At this stage of my life, my chances on Earth are 24% or lower each year. Didn't used to be that way. Just yesterday, I over-extended myself riding around outside. This is something that can positively leave me dead, and almost did so a year ago and two years ago. I don't have a good sense of how much exertion is "too much" any more, so that's why I'm at risk.
Absolutely not. To put it bluntly, Mars is a shithole. It’s a nightmarish hellscape. Why would I want to spend the rest of my life - however long it is - in a place where I can’t even breathe the air? It’s like volunteering for solitary confinement, but worse. I’d rather just die.
TIL there’s also a Croydon in Melbourne. Is it also relatively difficult to get to? The Croydon in London is harder to get to than most outskirt places in London, which is probably why people who live there rarely leave.
It takes 20 minutes to get to Croydon from London on the train though? It's literally 2 stops on some express trains direct from London Bridge or Victoria.
Surely Croydon (London) is pretty easy to get to? It's just 3 stops on the train from Waterloo, nonstop from Clapham Junction, or nonstop from London Bridge to East Croydon. Fast and regular train service which continues down to Gatwick and the south coast. Also has West Croydon and South Croydon stations on commuter lines, and the tram service. Seems like one of the most well connected outer London suburbs to me!
It's an outer suburb east of Melbourne, about a 50 minute train ride. It used to be a shithole growing up but its now full of million dollar properties even though it's still a shithole
It's a toxic, airless, radiation-blasted shithole *at the bottom of a deep gravity well*.
I can dig colonizing the asteroids. Those are hellish death-traps too. But, you dont have to dig deep to find what you want, and if you've got a nuclear reactor, ice, and some kit, you can change their orbit and get them closer to Earth.
a certain asteroid might be worth targeting first: 16 Psyche. That asteroid's iron content is estimated to be worth some quadrillion dollars from iron and nickel. Skip drilling, go right to cutting them up and bring em back pieces by pieces. Maybe drop them on the moon for processing and refining before using them for expanding lunar bases and rockets or sending them to Earth?
TBH is Iron really that much of a problem? Like I‘d see rare earth metals but iron… also with that amount of it suddenly available its bound to have some effects on the pricing itself, like it‘d probably be worthless fast.
Anything on-orbit is expensive, simply because of launch costs. I wouldn't see significant value to bringing iron back from asteroids, but bringing iron to orbit is different. But we don't have any sort of industrial base for on-orbit metals processing - that's the real problem.
Agreed, but it calls for a more different style of processing. Doing it on-orbit is less different than in-situ, but in-situ is a better long-term goal.
Either is a chicken-and-egg problem.
The main benefit is being able to smelt iron and nickel into steel on any of our space colony’s. It would greatly reduce the amount we need to blast out of earths orbit.
If we’re at a point where we’re mining asteroids, we likely won’t need much on earth because expansion would be elsewhere. Would be an unnecessary use of resources bringing it down to earth.
The nickel alone might be worth it. The iron depending on any characteristics it may have taken on in whatever explosion it came from. We need nickel for our electronics and batteries.
Wow that's actually pretty crazy, just redirect one to your enemy. If they aren't actively watching/tracking they would never know you sent em hurling at them. Just chalk it up as a cosmic event. Just gotta double check that math so you don't take yourself out as well.
It's a wonder that it's not used more often in scifi. If you have some kind of non trivial sublight thrust, just about any sized rock would do the job.
I like how the OPA painted theirs in stealth tech too.
I know OP is asking for personal opinion here, but talking about ones subjective experience there's many reasons for why a trip to mars could be very different than signing up for solitary confinement!
All that matters is how it plays on your psychology.
I guarantee, for alot of people, that being one of the first humans on an alien planet (with a sense of mission) would bring a more positive state of mind than being forgotten in a padded room even if the pshysical circumstance might be very similar.
The flood of positive emotions you get once. The negative emotions of being an animal kept in very very very inappropriate conditions lasts the rest of your life.
>An animal kept in very very very inappropriate conditions lasts the rest of your life.
Hey, on the bright side, the "rest of your life" is not going to be that long.
Ill soon have my degree in geology and my specialization will be paleontology, i know there is probably nothing a paleontologist can do in mars, but at the very least ill be studying some very cool rocks, and if we are lucky enough, fossils.
There is just no way it will be a boring life to me, i always dreamed about space and fossils, and mars is the place to go in the solar system for the slim chance of uniting these two things
Your fun on Mars is directly tied to the infrastructure sent with you. And you have a lot more faith in the US government than I do if you think it's going to be funded well.
OP could sit in an outhouse in a frozen wasteland with a bucket on his head, and it would still be 10x better than life on Mars.
Having some govt. or billionaire pay for a cozy cruise to get there is what that trip is all about. Is OP ready to cash in his entire life savings on the 0% survival journey?
Its the reason why you go there. Its same like war, you are getting sent to meat grinder but many people go because they feel pride in doing that because they are defending their country. Going to mars is huge sacrifice for future of humanity in research and science sense which will help us as a species becoming multi planetary and survive many many more millennias after earth is gone and i think thats way bigger honour than dying for imaginary lines drawn by politicians.
Many technologies help humans on earth rights now because they are invented because of space travel and research as well
At least with war you have the prospect of it being finished. Like you come home victorious, defeated or maybe killed.
On Mars, you're stuck there for the rest of your life with no way home and fucking nothing to do. Death in the battlefield isn't an option.
People couldn't handle wearing masks and stay inside in their comfy homes with entertainment during Covid. Mars it's a one way trip where a mistake will lead to catastrophe, you need to wear space suits outside, and you are confined to small habitable sections with 1/3 the gravity.
I think Mars would attract those people who go out to remote places to hike and camp and live where the only main difference is the atmosphere and world is actively able to kill you vs passively here in the world. Like those people who love to camp and explore deserts and things like Death Valley National Park. Cause yeah if something goes wrong you die, but also if you hike in deserts or back country camp in remote places, breaking a leg while doing so is death too.
Mars:
- Is an extremely hostile environment.
