A while ago, I heard about a planned manned mission to Mars… or at least Mars orbit. This is sort of cool, but it’s mostly lame. It’s like climbing the highest mountain and then suddenly stopping right before you reach the peak, turning around, and going home. Without stepping foot on the surface of Mars, the trip is just a waste of time, money, and resources.
But wait… there is another planned mission to the red planet. A Dutch company called “Mars One” is working on landing people on the surface by 2023. They are also planning on creating a base there. The best part is that you can apply to the mission.
Yeah, they are looking to train everyday people to become space explorers. There is a small application fee ($38 if you live in the US) and you can sign up. They plan to turn the training into a reality show to help fund the mission. This is all super exciting and if it wasn’t for my wife and kids I would totally sign up. In fact, I am thinking of signing up anyway just to support their efforts.
There is just one little catch… you will probably die. Apparently the Sun gives off something called radiation and too much of this “radiation” can cause a disease called “Cancer” – who knew? Normally, Earth’s atmosphere protects us quite a bit from this (sunscreen helps too). Once in space, without the protection of the Earth’s atmosphere, you’re going to need a lot more sunblock. NASA experts say that anything over 300 to 500 days in space without protection puts up at a much greater risk of cancer.
The good people at Mars One have to figure out how to better shield human beings from solar radiation… and they have 10 years to do it – GO! The race is on and the drama is building already. Still, 100,000 people from across the globe have already applied for the mission. Would you?
Related articles
- More than 100,000 want to go to Mars and not return, project says (cnn.com)
- Interview: ‘The Transhumanist Wager’ author Zoltan Istvan (examiner.com)
- What humanist military chaplains can offer (Video) (examiner.com)
- Religious Segregation Starts Early (skepticink.com)
