Would you volunteer to be one of the first humans to colonize Mars?

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   TheWorldNowposted 12 years ago

   
   If people could volunteer to be in the first group of people to colonize Mars would you sign up?

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      Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      no because there'd be too many variables to consider.  Plus, we really don't know if mankind will be able to survive on mars or not, as more than likely a lot of people will die trying to colonize it in the beginning.  Then again, it would be interesting to be one of the first people to help colonize it, as it would be such a tremendous feat for mankind everywhere, and the experience would probably be wonderful to explore. 
      
      however, i doubt we'll be colonizing it soon though.

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      SomewayOuttaHereposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      ...it depends...can I bring my bike?...if so, sure! why not?...i like change....do i have to have a baby too?...if so, i'm not into it.....

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         Lisa HWposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I've heard that you could bring your bike, but that you can't have any babies unless they're Martian babies (and by that, I don't mean, just being a Martian citizen by virtue of having been born there).  From what I understand, they don't want a recreation of the over-population of human beings that has taken place on Earth.  Half-human/half-Martian babies are, of course, not only a-whole-nother thing - I've heard they're particularly good looking (except for the half-green skin, of course).

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      qwarkposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      ...send "Ahnold!" He'll straighten it out...he's done it b4!
      
      Qwark

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      logic,commonsenseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely, too many morons on this planet that think the producers should support anyone who wants to be a parasite and live off the hard work of others.
      Besides you could run around naked and not be arrested!

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         recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You mean they are going to send all the bankers, civil servants and politicians ?

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            lone77starposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            And mess up another planet? Puhleeeeez! If we need to send the greedies anywhere, why not Mercury? One side hot, one cold, and lots of slick vacuum, so no one can hear them scream.

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      TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Recently NASA did a poll on their site asking who would volunteer to colonize Mars. In response they got thousands of emails from people asking how they could sign up and what they had to do to qualify. It seems there will never be a shortage of volunteers. I just hope that when the day comes I can make the cut!

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      sarovaiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      no. May be for a trip.

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      khareenizeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I changed my mind, someday, maybe I will.

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      topquarkposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No, I'm not a risk-taker.  I like familiar environments and home comforts.  I'd be very interested in following news of the colonisation though.  It would be interesting to have a job organising aspects of the colonisation from Earth.

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      Richieb799posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes please send me there now, I want to leave Earth.

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   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   No!
   
   There is too much work that needs to be done on this planet, before humankind can even think about populating another.

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      TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      How do those correlate?

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         Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         It would ignorant to try populating another planet, when we have problems with populating the one we are already living on.
         
         Like I said, there are too many problems on this planet, which would need to be addressed, so populating other planets can be achieved much easier.

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            TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Fair enough. I can respect that, even if I desagree.

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      lone77starposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I tend to think that humanity is not mature enough to take on another planet. Look what happened to the "New World" (America).
      
      But still, it's nice to "what-if" about terraforming and colonizing Mars, and perhaps even Venus (a much tougher nut to crack).
      
      Technologically, we're still in our infancy regarding such things. But our technology is far ahead of our moral(?) or ethical(?) maturity.
      
      I love America, but sometimes this "land of the free, home of the brave" does things because it can, rather than because they should be done. The UN may be a "drag" for some politicians who feel held back, but such democratization could help keep all of us safer, even from the country to which some of us feel so attached. One nation claiming Mars (an illegal move by UN writ) would create a scenario for all kinds of potential abuse. Think "gulag." A new "Siberia" to the leading world power who gets there, first.
      
      For now, I like the idea of colonizing Mars, but only in my science fiction.

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   khareenizeposted 12 years ago

   I think not, I still love the Earth and want to stay here until I die....

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   yreformerposted 12 years ago

   may be

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   KRYONpopposted 12 years ago

   Why not?It's awesome to one of the firsts!

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   Diane Insideposted 12 years ago

   If my husband could colonize with me sure, thats assuming that everything is in place to begin to colonize Mars.
   
   What I mean is if there were living facilities already established. And things put in place to make living tolerable as well as manageable.
   
   Like oxygen, food, etc.
   