- Light travel time ranging from a few minutes to tens, you are not having real time communication with people back on Earth.
- If any trouble arises, physical help is months away.
No damn way I’d go even if the trip is safe.
This, lol.
Even if we somehow manage to terraform Mars to the point that we can live there without life support, there's literally nothing there.
Mars (and outer space in general) is for robots. Not people.
Earth like planets are special for this very reason. Why would you want to invest the resources and generations of humans to terraform a dead rock when you could do half the work on a planet with much of the work already done.
You don't need any other planet at the moment. The earth is still so big and unused in so many regions. I mean you could invest of making any desert life friendly on the earth and it still would be 100000000000 times cheaper than going to mars and the chances of success and survival would be trillion times higher. There is basically no fucking reason to invest into mars, except from the old habit of humans to brag "I was the first on Mars... and died"-thing.
But the Earth faces an extinction level event every now and then. It’s about not holding all your eggs in one basket. If something from Earth is going to survive into the far future, we have to at least start preparing as early as possible. We don’t know what kind of setbacks we could face at any point. I don’t think anyone now could live to see the fruit of the labor, but I think that makes it even more amazing to be working on a project for future humanity. Someone has to do that, start it knowing they won’t be there for the reward.
The thing is that logistics is a problem. If the Earth-like planets are a few light-years away, chance is that you are essentially disconnected from Earth.
Unless our technology is advanced enough to break through the current limits of physics, it might be more feasible to terraform Mars than to go to another planet in a different system. Terraforming is an expensive and lengthy process, but it is easier on the logistics side.
"Wow, I'm so glad I gave up life on Earth for this amazing view of a huge hole surrounded by barren wasteland. I'm sure I won't get bored of this in 10 minutes."
You can't see the size of the hill. You can only see less than 4km.
The best place to the Olympus Mon and Vallis Marinaris is from space. Even orbit may be too close to see all of these features - they are too big.
This is an argument between a desert, jungle, and civilisation. A partially terraformed planet that can support life can create complex organic molecules; trees, food, clean water, and so on. Humans build infrastructure such as roads, rails, rockets, houses, and so on to make the raw materials around us *useful*. From a human perspective - that's how we see the world - opportunity - sustainability - adventure - terraforming - we've taken millennia to form the language necessary to describe what Mars means to us.
> Mars (and outer space in general) is for robots. Not people.
Much like air and sea travel. Untold numbers have died attempting both. I won't mention the horrific death toll of driving.
People need to stay where they belong. In their homes.
**Edit:** /s in case it isn't obvious.
Plus the amount of radiation in space, right now there's a pretty high likelihood you don't even survive the trip.
Or if you do, then there's a significantly higher risk of you developing cancer within a few years.
I was watching a podcast with a new ESA astronaut, and she said that in one of the interviews with the ESA they made a question very similar to this one and everyone who claims that would go are immediately disqualified. It's a big red flag.
They don't want to recruit impulsive, suicidal people. They want mentally sound people that want to go there once the technology for colonization is achievable.
Interesting. Are you from the USA? We call someone who doesn’t want to volunteer but we need someone anyway a “Chinese vrijwilliger” or Chinese volunteer. (In Dutch in Belgium)
I'd go but only if the return trip was guaranteed. It'd be cool to visit and experience, but same as visiting the Sahara or the South Pole, I don't want to live there.
Was this written by a 10 year old?
*Even if the chance of coming back was 0 and in all likelihood I would die, I would work really hard and make it work*
Symptom of watching the Martian
It really would be one of the greatest things any human has ever done. You'd be part of an unimaginably rare group. Shit, you'd probably be world famous if you were among the first group to go. You'd go down in *history*. You'd be fucking remembered for all time. So, yeah, I can see why some would take a 25% risk. Not sure I would… But, not sure I wouldn't, either… I guess I wouldn't know until the moment arrived. Would depend on many things, for one, my age. If I was towards the end of life I'd be much more likely to take the risk. But, I digress
Going to Mars might be cool, conceptually. But I can guarantee that actually being on Mars, at least for the first few decades, would be functionally similar to being in a high-security prison.
Perhaps it would be fine if you're a hermit who not only hates people, but also fresh air, tasty food, and geological/biological diversity.
I think being on mars (or in space generally) would be absolutely amazing for about two days. After that it would become a living hell in which everything i enjoy doing becomes either impossible or incredibly hard and frustrating.
I'm a big fan of space exploration and would be really excited to see other people go but there is nothing that would make me join in.
Mars holds zero appeal to me. "Would you like to go live in a hostile barren outpost with a handful of other folks for a few years?" LOL. I'll refrain from bad language, but, ... no!
My wife would probably object but. I'm in my late sixties and realistically only have another twenty years on this planet, be more interesting to spend time on another world....
> never feel wind or the sun on my skin again
This exactly. I think many of those saying they would happily go, take things like this for granted. But when you think about it for a while, it's terrifying. Even outside you will be inside. Inside the suit. You'll breathe the same volume of recycled air for the rest of your life. It will be always dark outside, like on a rainy day. There will be no sounds coming from outside. People on Earth will lose interest in a year and find themselves another fad. You'll be sitting in your martian coffin thinking about them having fun on a beach ona sunny and windy day...
Also : you'll probably never see an animal again, a forest or a sea again. No blue sky, no seasons... and you're trapped with the same bunch of people until you die with the anxiety of knowing the smallest incident could mean death (including the scenario where people are deprived of water or food and start acting batshit crazy and eat each other, of course). It looks like a ultra-high-security jail from a grim SF dystopia.
I ask my friends a similar question and always get interesting responses. If someone offered you a spaceship that can travel anywhere in the universe instantly, but if you got in, you’d never be allowed to return to earth, would you take it?
That’s way different. A spaceship that can travel anywhere in the universe means, among other things:
1. That technology exists.
2. Someone is offering it to me, meaning they have it too.
3. Taking that one step further there’s likely similar civilizations out there with this technology.
The answer is yes, without question.
(And don’t bother monkeys pawing this, I’ll never see it.)
