Mars One will establish the first human settlement on Mars in 2023. A habitable settlement will be waitingfor the settlers when they land. The settlement will support them while they live and work on Mars the rest of their lives. Every two years after 2023 an additional crew will arrive, such that there is a real living, growing community on Mars. Mars One has created a technical plan for this mission that is as simple as possible. For every component of the mission we have identified at least one potential supplier. Mars One invites you to join us in this next giant leap for mankind!
AN OVERVIEW OF THE TIMELINE:
The entire world will be able to watch and help with decisions as the teams of settlers are selected, follow their extensive training and preparation for the mission and of course observe their settling on Mars once arrived. The astronauts will share their experiences with us as they build their new home, conduct experiments and explore Mars. The mission itself will provide us with invaluable scientific and social knowledge that will be accessible to everyone, not just an elite select few.
The Mars One team has worked on this plan since early 2011. That first year they researched the feasibility of the idea extensively and exhaustively, scrutinizing every detail with countless specialists and expert organizations. In this analysis they not only included the technical elements, but also comprehensively discussed the financial, psychological and ethical aspects.
They have met with several established, international aerospace companies who can design and deliver the essential hardware components for the Mars mission. These have written letters of interest that support their plan.
Organizing a manned mission to Mars has been the dream of Mars One founder, Bas Lansdorp, for many years. Before starting Mars One, he was the co-founder of Ampyx Power. Despite the success of Ampyx Power, he decided to leave when someone gave him the idea that merged all the pieces of the Mars dream together: a mission to Mars can be financed by building it into a global media spectacle.
The central point to this Mars mission is that the participants emigrate – living and working on Mars for the rest of their lives. This is the most important reason that this plan is feasible. It goes without saying that we are taking care of the living needs of the settlers, but more on that later. First, we must elaborate on why a ‘return ticket’ is pretty much impossible when talking about the Red Planet.
Should you want to offer your astronauts a flight back to Earth, you would have to have a completely tested, fuelled and fully operational rocket for the return journey waiting for the astronauts on Mars, before a single human leaves Earth orbit. You can imagine the logistical issues when you don’t have people there to help with that. What if a system breaks down, and there is no way to solve the problem? Do you start again? Send the astronauts to Mars anyway, hoping that they can repair the faulty mechanism? What if the return rocket is destroyed just before the astronauts land? Do you prepare two return rockets – just in case?
The astronauts that will go to Mars will be the best of the best, selected from millions of applications. They will be smart, mentally stable, physically healthy people. They will learn many new skills in the training program before the mission.
Want to be one of the lucky ones to go? They are not taking applications just yet, but check out their site here to stay up to date.
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