http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1324192/Nasa-plan-Hundred-Year-Starship--mission-astronauts-Mars-leave-forever.html

Shit sounds crazy.

Quote :

"The Hundred Year Starship: The Nasa mission that will take astronauts to Mars and leave them there forever By Niall Firth Last updated at 2:19 AM on 28th October 2010 Nasa is planning an audacious mission to send a manned spacecraft on a one-way trip to permanently settle on other planets. The ambitious idea is known as the Hundred Years Starship and would send astronauts to colonise planets like Mars, knowing they could never come home. NASA Ames Director Pete Worden revealed that one of NASA’s main research centres, Ames Research Centre, has received £1million funding to start work on the project. The research team has also received an additional $100,000 from Nasa. ‘You heard it here,” Worden said at ‘Long Conversation,’ an event in San Francisco. ‘We also hope to inveigle some billionaires to form a Hundred Year Starship fund.’ He added: ‘The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds. Twenty years ago you had to whisper that in dark bars and get fired.’ Worden said he has discussed the potential price tag for one-way trips to Mars with Google co-founder Larry Page, telling him such a mission could be done for $10 billion. He said said: ‘His response was, “Can you get it down to $1 [billion] or $2billion?” So now we're starting to get a little argument over the price.’ Worden also suggested that new technologies such as synthetic biology and alterations to the human genome could also be explored ahead of the mission. And he said that he believed the mission should visit Mars’ moons first, where scientists can do extensive telerobotics exploration of the planet. He claims that humans could be on Mars' moons by 2030. Astronauts would be marooned on the planet's surface and would never be able to return home due to cost News of the Hundred Years Starship comes as new research found that a one-way human mission to Mars is technologically feasible and would be a cheaper option than bringing astronauts back. Writing in the Journal of Cosmology, scientists Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies, say that the envision sending four volunteer astronauts on the first mission to permanently colonise Mars. They write: ‘A one-way human mission to Mars would not be a fixed duration project as in the Apollo program, but the first step in establishing a permanent human presence on the planet.’ The astronauts would be sent supplies from Earth on a regular basis but they would be expected to become self-sufficient on the red planet’s surface as soon as possible. They say: There are many reasons why a human colony on Mars is a desirable goal, scientifically and politically. The strategy of one-way missions brings this goal within technological and financial feasibility. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit work on the planet's surface. One day humans could be working alongside the robotic probe ‘Nevertheless, to attain it would require not only major international cooperation, but a return to the exploration spirit and risk-taking ethos of the great period of Earth exploration, from Columbus to Amundsen, but which has nowadays being replaced with a culture of safety and political correctness.’ They admit that the mission would come with ‘ethical considerations’ with the general public feeling that the Martian pioneers had been abandoned to their fate or sacrificed. But they argue that these first inhabitants of Mars would be going in much the same spirit as the first white settlers of North America – travelling to a distant land, knowing that they will never return home. They say: ‘Explorers such as Columbus, Frobisher, Scott and Amundsen, while not embarking on their voyages with the intention of staying at their destination, nevertheless took huge personal risks to explore new lands, in the knowledge that there was a significant likelihood that they would perish in the attempt.’"

10/27/2010 10:15:45 PM

Oxygen?

10/27/2010 10:26:13 PM

wtg Obama!!

10/27/2010 10:27:55 PM

I'll do it.. seriously

10/27/2010 10:28:51 PM

Come on Cohaagen, you got what you want. Give these people air!

10/27/2010 10:28:56 PM

10/10 reality TV right here.

10/27/2010 10:30:18 PM

the real question is: are there going to be bitches there?

10/27/2010 10:31:02 PM

Quote :

"sending four volunteer astronauts on the first mission to permanently colonise Mars"

They're gonna wind up with some WV backwoods babies.

10/27/2010 10:31:26 PM

Don't get your hopes up, folks. From an insider perspective, something like this won't be happening for a LONG time.

First of all:

Quote :

"The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds."

Complete and utter bullshit. If NASA had a new mission goal, I'd think we'd hear about it through more official means. This is the first that any NASA employees have heard anything about this. We are still working on Ares stuff for Christ's sake. Two months ago the NASA administrator said that NASA's main goal was to "reach out to the Muslim world" which was changed shortly after. NASA's leaders are politicians and I'm fairly certain this is all politics that will be swept under the rug in a few months.