   Sure I'd do it there sure is nothing to stay here on earth for.

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      Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      hi diane!

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         Diane Insideposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Hi whats up?

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      TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Life would probably be rough, but it will be physically possible, at least that was my thought when I started the thread. I guess I should have specified.

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   recommend1posted 12 years ago

   I would leap at the chance - as long as I could take my missus with me, and they have cold beer and ice cream.

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      lone77starposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What about oxygen? Without that, I don't think you'd enjoy that beer or cone.

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   Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

   I've been under the impression I've been living on Mars for years.  (Oh wait - no.  Someone just told me the bizarre and disturbingly weird planet-ful of aliens where I live is called, "Massachusetts".)
   
   Hmmm.  Maybe Mars would be better than this.  Maybe I should look into how to get tickets for the next shuttle out.

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      TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Massachusetts isn't too bad! Then again I've only visited!

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   Jawanzaposted 12 years ago

   I would, with a few circumstantial variables in place. First, my mother, who I love too much to leave, would have to come or be dead. I would have to have no children of my own assuming they would chose not to come. So, assuming I do go, I would be proud to go and represent all of humanity on another planet. I think it is integral that some people take this leap of faith into a what is thickly unknown. I want to go, I wish I could sign up a seat on the ship there tomorrow.

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      TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I would sign up for a seat tomorrow too if I could!

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    lone77starposted 12 years ago

    Interesting idea, but I think each traveler would have to B.Y.O.O. (bring your own oxygen)!
    
    With the current technology, I think not. I would volunteer for the round trip, but I think I'd hold out for the next quantum leap or two in technology before colonizing Mars -- gate technology, or elemental tractors (for beefing up the atmosphere and hydrosphere), and warp drive (inertial shielding and FTL [faster-than-light] transport of raw materials). The atmosphere would be a cinch, but the oceans would take several magnitudes longer. Look out for lots of dust storms until the oceans were in place, and probably until a large area of biosphere was in place.

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       TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Ever thought about the underground caverns where there may already be life? I wrote my last hub about it and was surprised while researching it that that is where there is running liquid water and the possibility of some form of life. So we could live underground?

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          lone77starposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          One thing about living underground: you're using the materials at hand, and all that rock could be good shielding for the smaller meteors and from solar storms.
          
          If there's life in the caverns, I wouldn't want to catch some incurable disease!
          
          Perhaps such life doesn't even have DNA, but it can still pump out toxins and consume bodily resources. That's one of the major worries about interplanetary or interstellar travel. Other life might just find you to be a yummy snack, even if it is only a microbe.

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    recommend1posted 12 years ago

    Of course everyone is assuming that the US or the UN will boldy go  . . . . but the last shuttle trip is next week or so, and the Chinese are planning Mars probe landings in preparation for an actual visit.  I don't recall seeing much about it in the media either, but it hs been in the news here for some time and seems to be an ongoing mission.

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       TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Really? Has it been?
       But teah I'm afraid the US and UN don't have it on their priority list, which is unfortunate. Maybe it will take the Chinese getting a head start to spark a race for Mars.

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    Motown2Chitownposted 12 years ago

    I certainly would - as long as they have real coffee and I can take my husband with me.

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    Emile Rposted 12 years ago

    Yes. Please tell me where to sign up.

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    jomineposted 12 years ago

    No need. Humankind, most probably, would be extinct, before we could make mars(for that matter any planet), habitable.

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       TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       That's the fear, but they have new data that suggests that Mars may be habitable underground, so that could help us from having to terraform the planet or anything

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    marymootooposted 12 years ago

    Yes I would but there would be some people I would need to take with me, people who have had a lot of experience in colonizing a new land, people who would know how to push the frontiers and settle in hard landscapes. I there for suggest that we learn from the lessons of the past and make sure the first lot are sent are convicts and preist that seemed to work 300 years ago in the americas then closely followed by the Irish and the Italians, if for nothing else these people know how to enjoy themselves. so thinking about it I'll think I'll settle for the 2nd wave once the pizza parlous and Irish pubs have been set up.

