ecns [expanded by feedex.net]: Dream of a life on Mars tainted by doubts it can really happen

ecns [expanded by feedex.net]

ecns

Dream of a life on Mars tainted by doubts it can really happen
http://www.ecns.cn/2013/05-20/64283.shtml
May 20th 2013, 04:18

2013-05-20 13:18
comment


Chinese applicants who signed up for a Dutch project to land humans on Mars in 2023 are raising doubts about the enterprise after its founder said the goal might not be achieved.


Many of the more than 10,000 Chinese who paid US$11 to register are demanding their money back, according to the Guangzhou Daily newspaper. It is believed that more than a million dollars has been raised from more than 78,000 applicants from over 120 countries and regions.


Mars One, a non-profit company based in the Netherlands, aims to land its first four astronauts in 2023 for a TV reality show.


In all, the program is seeking six quartets, each departing on a seven-month journey every two years after the first mission. They will have to agree to stay on Mars, some 230 million kilometers from Earth without the prospect of going back, and be filmed for the TV program.


The main requirements for applicants are strong health, good people and survival skills, being 18 or older, and having a reasonable grasp of the English language. The deadline for the first round of online applications is August 31.


The four astronauts will be chosen from applicants who registered on the Mars One website.


Applicants pay an administration fee that varies across nations according to their per capita GDP. The website says that once an applicant has applied, he or she cannot retrieve the registration fee if the application is withdrawn.


Viability doubts


However, many applicants began to have doubts about the viability of the project after Xinhua news agency reported that Bas Lansdrop, co-founder and CEO of Mars One, said in an interview that the goal may not be achieved as scheduled.


"If we decide that the project cannot be achieved, we will certainly stop proceeding," Lansdrop told Xinhua.


Meanwhile, a Xinhua reporter found that the Mars One company was registered on June 23, 2011, in the Netherlands with one employee. Its office, is in a rented apartment in the city of Amersfoort, with "simply some tables."


Questions are also being raised about how astronauts could survive on a planet with a temperature of minus 55 degrees Celsius and whose atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide.


"They think it's a nice destination for a holiday, but in fact, the climate is much colder than the Earth's climate," Marc Naeije, assistant professor of astrodynamics and space missions at the Delft University of Technology, told Xinhua.


"There are also a lot of sandstorms. This is not convenient for human beings, but also a problem for the solar panels that should produce energy for the ones living on Mars," he said.


Some Chinese applicants have complained about not being able to get their money back, according to Guangzhou Daily.


"I feel disappointed to hear that the project may not be achieved. But it sounds like a scam once they charged money from anyone who wanted to register," was one online.


In another space project, more than 500 people have paid deposits for a US$200,000 ticket for Virgin Galactic sub-orbital flights set to begin later this year.





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