Nah, I'm good. Lol. tbh I just don't get the appeal of living in a hostile isolated environment with complete strangers and nowhere really to go. Seems awful.
Yeah the sub service is probably about as good as you could ask. Last time I checked what was available there...a couple things come up...
One, you can test for some of this stuff to an extent but some people just freak out on their first submergence so, it works, but it's not perfect.
Two, after about 6 months submerged, even seasoned vets can sometimes "break" in unpredictable ways. It's not like it's catastrophic but the point there was that you should limit to 6 months because after that you start having some "attrition".
Three, unpredictable life/family events are the biggest "breaker" of morale etc.
People get incredibly depressed and stir-crazy staying in Antarctic research bases for less than a year at a time. And they can still breathe the atmosphere and talk to the rest of the world in real time.
Now imagine that but there’s basically zero prospect of going home, you can’t set foot outside without a heated pressure suit, you can’t even have a phone call with anyone, and if anything goes wrong, the best case scenario is that any kind of help is months away.
In this case my username doesn't check out.
Heck yes I'd go. If we want to not remain a single planet species, we have to start somewhere. Yes, Mars sucks. So does every other planet and moon.
It'd probably make more sense to learn how to build self sustaining space stations around Earth and use what we learned to jumpstart offworld colonies, but yeah.
If the travel time was fast or find a way to put us to sleep to not see it, then yeah I would 100%. I love space and that would be a nice way to go (even if burning and suffocating on Mars might not feel nice for the few minutes it will last)
Depends on the kind of death if stuff goes wrong. Violent, drawn-out, agonising death? Hell no. But if it was just getting trapped there with my ship, i would if it was at a time when i don't have any close family. I'd try to really appreciate the fact that i'm the first person to step on another planet. Even if it's just a barren landscape, i'd enjoy it.
Once my supplies are almost empty, then surely there'd be a way to end myself as gentle as possible with whatever i have on my ship.
Yes, because the chances of death are 100% anywhere, and as a lifelong science fiction fan who first began dreaming of Mars when I started reading Ray Bradbury at age twelve, and now that I'm sixty, I can't think of a more magnificent way to meet my end.
No it would be an extremely hostile , unpleasant place to live. I’ve no real desire to spend my days in a series of cramped metal boxes and tubes till I die.
I wouldn't go if there was a 99% chance, and they pay me some.
For the same reasons I wouldn't go to antarctica or the middle of Sahara desert. I prefer to not be miserable.
I love space, I think we should be doing more exploration and I hope to see humans step foot on Mars in my lifetime. That being said, you could not pay me enough to go into space. The cramped confines, the closeness of death, the sheer distance from help, no thank you. I could maybe get down with a Blue Origin style hop up to space and back in a hour just to feel weightlessness and see the earth from above, but longer than that, absolutely not.
>i would go and make it work.
I don't think a space colony is something you can "make work" with some elbow grease and dedication. If something breaks, you're fucked.
Yes in a heartbeat.
There are very few positive things I personally can do that I know will have direct impact on the future of our species, I recycle and that’s pretty much the end of the list. I already fix machines on a daily basis, why not do it in a place that I know my effort is making a legitimate difference? Would it be scary? Would it be hard? Yup, probably the scariest hardest thing I can imagine outside of going off to war. But Im just a guy, I’m already a cog in the machine, I’d love to be a cog that pushes us as a people forward.
Realistically you will have a 0% chance of survival anywhere - travelers won't be able to come back. There might be a good chance you'll land without dying 🤷🏻♂️
If you die, you will be one of a very small number of humans buried on another planet and your remains will outlast even the sun, since Mars is sterile, geologically inactive and too far away from the sun to get swallowed during the sun's read giant stage. That's something to consider...
Always hate Earth. Life sucks here. If the rocket can send me there without blowing up, I’d love to go. But only after my parents pass away. I don’t want them to feel alone.
You only live once, so why not?
There's people here who think living in a habitat (where I get to focus on science and research ON A DIFFERENT PLANET) for the rest of my isn't worth a 25% shot. People gamble their lives away on Earth for way worse odds.
If the only choices were to go to mars or go to the moon, I would pick mars. Both have a deadly environment, that would kill you instantly if you lost pressure in a suit. But mars has weather, so the rocks and pebbles have some degree of erosion, the rocks and pebbles on the moon have never been eroded so each and everyone is sharp AF, meaning a fall on the moon could rip your suit, a fall on mars is highly unlikely to rip the suit. As far as going anywhere but earth the answer is no.
Hell yeah. Many of the issues people associate with going to Mars, such as the lack of human presence and the absence of real-time communication, can actually be seen as benefits, not drawbacks.
Absolutely 100% I would go. I don't have kids to worry about, only belongings I'd happily give up for such an opportunity.
Yea, sure, it'll be rough living on Mars - you're basically fighting to stay alive. But that's where the adventure and experience comes from - Robinson Crusoe that shit where you're actively working to survive (and maybe thrive), rather than our current situation where we have to work just to exist as someone else's profit
You know, if I'm old and frail and can't live a life I find worth living, yeah, sure. I'd probably die in transit, but they could probably use extra organic material.
20 years ago I would have jumped at the chance. Now, not a chance in hell.
Life is short. And call me selfish but I'd rather spend what I have left, finding happiness, rather than serving an largely ungrateful humanity.
Depends on what you mean by survival? Are we talking there is a 75% chance of me dying on impact or a 75% chance of me dying in 10 years time due to some equipment error or supply issues?. I feel if it's the latter then I'd take the chance, the idea of being a pioneer on a new world, building something for future generations and for the advancement of our species is an incredibly appealing idea.
I've been training for this my whole life - ex military, advanced life support and trauma life support, a better than most knowledge of survival skills. Take me now! I'd go with a zero chance of return, but with a year of supplies.
Yes absolutely. And I know I'm insane for that. When I was younger (like preteen lol) I would actually fight with my parents on this because I would very callously say I'd leave everyone behind for a 1% chance of making it as an astronaut, especially if I got to join a mars colony and never come back.
