Mars One - the first manned mission to mars will be a reality show

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
I came across this the other day, and with my interest in Mars I'm surprised I haven't come across it sooner. It's called Mars One, a company who's trying to get the first manned mission to mars as a permanent colony by 2023. They already have a plan and dates. The catch is, they're going to make a reality tv show out of it to get sponsors and make money on it.

Heres the video of it:


And their website to show They're not kidding.

http://mars-one.com/en/

Now I'd like to go into why I think commercial ventures is the only real future for space travel in the future. However going into details would be making this thread too political for these boards. So instead, let's talk about the reality show aspect. How do you feel about it?

Personally, as long as they treat it more fairly, and less focused on the drama, I'd welcome it. I would love to follow the first manned mission to mars, as long as its the truth, and not fabricated in any way, which it may be. Then again there will probably be so much real drama, like deadliest catch, that they don't need to fabricate any drama.
 
Reminds me of that cancelled TV show Virtuality, produced by Ron Moore (BSG). In that one, there was a mission to Epsilon Eridani I believe, and a reality show crew on the ship that then beamed the show back to Earth.

Also, I could have sworn I stumbled upon a newer science fiction novel with a similar premise (Mars mission and some sort of reality show) a few months ago while browsing at Barnes & Noble. I can't remember the title though.
 
It genuinely wouldn't surprise me. I actually have some connections at NASA and have had a fantasy of making a film out of the first manned mission to Mars. While going to Mars in 2023 is sadly not going to happen, I do believe when it does that there will be a heavy video component. Now, whether you make it into a reality show or not, I don't know. I think it really depends on your definition of "reality" show. I doubt many Astronauts would agree to a film crew on their ship, but you could just put cameras up all over the place. I don't necessarily think it's a good idea, but I think that's where society is headed.
 
Something about the writing style on that website makes me less than optimistic about their technical chances, but it's definitely an ambitious project that I'd love to see happen.

As far as the TV show goes, I have to agree that there would be enough drama inherent in the reality of the situation, but in order for it to be a TV show, they'd likely fabricate some aspects. I think it might work better as a web show, because I really don't know any network or cable company that would have the guts to commit to airing it for an extended period of time (maybe the BBC?), and the target audience is likely online most of the time anyway.
 
"Pete, the crew has spoken, and you are the next person to be voted off the spaceship. Please hand me your ray gun and report to the airlock to be jettisoned"

Quote from "Survivor - Mars One"

Man, this thing just writes itself.........
 
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Doc Bernard said:
"Pete, the crew has spoken, and you are the next person to be voted off the spaceship. Please hand me your ray gun and report to the airlock to be jettisoned"

Quote from "Survivor - Mars One"

Man, this thing just writes itself.........
Click to expand...

Well, when you put it like that....I'm down with the idea.
 
Doc Bernard said:
"Pete, the crew has spoken, and you are the next person to be voted off the spaceship. Please hand me your ray gun and report to the airlock to be jettisoned"

Quote from "Survivor - Mars One"

Man, this thing just writes itself.........
Click to expand...

Ha! That would make for a good sci-fi parody of our reality TV culture.

"Next week on AIRLOCKED..."

Or have it set farther off into the future, on a big starship where various teams have to do all kinds of stupid competitive stuff. Maybe half of the competitions are on the ship, while the other half are on various exotic alien worlds that they stop off at. When a team loses a competition, they get stuffed into a lifepod and jettisoned from the mothership. While waiting to be picked up by a rescue starship, the antics of the people in the lifepod becomes its own reality show branching off from the main ship's events.
 
Side benefit: We "thin" the population of these reality show "actors". I say we start with a really big starship, enough to load the first 2000 on. If the show gets picked up for Season 2........a bigger ship.

Still debating whether or not to load the producers of the show on too.
 
Doc Bernard said:
Side benefit: We "thin" the population of these reality show "actors". I say we start with a really big starship, enough to load the first 2000 on. If the show gets picked up for Season 2........a bigger ship.

Still debating whether or not to load the producers of the show on too.
Click to expand...

I like the way you think.
 