Additionally, I read from another source that the the spaceship to be used for this is expected to have a prototype ready in a few years. More bullshit considering Congress is still in debate as to what they want us to do right now. At the rate we're going, we'll be lucky to be in near earth orbit in a few years.

10/27/2010 10:47:26 PM

^This guy knows.

10/27/2010 11:02:16 PM

10/27/2010 11:08:56 PM

^clear winner

10/27/2010 11:18:03 PM

nasa is a dumbass

the moon is like 150 times closer, maybe the first outer space "colonists" should start there. they could actually come home once in a while, and it only takes a few seconds for radio transmissions to get to the moon...

then if the moon doesn't get taken over by "WV backwoods babies" we could try something similar on Mars

10/27/2010 11:34:31 PM

NASA = Waste of Money

10/27/2010 11:35:01 PM

I don't think it stands for that.

10/28/2010 12:01:59 AM

You can't just send any old four volunteers. It'll take a lot of people. You need doctors. You need fertile women.

This is an awesome plan, but the scope is so limited that it's not feasible. Make a realistic proposal and this will take off (no pun).

10/28/2010 12:06:49 AM

fertile women, doctors

what about engineers? i mean...aren't they gonna need to build shit?

and what about food?

10/28/2010 12:08:34 AM

^I could have went on and on. You can see where I was going with that, though.

10/28/2010 12:09:50 AM

that amount of money wouldnt even get you to the moon

10/28/2010 12:09:54 AM

Thinking about this is crazy!

Thinking about the first person born on another planet is also fucking crazy.


Shipping rates are going to be outrageous. FUCK THAT.

10/28/2010 12:10:41 AM

6 years for delivery!? aw hell naw Amazon.

10/28/2010 12:16:11 AM

Again I'll do it and I'm serious

10/28/2010 12:17:54 AM

i'm not ready for a suicide mission yet

i'd sit out a few rounds. you know the first group isn't going to succeed!

10/28/2010 12:19:20 AM

man....I just like trees too much.

One day, if/when they do this. It will be monumental. I hope I get to live to see this. The people who do this will go down in history.

*I must sound like the biggest idiot to yall talking about my love for trees and clouds all the time.

[Edited on October 28, 2010 at 12:31 AM. Reason : d]

10/28/2010 12:30:11 AM

As long as I never hear about you getting your pecker stuck in a knothole...I'm perfectly fine hearing about your love for trees and clouds.

10/28/2010 12:45:08 AM

Quote :

"the real question is: are there going to be bitches there?"

Yeah I could see problems coming about when everyone discovers there is no beer, or sex on Mars.




Really though, I once saw a show on tv that showed how when the sun burns out it will expand out to Mars and swallow the whole inner solar system. They better not stop at Mars.

10/28/2010 12:55:37 AM

I only came in here to see what dumb shit Big4Country would post.

Again he made me

[Edited on October 28, 2010 at 12:57 AM. Reason : also ibt gay solar glasses pic]

10/28/2010 12:57:04 AM

?

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

10/28/2010 1:00:52 AM

Quote :

"the moon is like 150 times closer, maybe the first outer space "colonists" should start there. they could actually come home once in a while, and it only takes a few seconds for radio transmissions to get to the moon..."

I agree with you and disagree with you on some parts. If any colonies are formed outside of Earth, the moon is DEFINITELY where we need to start in terms of learning how to live in isolation with such a hostile environment. Astronauts would need to live on the Moon in simulated conditions for at least a few years to ensure that the human body and mind could withstand that kind of thing.

The thing about the moon is there is no atmosphere or soil. A lunar base could NOT be self sufficient. On Mars, however, you would at least theoretically be able to grow plants. Even if you were able to grow algae on Mars it would at least provide air and nutrition. It would be a sucky life, but you'd go down in history.

Agreed on needing more than four people. I could see sending four people initially but if any type of substantial human colony is gonna make it, reinforcements are gonna need to be sent. I guarantee that there would be no problem in finding volunteers for this mission though.

Oh and as a side note, please ignore smc. He's a giant troll whenever it comes to space flight.

10/28/2010 9:26:20 AM

Quote :

"Oh and as a side note, please ignore smc. He's a giant troll whenever it comes to space flight."