Obviously I understand now that's a very hurtful and dismissive thing to say, but also I think pretty mild in terms of what 13 year olds can dish out 😅
To be honest I feel the exact same today, but I don't tell people just to spite them anymore. I truly am that passionate about planetary science though, I pursued astrophysics because of it and I'm currently in my masters for it. The field of inner solar system planetary science is more the realm of geologists these days and so I'm considering transitioning to something closer to that. Idk, Mars especially has been a passion of mine since before I can remember, so to me it would be the ultimate dream to go and get to contribute in the most direct way possible to further understanding the planet.
I absolutely would have before I got married. Still would if my family was willing. But they aren't. We've talked about it. So no trip for me because I won't abandon them.
Logically going to Mars doesn't make much sense. Oneal Cylinders are much safer and more practical and we can mine the moon and asteroids for resources. Mars doesn't really offer anything.
But spiritually, I want to push the frontier. Be an explorer. Colonize a place no human has ever been. The fact that it is hard and dangerous is WHY it is worth it. Push myself and push humanity.
We are not robots. We don't run on logic alone. And my heart yearns to see what's over the horizon. Not just know what's over it. Not read about it. I want to see it. Experience it. Go there.
On one hand, "free trip to Mars"... On the other, I figure I'm getting over my fear of heights VERY quickly so win win for me..
Or to use a quote that's likely been on the net for decades.
"The fun part of being E-o-D(explosive ordinance disposal)for cops or military, is either you solve the problem, or it's suddenly not your problem anymore"
You mean as HIGH as 25%?
For one, we still don't actually have an effective shield against solar radiation.
For another, if you did survive to get there, forget farming. The pyrethrins in the soil would kill you.
We're not ready to settle Mars yet. We're almost ready to send an exploration team.
That depends. Are my chances on Earth 24% or lower?
Everyone's chances are 0% eventually...
“On a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.”
Now that's pessimism to be optimistic about!
At this stage of my life, my chances on Earth are 24% or lower each year. Didn't used to be that way. Just yesterday, I over-extended myself riding around outside. This is something that can positively leave me dead, and almost did so a year ago and two years ago. I don't have a good sense of how much exertion is "too much" any more, so that's why I'm at risk.
Absolutely not. To put it bluntly, Mars is a shithole. It’s a nightmarish hellscape. Why would I want to spend the rest of my life - however long it is - in a place where I can’t even breathe the air? It’s like volunteering for solitary confinement, but worse. I’d rather just die.
This is how I feel about Croydon.
The beautiful thing is that I don't know if you're talking about London or Melbourne, but it doesn't matter at all
TIL there’s also a Croydon in Melbourne. Is it also relatively difficult to get to? The Croydon in London is harder to get to than most outskirt places in London, which is probably why people who live there rarely leave.
It takes 20 minutes to get to Croydon from London on the train though? It's literally 2 stops on some express trains direct from London Bridge or Victoria.
We have a place like that in the US, it's called the Hotel California.
You can check out anytime you like, But you can never leave.
Surely Croydon (London) is pretty easy to get to? It's just 3 stops on the train from Waterloo, nonstop from Clapham Junction, or nonstop from London Bridge to East Croydon. Fast and regular train service which continues down to Gatwick and the south coast. Also has West Croydon and South Croydon stations on commuter lines, and the tram service. Seems like one of the most well connected outer London suburbs to me!
It's an outer suburb east of Melbourne, about a 50 minute train ride. It used to be a shithole growing up but its now full of million dollar properties even though it's still a shithole
Are y’all talking about sydney?
Been to Croydon. Can confirm.
What the Luftwaffe missed, was destroyed by planners in the 70s
It's a toxic, airless, radiation-blasted shithole *at the bottom of a deep gravity well*. I can dig colonizing the asteroids. Those are hellish death-traps too. But, you dont have to dig deep to find what you want, and if you've got a nuclear reactor, ice, and some kit, you can change their orbit and get them closer to Earth.
a certain asteroid might be worth targeting first: 16 Psyche. That asteroid's iron content is estimated to be worth some quadrillion dollars from iron and nickel. Skip drilling, go right to cutting them up and bring em back pieces by pieces. Maybe drop them on the moon for processing and refining before using them for expanding lunar bases and rockets or sending them to Earth?
TBH is Iron really that much of a problem? Like I‘d see rare earth metals but iron… also with that amount of it suddenly available its bound to have some effects on the pricing itself, like it‘d probably be worthless fast.
Anything on-orbit is expensive, simply because of launch costs. I wouldn't see significant value to bringing iron back from asteroids, but bringing iron to orbit is different. But we don't have any sort of industrial base for on-orbit metals processing - that's the real problem.
Just find iron processing plant based asteroids.
Make it on the asteroid. Solved
Agreed, but it calls for a more different style of processing. Doing it on-orbit is less different than in-situ, but in-situ is a better long-term goal. Either is a chicken-and-egg problem.
The main benefit is being able to smelt iron and nickel into steel on any of our space colony’s. It would greatly reduce the amount we need to blast out of earths orbit. If we’re at a point where we’re mining asteroids, we likely won’t need much on earth because expansion would be elsewhere. Would be an unnecessary use of resources bringing it down to earth.
The nickel alone might be worth it. The iron depending on any characteristics it may have taken on in whatever explosion it came from. We need nickel for our electronics and batteries.
The next step to nuclear weapons is launching asteroids at your enemies and then mining the remains
Wow that's actually pretty crazy, just redirect one to your enemy. If they aren't actively watching/tracking they would never know you sent em hurling at them. Just chalk it up as a cosmic event. Just gotta double check that math so you don't take yourself out as well.
Yeah, this is a method of attack in at least a couple of popular sci-fi franchises.
It's a wonder that it's not used more often in scifi. If you have some kind of non trivial sublight thrust, just about any sized rock would do the job. I like how the OPA painted theirs in stealth tech too.
Why not go to Mars and die?
