A one-way ticket to Mars

Would you like to live on Mars without ever returning to Earth? More than 200,000 people apparently want to get a one-way ticket to the Red Planet.

However, there is simply no way that so many people could be sent to Mars even in stages with the current technologies. Thus, Mars One, the non profit organisation that wants to send colonists on a one-way lifetime trip to Mars, announced on New Year ’s Eve that it has narrowed its applicant pool down from 200,000 people to just over a thousand, 1,058 to be precise.

However, not all of them will be able to go to Mars, which is similar in many ways to Earth except for the very harsh and inhospitable conditions there.

Mars One says that the next selection phase in 2014 will reduce the pool still further in the search for the first settlers to go to the Red Planet in 2025, which is more or less a realistic target, given that propulsion, life support, recycling and other technologies needed for a long space journey and settlement on another planet would have improved by that time. It is still a risky venture, but pioneers do have to face risks so that others may go safely in the future.

There is very little doubt that Mars will be the next target for exploration and yes, colonisation. The Earth’s resources are finite and in any case, we need to get out of our planet and colonise other words. That is in our genes - we are curious explorers by nature.

Mars also has another fascinating dimension. It could possibly harbour life or may have harboured life at one stage of its life cycle. Not intelligent life, but possibly microbial life. Mars once had running water, which always raises the possibility of life having taken a foothold there once.

Expand

Mars colonists are likely to expand the search for any sign of present or previous life on the now-barren planet. Such a discovery will be a major breakthrough, a defining moment in the annals of humankind. Man will continue the search for life on Mars and other planets, including those outside our Solar System.

But well before we venture to the far reaches of space Star Trek-style, we need to perfect those technologies that will make it happen. And what better place than Mars to do it?

The 1,058 remaining applicants were selected based on a criteria that included health, psychological and emotional stability, resilience, adaptability, curiosity, ability to trust, creativity, and resourcefulness. All these traits will be useful when exploring and living in an ‘alien’ planet such as Mars, which is likely to be eventually ‘terraformed’ to resemble the Earth in some ways.

The next several selection phases in 2014 and 2015 will include rigorous simulations, many in team settings, with focus on testing the physical and emotional capabilities of our remaining candidates.

“We expect to begin understanding what is motivating our candidates to take this giant leap for humankind. This is where it really gets exciting for Mars One, our applicants, and the communities they’re a part of,” says a Mars One spokesman.

Mars One is also developing a Mars Lander and orbiter before selecting a settlement area in anticipation of the first arrivals scheduled for 2025.

It is not clear whether all 1,058 applicants are from the United States, but it would have been better if the application process was open to all nationalities from around the world to ensure a wider gene pool. These settlers are the first colonists on Mars and the ensuing ‘Martian’ population will be more diverse in the course of several generations if that is the case.

We already know a lot about Mars without ever setting foot there, thanks to the efforts of robotic probes. In fact, there are those who argue that it is much better to send robotic probes to explore the other planets and the depths of space rather than risking human lives. It could also be much less expensive. However, we humans like to live the dream instead of delegating a robot or drone to do that. Nothing beats seeing an alien world through human eyes. Such an emotion may not register in a robot or a drone sent to outer space, even one with so-called ‘artificial intelligence’.

Panorama

Having said that, one cannot underestimate robots’ role in space exploration. On New Year’s Day, we were greeted with the good news that NASA’s Curiosity Mega Rover celebrates a huge mission milestone - her 500th Martian Day on the Red Planet since the death defying touchdown of August 2012.

Curiosity marked the grand occasion by snapping a fabulous new panorama spying towering Mount Sharp looming dead ahead in her high resolution colour cameras. Its goals involve shifting the mission’s focus to include the search for organic molecules - the building blocks of life as we know it - which may be preserved in the sedimentary rock layers of Mars. It is also a good sign that countries/blocs other than the US, Russia and the European Union are entering the space exploration business. Both China and India have ambitious space programs and are likely to have the Moon and Mars in their sight in the long term. Japan too has a space program and several other countries are also having space ambitions. However, instead of having a ‘space race’ per se, space exploration calls for a united effort because no country, however rich it is, can afford to undertake a project such as a manned mission to Mars on its own. Quite apart from the massive expenditure involved, there are many other factors at play which may require expertise and experts in different fields.

The private sector too does have a role in space exploration, as Mars One exemplifies. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space program is another example. Universities also have a role through their cutting edge research activity. Space, the final frontier, can be conquered only by pooling our resources and know-how. Mars One will perhaps point the way to more collaborative ventures in the future.