FTFY

10/28/2010 9:33:19 AM

it will eventually happen but not that soon. Baby steps.

I was under the impression they had plans to build a lunar research base sometime within the next decade. After that was the planning a manned trip to mars. Until all those happen, a colonization mission wouldn't be logical.

Besides, the only way I could see them getting the green light to use enough money to pull off such a historic mission, would be only in the event of an impending doom of our planet. The movie "Pandorum" actually has this as its backstory for sending out a mission to colonize a new planet.

10/28/2010 9:33:48 AM

Quote :

"event of an impending doom of our planet"

perhaps they know something we don't

10/28/2010 9:41:54 AM

We came pretty close a few years back of being hit by an asteroid which came closer to us than the moon is which in terms of space was pretty fucking close. All it takes is one...

10/28/2010 9:44:55 AM

Quote :

"I was under the impression they had plans to build a lunar research base sometime within the next decade. After that was the planning a manned trip to mars. Until all those happen, a colonization mission wouldn't be logical."

You're right. NASA did have plans to go to the moon, then use the experience gained from that to go to Mars with the eventual plans to set up a permanent human presence on both. The President is trying to get rid of that whole thing though (Congress is still debating about it). If you are interested in something like that, write you Congressmen!

But that brings up another point about how this is all BS. All opinions aside, it is a fact that the president is actively trying to cancel manned missions to the Moon and Mars. I don't exactly see how we are going to get to Mars without any vehicles, especially when the ones we have been designing for the past 6 years are in talks of being canceled.

10/28/2010 9:46:42 AM

I am pretty sure Obama shares this view that I have:


Privatize that shit.

10/28/2010 10:38:41 AM

O'bama hates martians.

10/28/2010 10:45:10 AM

BARACK OBAMA DOESN'T CARE ABOUT GREEN PEOPLE.

10/28/2010 12:02:15 PM

I'll go and make hybrid human-alien babies.

10/28/2010 1:01:28 PM

Quote :

"synthetic biology and alterations to the human genome"

Quote :

"marooned on the planet's surface"

KHANNNN!

10/28/2010 1:16:04 PM

i wonder if they've considered the implications of having the surrounding atmosphere (is there even one to speak of?) slowly taken up by floating semen

you know, from all the MARsturbation?

10/28/2010 2:09:37 PM

Quote :

"then use the experience gained from that to go to Mars"

Thats gotta be like 1000 XP

10/28/2010 2:21:21 PM

Serious question....

What exactly do we gain from space travel?? Other than bragging rights over the Soviet Union for doing it first, what benefits did we reap from traveling to the moon??

10/28/2010 2:34:34 PM

Quote :

"The ambitious idea is known as the Hundred Years Starship and would send astronauts to colonise planets like Mars, knowing they could never come home. "

Wow. This is a stupid fucking assumption.

10/28/2010 2:35:54 PM

Quote :

"We came pretty close a few years weeks back of being hit by an asteroid which came closer to us than the moon is which in terms of space was pretty fucking close. All it takes is one... "

[Edited on October 28, 2010 at 2:40 PM. Reason : they were tiny though]

10/28/2010 2:39:10 PM

Yeah googling it looks like there has been one of these about every 6 months or so for a while.. guess it happens more often than we realize. Good thing we have Bruce Willis around to save us if we need it!

10/28/2010 2:43:39 PM

Bruce Willis was a pawn.

Ben Affleck was the real hero.

10/28/2010 2:45:03 PM

Quote :

"What exactly do we gain from space travel?? Other than bragging rights over the Soviet Union for doing it first, what benefits did we reap from traveling to the moon??"

Eventually, overpopulation and scarcity of resources will become more serious problems for our species (well beyond our lifetimes) and the only option will be to colonize another planet. There is already an ongoing program that is searching for earth-like planets which could potentially sustain life.

It's hard for a lot of people to really fathom (or care) about things that will only happen after they are long gone, but its real, and the only way to get there is by making small advancements in space travel as our technology improves to allow for more distant missions.

[Edited on October 28, 2010 at 2:48 PM. Reason : .]

10/28/2010 2:47:55 PM

Quote :

"10/10 reality TV right here. "

I'm sure MTV is already working on the licensing rights.

10/28/2010 3:01:06 PM

Sign me up

10/28/2010 3:05:41 PM

set em up

10/28/2010 3:08:12 PM