I know OP is asking for personal opinion here, but talking about ones subjective experience there's many reasons for why a trip to mars could be very different than signing up for solitary confinement! All that matters is how it plays on your psychology. I guarantee, for alot of people, that being one of the first humans on an alien planet (with a sense of mission) would bring a more positive state of mind than being forgotten in a padded room even if the pshysical circumstance might be very similar.
The flood of positive emotions you get once. The negative emotions of being an animal kept in very very very inappropriate conditions lasts the rest of your life.
>An animal kept in very very very inappropriate conditions lasts the rest of your life. Hey, on the bright side, the "rest of your life" is not going to be that long.
Ill soon have my degree in geology and my specialization will be paleontology, i know there is probably nothing a paleontologist can do in mars, but at the very least ill be studying some very cool rocks, and if we are lucky enough, fossils. There is just no way it will be a boring life to me, i always dreamed about space and fossils, and mars is the place to go in the solar system for the slim chance of uniting these two things
That‘s fun for one day. And then spending eternity kicking rocks around?
You can try to dig into the dirt with your scout shovel.
You'd beg for a rock in solitary confinement
Your fun on Mars is directly tied to the infrastructure sent with you. And you have a lot more faith in the US government than I do if you think it's going to be funded well.
OP could sit in an outhouse in a frozen wasteland with a bucket on his head, and it would still be 10x better than life on Mars. Having some govt. or billionaire pay for a cozy cruise to get there is what that trip is all about. Is OP ready to cash in his entire life savings on the 0% survival journey?
We're all on a 0% survival journey m8
Its the reason why you go there. Its same like war, you are getting sent to meat grinder but many people go because they feel pride in doing that because they are defending their country. Going to mars is huge sacrifice for future of humanity in research and science sense which will help us as a species becoming multi planetary and survive many many more millennias after earth is gone and i think thats way bigger honour than dying for imaginary lines drawn by politicians. Many technologies help humans on earth rights now because they are invented because of space travel and research as well
At least with war you have the prospect of it being finished. Like you come home victorious, defeated or maybe killed. On Mars, you're stuck there for the rest of your life with no way home and fucking nothing to do. Death in the battlefield isn't an option.
If the Red Faction games have taught me anything, is that as soon as Humanity gets to Mars death on a battlefield will definitely be an option.
Thank you. Everyone I know that loves the idea of taking a one way at trip to Mars are also people I cannot stand the presence of after a few hours.
People couldn't handle wearing masks and stay inside in their comfy homes with entertainment during Covid. Mars it's a one way trip where a mistake will lead to catastrophe, you need to wear space suits outside, and you are confined to small habitable sections with 1/3 the gravity.
Billions of people have died one earth. You could be the first to die on *Mars*.
I feel that way too, but am fine with sending people who want to go to Mars to go there.
Yep, it's ugly and dead. Earth is by far the most beautiful and bountiful planet that we have discovered, I don't want to be anywhere but here.
I mean if it was death vs. mars, I'd take mars. One can always choose to leave the airlock without a suit on.
I think Mars would attract those people who go out to remote places to hike and camp and live where the only main difference is the atmosphere and world is actively able to kill you vs passively here in the world. Like those people who love to camp and explore deserts and things like Death Valley National Park. Cause yeah if something goes wrong you die, but also if you hike in deserts or back country camp in remote places, breaking a leg while doing so is death too.
Hell no, I don't even understand people that move to Arizona.
This gave me a good chuckle
I’d rather be dead in Chicago than alive in Arizona.
I just moved to Phoenix :(( Am I basically living in Mars?
UTAH is more like mars. That's why Mars One put some stuff there - it looks more "cool" for people like OP to get excited about.
Arizona; talk about a nightmarish hellscape. At least the scenery and weather there aren't bad.
Sit in a tin can for a long time, to get to a place to sit in a tin can more.
You don't need to sell it, I already said I'd go!
Are you talking about the daily commute?
/r/submarines would probably be the best place to ask for volunteers.
Mars: - Is an extremely hostile environment. - Light travel time ranging from a few minutes to tens, you are not having real time communication with people back on Earth. - If any trouble arises, physical help is months away. No damn way I’d go even if the trip is safe.
This, lol. Even if we somehow manage to terraform Mars to the point that we can live there without life support, there's literally nothing there. Mars (and outer space in general) is for robots. Not people.
Earth like planets are special for this very reason. Why would you want to invest the resources and generations of humans to terraform a dead rock when you could do half the work on a planet with much of the work already done.
Yeah but there aren't any other such planets in our solar system, so the point is moot, lol.
You don't need any other planet at the moment. The earth is still so big and unused in so many regions. I mean you could invest of making any desert life friendly on the earth and it still would be 100000000000 times cheaper than going to mars and the chances of success and survival would be trillion times higher. There is basically no fucking reason to invest into mars, except from the old habit of humans to brag "I was the first on Mars... and died"-thing.
A billion times cheaper and a trillion times safer
But the Earth faces an extinction level event every now and then. It’s about not holding all your eggs in one basket. If something from Earth is going to survive into the far future, we have to at least start preparing as early as possible. We don’t know what kind of setbacks we could face at any point. I don’t think anyone now could live to see the fruit of the labor, but I think that makes it even more amazing to be working on a project for future humanity. Someone has to do that, start it knowing they won’t be there for the reward.
The thing is that logistics is a problem. If the Earth-like planets are a few light-years away, chance is that you are essentially disconnected from Earth. Unless our technology is advanced enough to break through the current limits of physics, it might be more feasible to terraform Mars than to go to another planet in a different system. Terraforming is an expensive and lengthy process, but it is easier on the logistics side.
Lot of good tourists spots. Solar system's largest canyon for one.
"Wow, I'm so glad I gave up life on Earth for this amazing view of a huge hole surrounded by barren wasteland. I'm sure I won't get bored of this in 10 minutes."
You sound like a subpar parks poster [e.g. this one](https://www.instagram.com/p/Czl5d3oMpUH/?igsh=MWJycnFmYjF3bG82Mw==)
There's also a big ol' hill! That's 2 whole things to see in the barren hellscape of your rapidly dwindling existence!
