I like the way you think.
Let's get going on producing Bucky cables.
Let's get going on producing Bucky cables.
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How about a ONE-WAY trip to Mars?
- Thread starter MoodyBlues
- Start date
Gmash
Extreme Android User
I wonder how many would really go through with it if they were actually picked. I have a feeling a large percentage would back out.
Anyway, there's no chance this will really happen. They plan on funding this through selling ads on their reality show? Even if they could somehow get Super Bowl level ad rates for every episode I doubt that would be enough to fund a project of this scope. (I hope they prove me wrong, though. It would be fun to watch and would be a huge achievement.)
rabidhunter
Android Expert
Which I can see as a major problem. I mean, what if the ratings are horrible? What if the funding is cut and they can no longer provide life support and supplies for it's people before funding is cut?
I'm not sure it would be fun to watch. You can make a crazy reality show out of the training and crew selection, but a very likely outcome of the actual mission, if it really launched, is that everyone dies.
That doesn't mean there's no point, or no value, in trying, and if they even get there it will be a huge achievement. But there should be no illusions. And that leaves me uncomfortable with the concept of funding such an attempt as entertainment.
That doesn't mean there's no point, or no value, in trying, and if they even get there it will be a huge achievement. But there should be no illusions. And that leaves me uncomfortable with the concept of funding such an attempt as entertainment.
I swear there was a movie or TV show almost exactly like that... can't think of the name though.
Yeh, it would really depend on how they edited it. Could go wither way.
I can see how a 24/7 live feed might be interesting, but I also see vast potential for it to turn into a live horror show. When people start losing their minds--and I'm absolutely sure they will--who knows how they will act out?
They could stream it online and make it interactive. Have cameras in every room and let you switch between them whenever you want.
How long would it take - around a year? Yeah, a few people would go crazy.
That would be good. For us--I'm not sure how the participants would feel!
I don't know. I think once it truly sinks in that they're PERMANENTLY stuck up there, we'd start seeing people lose their marbles.
For some that might be less than a year, for others perhaps longer, but in the end I really have a hard time believing that the majority of participants won't go stark raving mad.
Gmash
Extreme Android User
I'm sure if this really took place there would be some pretty intensive psychological testing going on beforehand. I'm not taking it as a given that people would definitely lose their minds. Humans are pretty adaptable, and these would be people who volunteered for this, would presumably undergo extensive training, and have plenty of time to ponder the implications of what they were getting themselves into. I don't recall what the size of the group is supposed to be, but the larger the better as far as sanity goes. Can you imagine if there were only three of you and one guy was a major a-hole lol?
See, I'm looking at it with a nod to one of my favorite summertime guilty pleasures, Big Brother (the TV show). The people on BB are there by choice; they're playing for half a million dollars; they're living in a big, spacious, fantastic house in the Valley, with a pool, hot tub, all sorts of exercise equipment, all their needs taken care of (like grooming supplies and food), etc. They know that--at most--they're only going to be in the BB house for ~3 months. THREE MONTHS. But within days of arrival some of them start showing behavior that reflects being locked up, being away from their 'norm.' In the past, contestants have been kicked out due to aggressive or other unpleasant behavior. And all these people underwent testing, questioning, etc., to make sure they could deal with being isolated. In their case, 'isolated' means living with strangers (this year 16 people entered the house) in a house with no privacy, i.e., cameras rolling 24/7, no TV, no Internet, no smartphones, no music, no books, etc. But, again, it's just three months--at MOST. Yet they start showing signs of stress pretty quickly.
I don't know about Big Brother. Call me a cynic, but the producers don't really want a group who'll be calm and harmonious through the whole run. From what I've seen (not much) some of the British version's contestants seem to have been chosen to cope badly.