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    R.S. Hutchinsonposted 12 years ago

    I would because as a pioneer I'm bound to get a statue in my likeness! Sweeeet!

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       TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       One of the founding fathers of Mars? That would be so cool!

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    Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

    Depends on our diplomacy with the Anunnaki?
    

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    spookyfoxposted 12 years ago

    I think I'd go even if it meant dying there. With the argument that we have too much trouble here on Earth we achieve nothing. It's not either/or and I think with that mindset we wouldn't have lots of things that were discovered to have effects and benefits in areas and situations in which they were not originally considered for.

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       TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I agree. There is no achievement without risk. No one would have come to America if they weren't willing to risk everything, even their own life to get there.

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       lone77starposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       SpookyFox, good points. The "unreasonableness" in doing something seemingly impossible is what built civilization and was responsible for many breakthroughs, like Yager's faster than sound flight, or Edison's incandescent light.
       
       Still, I'd like to have a little more going for me than the ultra slim margins that would exist with our current technological base. With frontier America, they at least had the ability to go for a stroll in the moonlight without fear of,
       * running out of oxygen
       * breaking your helmet from a simple fall
       * getting hit by a small meteor
       * freezing to death in the frigid Martian night
       * getting lost in a month-long dust storm
       
       And rescue? Months away, if it's within the budget! Politicians could really burst that bubble in a hurry.
       
       Great risk is one thing, but "great risk" cubed is a completely different dimension of risk.
       
       I've dreamed of going to Mars since the late '50's. I'd still jump at the chance (if my wife would go with me). But colonize is several magnitudes more risk than I'm willing to take, unless I see a pretty convincing plan to make such a colony extensible.
       
       Almost no atmosphere, almost no water, no magnetic field, nearly dead tectonics, pervasive dust, agonizing cold, and no way to improve most of these conditions on an ever-growing scale. Unless... you have a technology that runs circles around our Newtonian reliance on action-reaction rockets. Warp drive anyone?

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          TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Well that's why it would require multiple Manned Missions to Mars first so they can set up artificial habitats until it becomes possible to live underground (which is where it is thought life can be and maybe even already is sustained)

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       lovazaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       In response to Spookyfox's comment, I feel that is a pessimistic outlook about the planet Earth.  There are a lot of beautiful things here and we have water and air to sustain life.  I highly doubt that Mars would truly be as beneficial for me to live there.

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    Jonathan Jancoposted 12 years ago

    Mars?! Seriously, Mars?!
    
    Am I back in the 50's Ray Bradbury?
    
    Mars?
    
    Now that's small potatoes. Really, REALLY small potatoes!
    
    Both Voyagers and both Pioneers have just about exited the solar system altogether and . . . Mars?

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    muscledoubleposted 12 years ago

    Nope. Not today or in the near future. I'm contented with earth for now. ^_^

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    AliceApocalypseposted 12 years ago

    Absolutely.  We have so much to learn and discover about this amazing galaxy we live in, it would be an honor to be chosen for such a journey.  I know my daughter would go too, but my husband well that would take some convincing!

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       TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I agree completely with this sentiment, though it would be trouble convincing my Fiance to come along!

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    Stacie Lposted 12 years ago

    I'd only leave Earth if it were about to blow up or be destroyed by a giant meteor!

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    KissTheRainposted 12 years ago

    No, thank you. (: Even though I sometimes dislike living here, life anywhere else would be worse.

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    jomineposted 12 years ago

    I would say, Its only dreams, and dreams are all we have.....

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    Binaya.Ghimireposted 12 years ago

    Its a hypothetical question at least for our generation. Let me answer this question with hypothetical answer: I will volunteer to colonize Jupiter.

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       TheWorldNowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       But is it a hypothetical question? I asked this question in the forums to help me sort out my own ideas and see whether people would be interested in such a thing.
       This is what I found and believe:
       http://theworldnow.hubpages.com/hub/Mars-is-the-Answer

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    Spacekidposted 12 years ago

    live off the smell of sulfuric fart? no thanks, but other than that i might volunteer, i've always wanted to see what it's like to physically be in space.

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    kmackey32posted 12 years ago

    No way....lol

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