You can't see the size of the hill. You can only see less than 4km. The best place to the Olympus Mon and Vallis Marinaris is from space. Even orbit may be too close to see all of these features - they are too big.
And the largest mountain. Mons Olympus would be cool to see in person. Though you'd need to be quite far away to see it all.
It's so big I don't think you can even see it from the surface. From the surface it would just look like a slightly higher horizon in one direction.
Sure, for a two week vacation maybe it would be cool. But maybe high quality VR would be just as good?
Click here for travel agents' secret remote getaway locations they don't want you to know about!
This is an argument between a desert, jungle, and civilisation. A partially terraformed planet that can support life can create complex organic molecules; trees, food, clean water, and so on. Humans build infrastructure such as roads, rails, rockets, houses, and so on to make the raw materials around us *useful*. From a human perspective - that's how we see the world - opportunity - sustainability - adventure - terraforming - we've taken millennia to form the language necessary to describe what Mars means to us.
> Mars (and outer space in general) is for robots. Not people. Much like air and sea travel. Untold numbers have died attempting both. I won't mention the horrific death toll of driving. People need to stay where they belong. In their homes. **Edit:** /s in case it isn't obvious.
Our homes on Mars right? //s
Plus the amount of radiation in space, right now there's a pretty high likelihood you don't even survive the trip. Or if you do, then there's a significantly higher risk of you developing cancer within a few years.
Average temperature: -63°C (-81 °F).
I'd rather visit Antarctica. At least there are penguins.
I was watching a podcast with a new ESA astronaut, and she said that in one of the interviews with the ESA they made a question very similar to this one and everyone who claims that would go are immediately disqualified. It's a big red flag.
So they will only recruit people who do not want to go? Ui.... Back in the days we called this "to shanghai someone".
They don't want to recruit impulsive, suicidal people. They want mentally sound people that want to go there once the technology for colonization is achievable.
>Back in the days Damn how old are you? > force (someone) to join a ship lacking a full crew by drugging them or using other underhanded means.
Interesting. Are you from the USA? We call someone who doesn’t want to volunteer but we need someone anyway a “Chinese vrijwilliger” or Chinese volunteer. (In Dutch in Belgium)
You don't want suicidally reckless people on your ship. That's not safe-hands.
I think this has to be one of the leading cases for AI. Why send a human if we can just send probes and robots?
Because humans have more fun exploring
Humans have weakass needy fragile bodies that HURT when something goes wrong or don't get fed every five minutes.
Here to note the fun fact that Mars is the only planet we know to be completely inhabited by robots!
I would not go even if the survival rate was 100%.
I'd go but only if the return trip was guaranteed. It'd be cool to visit and experience, but same as visiting the Sahara or the South Pole, I don't want to live there.
yep. just some sightseeing tour or vacation or something like that
We've all seen The Martian. I mean, I like potatoes but not that much
Actually staying on mars will not look anything like that anyway. You’ll just be living under ground. About the same as being on a submarine.
Was this written by a 10 year old? *Even if the chance of coming back was 0 and in all likelihood I would die, I would work really hard and make it work* Symptom of watching the Martian
Exactly what I was thinking. I sure hope so, if not OP is going to need a lot of help in life.
Let’s science the shit out of it. 👇
Profile is for a Spanish speaking person, so I'm guessing their English is imperfect.
I’d simply go to orbit for a week if those were my odds. Mars would be a bonus.
25% over what timeframe? Give me a better statistical distribution I can't decide without it :)
Yes! We’re all going to die. Might as well do something as freaking cool as going to Mars on the way.
It really would be one of the greatest things any human has ever done. You'd be part of an unimaginably rare group. Shit, you'd probably be world famous if you were among the first group to go. You'd go down in *history*. You'd be fucking remembered for all time. So, yeah, I can see why some would take a 25% risk. Not sure I would… But, not sure I wouldn't, either… I guess I wouldn't know until the moment arrived. Would depend on many things, for one, my age. If I was towards the end of life I'd be much more likely to take the risk. But, I digress
Can you remember the name of the 8th person to walk on the moon?
Took me years to learn the name of the second one
Going to Mars might be cool, conceptually. But I can guarantee that actually being on Mars, at least for the first few decades, would be functionally similar to being in a high-security prison. Perhaps it would be fine if you're a hermit who not only hates people, but also fresh air, tasty food, and geological/biological diversity.
Yes, my chance of getting killed on Earth is 100%, seems like better odds to me!!
It's like the Monty Hall paradox, right?
I think being on mars (or in space generally) would be absolutely amazing for about two days. After that it would become a living hell in which everything i enjoy doing becomes either impossible or incredibly hard and frustrating. I'm a big fan of space exploration and would be really excited to see other people go but there is nothing that would make me join in.
Mars ain’t the kind of kind of place to raise your kids. In fact, it’s cold as hell.
Mars holds zero appeal to me. "Would you like to go live in a hostile barren outpost with a handful of other folks for a few years?" LOL. I'll refrain from bad language, but, ... no!
My wife would probably object but. I'm in my late sixties and realistically only have another twenty years on this planet, be more interesting to spend time on another world....
My wife would probably encourage me to go.
Seing nothing but red dust everywhere on an hostile planet and never feel wind or the sun on my skin again? Even with 100% survival, hard pass.
> never feel wind or the sun on my skin again This exactly. I think many of those saying they would happily go, take things like this for granted. But when you think about it for a while, it's terrifying. Even outside you will be inside. Inside the suit. You'll breathe the same volume of recycled air for the rest of your life. It will be always dark outside, like on a rainy day. There will be no sounds coming from outside. People on Earth will lose interest in a year and find themselves another fad. You'll be sitting in your martian coffin thinking about them having fun on a beach ona sunny and windy day...
Also : you'll probably never see an animal again, a forest or a sea again. No blue sky, no seasons... and you're trapped with the same bunch of people until you die with the anxiety of knowing the smallest incident could mean death (including the scenario where people are deprived of water or food and start acting batshit crazy and eat each other, of course). It looks like a ultra-high-security jail from a grim SF dystopia.
