Space…The Final Frontier….
It is no secret that we as humans have always looked to the sky, looked to the heavens as a way to reach beyond our boundaries. We’ve done the moon, we’ve mapped the cosmos, our technology has explored other planets. But now one company is throwing down the celestial gauntlet with a plan to put men on Mars by 2023.
Mars One has come up with a multi-stage plan to begin the colonization of Mars beginning in 2018, with the first humans to land on the Red Planet in 2023. The only catch for those first four men or woman who choose to be space pioneers, it is a one way ticket. The company, reasons that in order to start a permanent colony on Mars, you have to eliminate the return trips. After the initial four person team, every two years the company will send more one way astronauts to Mars to bolster the colony.
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The real interesting thing about the project is how it will be funded. The company, is looking towards financing it through media.
Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp has a very modern approach to funding the project: media exposure. “We will finance this mission by creating the biggest media event ever around it.” He said in a company video, adding, “Everybody in the world can see everything that will happen in the preparations and on Mars.”
Think of it as a “Big Brother” for outer space. Lansdorp explained to Yahoo! News, “This would be ‘real’ reality TV — adventure is automatically included, we don’t have to add fake challenges.” He added, “By sending a new crew every two years, Mars will have a real, growing settlement of humans — who would not like to follow that major event in human history?”
Will they be able to reach such an inspiring goal? It remains to be seen, but to have such an ambitious plan to get men to live on another planet in most of our lifetimes is still something to get a little pumped about.
More on the project at the company’s website here.
