they want to raise this money through some sort of reality TV venture, and as we know reality TV ventures come and go and people are one minute interested and the next minute they couldn’t care less.
“So what happens when it gets to the stage when the viewers can’t care less and the funding dries up?”
He, like many others, also question the ethical implications of the project.
“I personally think that sending anyone off on any sort of expedition with no chance of coming home is not right,” he said.
Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp says a new group of volunteer astronauts will make the seven-month journey to Mars every two years after the first crew departs in 2022.
We will select people and we will tell those people the risk and they will have to weigh the risks. [To say] ‘do I want to take these risks to make my dream come true or do I not?’.
“When you send people to Mars there will be risks,” he said.
“But we will select people and we will tell those people the risk and they will have to weigh the risks.
“[To say] ‘do I want to take these risks to make my dream come true or do I not?’.”
Topics:
space-exploration,
television,
netherlands
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/an-ethical-questions-over-one-way-mars-mission/4690824
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