Mission to mars

Say there were a serious effort to colonize mars by sending a large group of colonists to set up the colony and keep it running. there would be a continual stream of new people and rescources and all that. you could also still communicate with people on earth, email, texting, possibly even skype like services or phone calls. all expenses paid.

the kicker is that its a one way trip, from the minute you leave the launch pad you could never come back.

would you go? (why or why not?)
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i would definitely go. just the thrill of exploration, going somewhere no one has ever gone before, the advancements in scientific understanding, not to mention just accomplishing something amazing with my life.

I would go if it was for five years, or maybe ten, but not forever. I like this planet too much. I would miss the grass, trees, streams, oceans, bread baking, animals moving, the mix of people and sounds and smells.

I also would not go unless I could bring a plus-one.

I definitely couldn't, but my husband would love to, so it'd be a little rough lol. I'm not a big fan of the 'unknown' and there would be a lot up there I assume. I'm comfortable here.

I've watched too many sci fi movies to go.

Everyone knows, the first settlers on a new planet always uncover something alien that doesn't like them, wants to eat/impregnate them.

I'd be the plucky comic relief who survives until close to the end but then dies just after making a terrible joke like;

"hey, can't get any worse..I still have my head!"

blragh!

Hahahaha... yeah, you're probably right.

Did you see the movie "Cabin in the Woods," Kev? There's a comic relief character who would do you proud.

Did a mission to Irag and Afganistan, without the garuntee of returning, but there was still the posiblity, but being alive knowing Ill never see Vegas again, nope, couldnt do it, I would miss home way too much.

I'd be happy to go and look after Sibs ;) for 5 years....!!!

How many times would I hear "There is a limited breeding pool up here. It's our job to propagate the species!"

Well at least hourly from me ;)

Well with more than 200 people a diverse gene pool wouldnt be an issue

No I couldn't, I am not great with heights.

Plus I have 3 kids down here.

Keep in mind guys your family could come with you...

No... I love earth. Earth is more beautiful and colorful, and nature here is way better. If it was a vacation to mars, then maybe.

I think if we were to go to mars, we would look back at this planet and appreciate it more.

An interesting thought, earth would just be a pale blue dot in the martian sky...

Well i would go only if i would be able to come back and tell about the experience, common its no fun if no one really know i did that, the look on peoples faces when i tell them am just comming back from mars would be triling. What would nell have done if he didnt come back, and probably procreated on the moon, and stayed forever not fun, would probably have never heared about him lol. But it would be fun to go to mars, just not forever.

Sign me up

Would not go if it was the first manned mission. There are multiple hurdles. Here's a wiki page, since typing would be tiresome.

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

Have no intentions of dying as a Guinea pig in the process. Many more problems will arise once the shuttle leaves the pad, is in space, while landing and after humans begin to reside on Mars. Evolution is a slow process, besides.

But just as a fantasy, in our world of make-believe. Yes, I'd love to take the trip because, my mind rebels stagnation. I abhor the dull routine of life, everyday craving mental exaltation.

Well its wave after wave of colonist. like... sending 100 colonists at a time every year over the course of like 10 years. you dont have to be in the first wave, and you can be pretty sure that there would be transmissions to and from earth so people would hear about it...

Interesting topic! aha!

Would have loved to go > 4 billion years ago, but now I will have to pass. To live in a space "bubble" lab/housing with solar shielding, artificial gravity, atmosphere, photosynthesizing plants for O2, water and much more, to survive. Much of Mars (minus a few umbrella spots & poles) today, does not have any magnetic field left -so no atmosphere (almost vacuous). Water will evaporate almost instantly if you were to try to drink it on the surface, because of the intense solar winds. (So would the fluids for procreation, for those intending to create families on Mars!). And forget living in zero gravity for too long outside the earth's protective magnetic field, you would be annihilated by Ms. Sunshine's periodic cosmic rays/solar flares (she has a temper sometimes, you know /wink), in no time.
Life on Earth and its orbital space is shielded from the solar wind by a magnetic bubble extending 50,000 km into space -- our planet's magnetosphere, which deflects the "solar wind & cosmic rays", highly charged ionizing particles that would destroy animals and plants if they were not blocked by the planet's magnetic field. Scientists believe that ancient Mars originally had an Earth like surface with a thriving earth-like magnetic field and plentiful water and perhaps an atmosphere, as evident by pictures taken by orbiters showing what appears to be ancient oceans, hills and valleys. All this was destroyed by the impact of at least one Texas size meteorite approx. 4 billion years ago, that turned the magnetic dynamo off (demagnetized the core) and formed the Utopia crater. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090511-mars-asteroid.html

Indeed, if the Martian dynamo hadn't shut down billions of years ago, the Red Planet might be teeming with Martians today. Instead Mars is a frigid desert, apparently as barren of life as it is of its long-gone magnetic personality! (Some feel us men came down from Mars, you know to escape with our remaining magnetism /\, or else God forbid we could have been impotent and fried on its surface! So all you dreamers go ahead, but I will stay on mother earth, and bask in her magnetism. :)

Well yeah, mars has a shitload of problems as far as living on it, perchlorates in the soil, incredibly thin atmosphere, total lack of pressure suitable for human life, what atmosphere there is is C02, no magnetic fiel to protect from much of anything, no helpful greenhouse gases to warm the planet, no ozone to keep out harmful rays, no liquid water, only ice water, etcetera etcetera...

again the assumption is that mars has a working colony on it and that this stuff has been figured out. possibly even a terraforming effort is underway to fix these issues....

I couldn't leave my family.

A year, 5 years... Sure, sign me up. A lifetime with no option of return? Not yet.

Not even if your family went with you?

John Cater found it wonderful....

Barsoom...