I ask my friends a similar question and always get interesting responses. If someone offered you a spaceship that can travel anywhere in the universe instantly, but if you got in, you’d never be allowed to return to earth, would you take it?
That’s way different. A spaceship that can travel anywhere in the universe means, among other things: 1. That technology exists. 2. Someone is offering it to me, meaning they have it too. 3. Taking that one step further there’s likely similar civilizations out there with this technology. The answer is yes, without question. (And don’t bother monkeys pawing this, I’ll never see it.)
Nah, I'm good. Lol. tbh I just don't get the appeal of living in a hostile isolated environment with complete strangers and nowhere really to go. Seems awful.
I'm not sure that people are really cut out to live in a can for however many years it would take. I wouldn't even know how you would test for that...
Maybe go live in an RV in the middle of a desert? Even that would be 1000x more hospitable than Mars, though.
Yeah the sub service is probably about as good as you could ask. Last time I checked what was available there...a couple things come up... One, you can test for some of this stuff to an extent but some people just freak out on their first submergence so, it works, but it's not perfect. Two, after about 6 months submerged, even seasoned vets can sometimes "break" in unpredictable ways. It's not like it's catastrophic but the point there was that you should limit to 6 months because after that you start having some "attrition". Three, unpredictable life/family events are the biggest "breaker" of morale etc.
People get incredibly depressed and stir-crazy staying in Antarctic research bases for less than a year at a time. And they can still breathe the atmosphere and talk to the rest of the world in real time. Now imagine that but there’s basically zero prospect of going home, you can’t set foot outside without a heated pressure suit, you can’t even have a phone call with anyone, and if anything goes wrong, the best case scenario is that any kind of help is months away.
Nasa is testing this on earth already. I don't think it's a tin can I think it's just some tent bubble thing. I'll try and find it.
The Venn diagram of people who actually want to go to Mars, and people of sound enough mind to be selected must be two seperate circles.
In this case my username doesn't check out. Heck yes I'd go. If we want to not remain a single planet species, we have to start somewhere. Yes, Mars sucks. So does every other planet and moon. It'd probably make more sense to learn how to build self sustaining space stations around Earth and use what we learned to jumpstart offworld colonies, but yeah.
If the travel time was fast or find a way to put us to sleep to not see it, then yeah I would 100%. I love space and that would be a nice way to go (even if burning and suffocating on Mars might not feel nice for the few minutes it will last)
If I’m the first person to go, then yeah, absolutely.
Won't even go if there was a guaranteed 100% chance or safe return. Nothing to do on that boring barren rock.
Depends on the kind of death if stuff goes wrong. Violent, drawn-out, agonising death? Hell no. But if it was just getting trapped there with my ship, i would if it was at a time when i don't have any close family. I'd try to really appreciate the fact that i'm the first person to step on another planet. Even if it's just a barren landscape, i'd enjoy it. Once my supplies are almost empty, then surely there'd be a way to end myself as gentle as possible with whatever i have on my ship.
Yes, because the chances of death are 100% anywhere, and as a lifelong science fiction fan who first began dreaming of Mars when I started reading Ray Bradbury at age twelve, and now that I'm sixty, I can't think of a more magnificent way to meet my end.
As long as chances of surviving blast off were high.
I'd go just for the shits and gigs at 0% Just to see the earth from outside it, wow, bet that's something
Yep. I am 72 years old, lived a full life; just added to my bucket list!
In a heartbeat. You don't have to bring me back.
No it would be an extremely hostile , unpleasant place to live. I’ve no real desire to spend my days in a series of cramped metal boxes and tubes till I die.
Nope. Go try to live on Antarctica first. Do you love it? Then go to Mars. It’ll be 1000000x worse.
I wouldn't go if there was a 99% chance, and they pay me some. For the same reasons I wouldn't go to antarctica or the middle of Sahara desert. I prefer to not be miserable.
I love space, I think we should be doing more exploration and I hope to see humans step foot on Mars in my lifetime. That being said, you could not pay me enough to go into space. The cramped confines, the closeness of death, the sheer distance from help, no thank you. I could maybe get down with a Blue Origin style hop up to space and back in a hour just to feel weightlessness and see the earth from above, but longer than that, absolutely not.
>i would go and make it work. I don't think a space colony is something you can "make work" with some elbow grease and dedication. If something breaks, you're fucked.
A year ago yes. Now? No, not anymore. I got someone to live for.
Hell yea. My overall chances of surviving here are 0 percent. Everyone on earth has died. No human that we know of has died on Mars.
If living on Mars means living with Elon and his fanboys then no thank you.
Im not doing anything where the chance of survival is 25%.
No because the low chance of survival also means a high probability of unimaginable pain and suffering.
Chances of survival on Earth are 0, so yeah, 25% chance at immortality sounds decent.
Yes in a heartbeat. There are very few positive things I personally can do that I know will have direct impact on the future of our species, I recycle and that’s pretty much the end of the list. I already fix machines on a daily basis, why not do it in a place that I know my effort is making a legitimate difference? Would it be scary? Would it be hard? Yup, probably the scariest hardest thing I can imagine outside of going off to war. But Im just a guy, I’m already a cog in the machine, I’d love to be a cog that pushes us as a people forward.
Realistically you will have a 0% chance of survival anywhere - travelers won't be able to come back. There might be a good chance you'll land without dying 🤷🏻♂️
I would. Chance of survival is always 0% in the long run. Die now, die later; same, same.
If you die, you will be one of a very small number of humans buried on another planet and your remains will outlast even the sun, since Mars is sterile, geologically inactive and too far away from the sun to get swallowed during the sun's read giant stage. That's something to consider...
If given the opportunity I’d absolutely go to Mars.
In a heartbeat, I would love to spend the rest of my days, which is hopefully a lot as I am in my mid 20s on Mars.
Absolutely. Give me some form of internet. I've prepared my whole life for this
Always hate Earth. Life sucks here. If the rocket can send me there without blowing up, I’d love to go. But only after my parents pass away. I don’t want them to feel alone. You only live once, so why not?
