Plan X: Deadly Mission to the Red Planet

It’s bold and it’s bad, but some brave souls say we can overcome the biggest challenge of a mission by making it a one-way trip. A planet of extremes, is home to the largest mountain in the solar system, the largest canyon in the solar system and intensely severe dust storms. It is also home to the only other likely option for humans to live within our Solar System.

Astrophysicist Charlie Lineweaver of Australian National University says, “ever since the first telescope was invented and we learned that there are other worlds out there, people have dreamed of going to them. Of course we now know that is the only other planet in the solar system you’d want to set foot on.”

Physicist Rod Boswell says getting people there isn’t the real problem. “There is no doubt you could get people to Mars. Whether you get them back again is a debatable point.”

Former NASA engineer Jim McClane says it's worth considering that there is an option that would remove many of the biggest hurdles keeping us from the Red Planet now: We don’t plan for the astronauts to come back. They would agree beforehand to the likely possibility that they will die in space after their mission was complete.

Dubbed "Spirit of the Lone Eagle," his plan would eliminate the hardest aspect of any potential mission: the need to launch off of to return to Earth.

"When we eliminate the need to launch off Mars, we remove the mission's most daunting obstacle," said McLane. And because of a small crew size, the spacecraft could be smaller and the need for consumables and supplies would be decreased, making the mission cheaper and less complicated.

It could be called a suicide mission, but McLane feels the concept makes sense.

"There would be tremendous risk, yes," said McLane, "but I don't think that's guaranteed any more than you would say climbing a mountain alone is a suicide mission. People do dangerous things all the time, and this would be something really unique, to go to Mars. I don't think there would be any shortage of people willing to volunteer for the mission. Lindbergh was someone who was willing to risk everything because it was worth it. I don't think it will be hard to find another Lindbergh to go to Mars. That will be the easiest part of this whole program."

Any volunteers?

Posted by Rebecca Sato

Related Galaxy posts:

NASA Images Reveals a "Doorway" Structure
The "Hawking Solution": Will Saving Humanity Require Leaving Earth Behind?
Star Trek “Ion Shield” Offers Solution for Mars-bound Space Crews
Mars: What Lies Beneath?

Source Link:

http://gizmodo.com/364282/a-one+way-one+person-mission-to-mars-who-wants-in

Comments

[Simon]

Where do i sign up?

[Evis Tyrer]

You just know that there's going to be some humanitarian group screaming about how awful this is, despite the astronaut’s willingness.

Plus, the kind of person willing to take a one way trip to mars... Are they REALLY stable enough to do it? I've known a few adrenaline junkies and I seriously worry about their state of mind.

[Evis Tyrer]

You just know that there's going to be some humanitarian group screaming about how awful this is, despite the astronaut’s willingness.

Plus, the kind of person willing to take a one way trip to mars... Are they REALLY stable enough to do it? I've known a few adrenaline junkies and I seriously worry about their state of mind.

[TJ Colatrella]

I watched Charlie Rose interview Stephen Hawking last night and Hawking kept saying, if mankind or humanity is to survive as a species then we must start to branch out into the solar system and not limit our existence to only planet earth..!

Apparently Hawking's prognosis for human kind is not all that optimistic..!

I wonder why..?

TJ..

[jason of the argonaughts]

Mate, sign me up! Send me with a mini habitat and launch more gear to me each window of opportunity. Now thats reality TV. Can you hear me Major Tom...

[Jack Butler]

I have an sf story in which the first person to land on Mars is 80 and wants solitude and does not plan to return.

[BL]

Life is cheap moreso every day

[dave]

oh yes!- - - why not a mayflower sailing to the new world.- collonize . maybe in time we might just survive - - and thive there.
why not!- - - -

[Dave]

It's our Destiny. We will outgrow our home eventually and inevitably. The next step is...that way. Look up!

[knoxvilledaniel]

There are certainly more exotic locales in the Solar System in which primitive life forms might exist - think about Europa & Titan - but Mars is right next door, relatively speaking, & even though it has a thinner atmosphere, with the possibility of radiation exposure to human visitors, plus a lower gravity & unseasonable temperatures, Mars has always held a special place in the human heart & mind as far as being a place to visit.

We should go, after exploring / settling the Moon, trying to put some things to rights on Earth, & hopefully ditching some of the emotional baggage & nasty tendencies that we've lived with on Earth, like plundering this New World's resources.