But on Mars there are two big differences. One, as you say, you don't get to leave the house ever. The second is that if you foul up, because of that stress or any other reason, you endanger everyone. That, plus the many, many things that can go wrong, break down or just be overlooked because nobody has done this before, is why it's so risky. Mars looks like a terrestrial desert, but is barely more hospitable than the Moon (and will that catch someone if the stress gets to them? It looks more "normal" than it is, so at some point your guard slips?).
And the group will be small, because you've got to get them, and all the kit & supplies needed to survive & established, off Earth and to Mars, and every kilo you add requires many, many kilos of fuel to get it up there.
It's a fascinating project, but people who compare it to say being transported to Australia a couple of centuries ago haven't really thought through what's involved.
On the plus side, you won't be cut off from Earth. But bandwidth will be limited, and lightspeed delays will rule out live conversation. Still much more than earlier explorers got, and in that respect more than a BB contestant gets.
But on Mars there are two big differences. One, as you say, you don't get to leave the house ever. The second is that if you foul up, because of that stress or any other reason, you endanger everyone. That, plus the many, many things that can go wrong, break down or just be overlooked because nobody has done this before, is why it's so risky. Mars looks like a terrestrial desert, but is barely more hospitable than the Moon (and will that catch someone if the stress gets to them? It looks more "normal" than it is, so at some point your guard slips?).
And the group will be small, because you've got to get them, and all the kit & supplies needed to survive & established, off Earth and to Mars, and every kilo you add requires many, many kilos of fuel to get it up there.
It's a fascinating project, but people who compare it to say being transported to Australia a couple of centuries ago haven't really thought through what's involved.
On the plus side, you won't be cut off from Earth. But bandwidth will be limited, and lightspeed delays will rule out live conversation. Still much more than earlier explorers got, and in that respect more than a BB contestant gets.
davoid
Android Expert
I think this is a considerable difference. On Big Brother they are subjected to a media blackout so that they don't know what the world thinks of them, and also so they can have tricks and surprises played on them. I think having access to internet would make a major difference - if only by allowing the participants an escape from their actual reality.
The problem might then be that they spend too much time online, much like the rest of us.
general eclect
Android Expert
The fact that outside comms will be constructive is a big diff from BB.
But "what the world thinks of them" could be double-edged.
general eclect
Android Expert
I have to agree with this, the producers of Big Brother want meltdowns...
Excellent post, Hadron.
I don't know about meltdowns, per se, but they most definitely do want conflict.
Well, now that I think about it, yeah, I guess meltdowns is a good choice of words.
dibblebill
Android Expert
Clearly I must venture into Kerbal Space Program and make my own "reality TV" show based on this...
sfbloodbrother
Extreme Android User
I showed this to my High School Physics teacher, he thought this was crazy. Just to go outside, you need to gear up for space and all that crap.
I guess its possible, anyone ever play BioShock? A city under water...
Soooo if we can get a lot of resources up there to build a city, with oxygen and life, we can colonize Mars.
I guess its possible, anyone ever play BioShock? A city under water...
Soooo if we can get a lot of resources up there to build a city, with oxygen and life, we can colonize Mars.
That's what I always come back to. I mean when I'm trying to imagine what life there would actually be like, day in, day out, forever...and you can't even go outside without preparing for it, or you're dead!
And I worry if I step out to my patio (which is 99% shielded from my neighbors) without being fully dressed. :laugh:
You're too young, but I wonder if anyone else remembers the 1991 Biosphere experiment? It was in Arizona, and it involved a handful of people living in a dome, completely self-sufficient (growing their own food) and cut off from society. It would be interesting to draw parallels between its participants/outcome/experiences and the hypothetical ones for this Mars experiment.
Revenant Ghost
Android Expert
That's what I always come back to. I mean when I'm trying to imagine what life there would actually be like, day in, day out, forever...and you can't even go outside without preparing for it, or you're dead!
A fatal wardrobe malfunction? That would be a crappy way to die.
sfbloodbrother
Extreme Android User
Open a window, your dead.
Mars and contestants - two words that never belong in the same sentence.