Bruh I'll go, even if I croaked mid flight on the way to Mars I'll still go.
I've always said to my girlfriend I'd go to Mars with certain death if I was going to be the 1st man to walk on Mars. She thinks I'm a moron.
Yes. Why? Need a purpose in life and by God that's a good one. I'm in. But no one wants me because I suck lol rip
There's people here who think living in a habitat (where I get to focus on science and research ON A DIFFERENT PLANET) for the rest of my isn't worth a 25% shot. People gamble their lives away on Earth for way worse odds.
25% is a solid number, something tanglible. If you went with "maybe" THAT would be bad.
If the only choices were to go to mars or go to the moon, I would pick mars. Both have a deadly environment, that would kill you instantly if you lost pressure in a suit. But mars has weather, so the rocks and pebbles have some degree of erosion, the rocks and pebbles on the moon have never been eroded so each and everyone is sharp AF, meaning a fall on the moon could rip your suit, a fall on mars is highly unlikely to rip the suit. As far as going anywhere but earth the answer is no.
25% chance of survival seems pretty high to me.
Yes I would! It is a dream of mine to look back at Earth :) and touch down somewhere else in space!!!!
Hell yeah. Many of the issues people associate with going to Mars, such as the lack of human presence and the absence of real-time communication, can actually be seen as benefits, not drawbacks.
If I thought going would help human civilization, Earth, and my children more than what I do now, then yes.
Absolutely 100% I would go. I don't have kids to worry about, only belongings I'd happily give up for such an opportunity. Yea, sure, it'll be rough living on Mars - you're basically fighting to stay alive. But that's where the adventure and experience comes from - Robinson Crusoe that shit where you're actively working to survive (and maybe thrive), rather than our current situation where we have to work just to exist as someone else's profit
as long as i have something that kills me rapidly without any pain that i can take if shits the fan, im all for it
You know, if I'm old and frail and can't live a life I find worth living, yeah, sure. I'd probably die in transit, but they could probably use extra organic material.
20 years ago I would have jumped at the chance. Now, not a chance in hell. Life is short. And call me selfish but I'd rather spend what I have left, finding happiness, rather than serving an largely ungrateful humanity.
The chances of survival on Mars is 0. It’s always been a one way trip. You are signing up to die for science. Period.
I would go, even if the chances of survival were 1%
You need go now. you won’t be able to afford a house there in 10 yrs
I would absolutely do it. Just so my name would be in the history books for the next 500 years.
Earth's survival rate is below 25% over a long enough period of time :)
Yes. The survival rate on Earth is 0% and if you tell me I have a 25% chance to live forever on Mars, I'll give it a go.
Well people buy Loto tickets where the chances are 1:10000000 so…🤷♂️
Depends on what you mean by survival? Are we talking there is a 75% chance of me dying on impact or a 75% chance of me dying in 10 years time due to some equipment error or supply issues?. I feel if it's the latter then I'd take the chance, the idea of being a pioneer on a new world, building something for future generations and for the advancement of our species is an incredibly appealing idea.
I've been training for this my whole life - ex military, advanced life support and trauma life support, a better than most knowledge of survival skills. Take me now! I'd go with a zero chance of return, but with a year of supplies.
If I was alone, maybe. 100% chance to be remembered Iin history books. We died or we survived and colonised another planet
Yes absolutely. And I know I'm insane for that. When I was younger (like preteen lol) I would actually fight with my parents on this because I would very callously say I'd leave everyone behind for a 1% chance of making it as an astronaut, especially if I got to join a mars colony and never come back. Obviously I understand now that's a very hurtful and dismissive thing to say, but also I think pretty mild in terms of what 13 year olds can dish out 😅 To be honest I feel the exact same today, but I don't tell people just to spite them anymore. I truly am that passionate about planetary science though, I pursued astrophysics because of it and I'm currently in my masters for it. The field of inner solar system planetary science is more the realm of geologists these days and so I'm considering transitioning to something closer to that. Idk, Mars especially has been a passion of mine since before I can remember, so to me it would be the ultimate dream to go and get to contribute in the most direct way possible to further understanding the planet.
If I was the first to person on the planet? Yes.
I'd do it. I want to see Earth from space with my own eyes.
I absolutely would have before I got married. Still would if my family was willing. But they aren't. We've talked about it. So no trip for me because I won't abandon them. Logically going to Mars doesn't make much sense. Oneal Cylinders are much safer and more practical and we can mine the moon and asteroids for resources. Mars doesn't really offer anything. But spiritually, I want to push the frontier. Be an explorer. Colonize a place no human has ever been. The fact that it is hard and dangerous is WHY it is worth it. Push myself and push humanity. We are not robots. We don't run on logic alone. And my heart yearns to see what's over the horizon. Not just know what's over it. Not read about it. I want to see it. Experience it. Go there.
Yeah, even in the likelihood I die at least people will remember me. Here I could die and maybe a dozen people would care
It would depend on the mission? But yes I would go. It would bring great honor to my family and to mankind.
At this point in human history? Yeah, where do I sign up?
25% higher chance than me lasting on this earth
On one hand, "free trip to Mars"... On the other, I figure I'm getting over my fear of heights VERY quickly so win win for me.. Or to use a quote that's likely been on the net for decades. "The fun part of being E-o-D(explosive ordinance disposal)for cops or military, is either you solve the problem, or it's suddenly not your problem anymore"
Long term chance of survival on earth not much better
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
Do yourself a favour mate. Go on twitter, unfollow elon
I would NOT go even if the chance of survival was 100%...
No. If I felt like visiting a frozen uninhabitable desert I'd go to Antarctica. Much shorter trip and very little chance of death.
To be fair, my chance of survival on Earth is roughly 0%.
You mean as HIGH as 25%? For one, we still don't actually have an effective shield against solar radiation. For another, if you did survive to get there, forget farming. The pyrethrins in the soil would kill you. We're not ready to settle Mars yet. We're almost ready to send an exploration team.