Doc Bernard said:
Side benefit: We "thin" the population of these reality show "actors". I say we start with a really big starship, enough to load the first 2000 on. If the show gets picked up for Season 2........a bigger ship.

Still debating whether or not to load the producers of the show on too.
Click to expand...

The plus side is that either way we win.

Ratings back here on Earth are good... we send the reality show starship further out into space.

Ratings are not so hot... nuke 'em, cause it's the only way to be sure.
 
Nuke em? Nah Budget is too tight for an on-board tactical nuke. But steering it into the nearest star...........
 
So I've been researching this thing all day long (slow day on set). The more I look into it the more legitamit and possible this venture apears to be.

First, they don't seem to like the term reality show as it has negative connotations and is associated with fabricated drama created for the show. The creator said exactly what I had hoped, that it's exciting enough without having to fabricate anything.

Second, it seems to be first about the mission, and the tv aspect only as a means for funding with sponsors.

Third, on a technical side of things they seem to be well aware of most of the problems and how to overcome them. After reading a bit of Robert Zubrin, it's clear that we have the means to shield man from the radiation that some claim will be the downfall of any manned mission. We have the tech and most of it is coming from other companies. Space x is one of their distributors.

Even if they dont do it by 2023, I feel like its the way to do it. I feel like they may be able to pull this off. At least I hope they do. I think he's going to speak at TED 2013 so I'll be sure to watch for him there.
 
Doc Bernard said:
Nuke em? Nah Budget is too tight for an on-board tactical nuke. But steering it into the nearest star...........
Click to expand...

Or letting the ship fall into Jupiter's atmosphere. Those vapid Z-list celebs will probably be too pre-occupied with their gossip and twitter to notice the big red spot growing larger each day through the windows.

And if the show goes for awhile and the reality show starship gets far out there, there are always black holes, magnetars, the Borg, and creepy ancient temples filled with urns of strange black alien god-goo.

Jon Starr said:
Third, on a technical side of things they seem to be well aware of most of the problems and how to overcome them. After reading a bit of Robert Zubrin, it's clear that we have the means to shield man from the radiation that some claim will be the downfall of any manned mission. We have the tech and most of it is coming from other companies. Space x is one of their distributors.
Click to expand...

Well, not only radiation, but dust on Mars is another big pain in the arse. I would think that by the time we get to manned Mars missions, there will be robotic surrogates that the astronauts can virtually control from their Mars lander or colony HQ. That should give them the ability to traverse Mars a bit easier. Also, they can remote control rovers and maybe small aerial exploration vehicles from a Mars colony HQ. I would think that kind of thing would make things more efficient in that the astronauts wouldn't need to suit up every time they want to survey an area or gather samples, but at the same time, being there on Mars makes remotely controlled devices seem more versatile. The rovers they have now have to be so micromanaged from back here on Earth, and the signal lag, etc.

Even if they dont do it by 2023, I feel like its the way to do it. I feel like they may be able to pull this off. At least I hope they do. I think he's going to speak at TED 2013 so I'll be sure to watch for him there.
Click to expand...

Sir-Peter-Weyland-001.jpg
 
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Doc Bernard said:
Nuke em? Nah Budget is too tight for an on-board tactical nuke. But steering it into the nearest star...........
Click to expand...

That would make it a very long running series. If it is a reality show noone on board is going to be smart enough to realise there's one closer than Alpha/Proxima Centauri. It would be logical of course to populate it with the useless third, such as hairdressers and telephone sanitisers....
 
Interesting idea. As space isn't under anyone's jurisdiction perhaps cigarette sponsorship will drive interplanetary exploration. Their legal budget is bigger than NASA. That'll be tough to explain to the aliens with a straight face - boldy going where no man has gone before, fuelled on tar. The planets would get renamed for sure.
 
The Mars One project was closed, however, the director of the company still aims to implement the project. But one of the 100 finalists, Irish physicist Joseph Roche, gave an interview in which he exposed the financial and organizational failure of the project. In particular, he said that the organizers of the project hope to receive funds from the candidates themselves for the colonization of the Red Planet. So it is true that the mission will fail in the end.
 
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