From: O'Regan, Emlyn (Emlyn.ORegan@actew.com.au)
Date: Sun Apr 18 1999 - 22:14:23 MDT
>Forrest Bishop <forrestb@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
>As part of my proposal, tentativly titled "Venture Mars", I have been
>> asking people "Would you be willing to risk dying on Mars in exchange for
>the
>> opportunity?", or "Would you die for Mars?"
Absolutely! Mars, no question. Space, the final frontier, these are the
voyages, etc. I've always wanted to go into space, and I would
definitely go to that Japanese resort on the moon.
Except...
Except I'm not colonist material. I'm a flabby office worker, software
developer, the garden around my house is an untended jungle. If I was
dropped in the wilderness with only my wits to aid me, then I would die.
I get edgy if the supermarket is closed on public holidays.
Mars is a hostile environment for humans. No doubt there are ways of
taming it, but the initial colonies wont be waving a magic wand and
*BLAM*, DisneyWorld!
Mars would need paranoid survivalists, smart enough to adapt, scientists
maybe, but not the sort of people who missed their creature comforts.
They'd need to work well in groups, be happy with no privacy, and have a
high boredom threshold. Farmers? Military people? Engineers? I don't
know.
How about the trip over? How long could you handle being cooped up in a
tiny capsule with all those colonists?
I think you'd need the kind of people who managed to explore the Earth
in tiny boats a few centuries ago. In fact, you'd be well off travelling
back and getting them, because their better proven in this kind of work
than anyone today. Maybe a solo round-the-world yachtsperson might be
good, but then they probably like their privacy. How about the people on
the Kontiki (spelling questionable)?
Plus, long distance colonies can fail, which means everyone dies. There
are examples of that in Australia's recent (200 years) history, with
attempts to establish a foothold ending up in an empty buildings and a
few bleached bones. Not a good concept for those of us wanting life
extension.
All power to the mars expedition! My best thoughts go with you, my best
wishes for your success. You are assured to continue in human memory as
the greatest of people.
I'll watch it on CNN, and cheer!
Emlyn
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:03:34 MST