Mars: One Way
 

And since the greatest portion of expenses will be incurred by the safe return of the crew and spacecraft to Earth, the authors conclude that a manned one-way mission to Mars would both cut costs and help initiate Martian colonization.



"It would really be little different from the first white settlers of the North American continent, who left Europe with little expectation of return," said Davies, a cosmologist at from Arizona State University in Phoenix. "Explorers such as Columbus, Frobisher, Scott and Amundsen, while not embarking on their voyages with the intention of staying at their destination, nevertheless took huge personal risks to explore new lands, in the knowledge that there was a significant likelihood that they would perish in the attempt."



Stay. That is a pretty simple very sensible idea drawn from history.

"...significant likelihood that they would perish in the attempt." Is not the same as definite knowledge that they're fucked.

Maybe the same idea and risks when the Polynesians set out to sea,
and ended up discovering (all ?) the islands of the South Pacific.

Just thinking about that gives me chills...

I wonder WTF those folks are smoking to draw a comparison between travel to another part of a planet that you know supports life and travel to another planet that you know does not support life.

Reminds me of the radio station ID that went "The songs we play may not be your favorites but they have a lot of the same notes." Same logic.

I'm sure there are people that would volunteer to go on a one way, I'm also sure there would people adamantly against allowing, financing it, or even officially condoning it.

I'll go.

*looks for sign-up sheet*

I bet the Canadian military pilot who flew Queen Elizabeth around and was just convicted of two murders and will spend the rest of his life in prison would be both qualified to go and would want to go instead of going to prison.

Read Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson, for a completely fictional, yet entertaining, stroy of how it would work. Don't bother reading Green Mars or Blue Mars.

I missed that item.

Just googled it and saw this line:
Umm, wouldn't that be exactly the type of person you'd want to entrust with secrets? I mean someone who can keep a secret?

agreed. i got 2/3 of the way through red mars.. poorly written and boring.

and i'm easy to entertain.

That might be (or become) a solo mission

Mars. The new Australia.

exactly

The big difference between the pilgrims coming here, and staying, and us going to Mars, to stay: Existing food/water. We had it when the pilgrims came here.

There is no food on Mars. And no weed.