The first Martian settlement will be based in 2023, to say the initiators of the project MarsOne - private initiative in the early colonization of Mars, supported by major aerospace companies, Nobel laureate and founder of "Big Brother".


In 2025, with the arrival of new settlers, the size of the Martian colony will double. // MarsOne

While the national space Agency estimate their budgets and reduce, due to lack of financing, many of the program, for the realization of an ancient dream of mankind to conquer Mars took the initiative group, bringing together European entrepreneurs, venture entrepeneural and scientists. She announced the launch of the project MarsOne, whose goal is the establishment of the first inhabited settlements on Mars in 2023.

The project gained support of the largest private companies in the aerospace industry, including SpaceX, recently launched the first private spacecraft to the ISS.

And the scientific community: the Nobel prize in physics in 1999 Gerard Hooft - quantum theorist, also known as one of the developers of the concept of "holographic Universe" - the project was called "a bold and stunning initiative of people with imagination and foresight" and agreed to be public, Ambassador MarsOne.

According already developed a "road map" Martian colony will be regularly expanded to include four new settlers every two years. The project does not provide for the return of the settlers on the Earth, although in the future - with the growth of the colony and the improved technologies - ability Charter messages with the mother planet is not excluded.

The cost of the first stage of the project - construction and settlement of the first Martian colony - the group assesses at 6 runway dollars.

The organizers believe that the idea of colonization of Mars is long overdue, but its social and economic potential is not used, although public outcry such an undertaking would be enormous.

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"People can remain indifferent colonization of other planets? Who will refuse to observe, discuss, or to participate in the most grandiose enterprise of mankind from ever happening?.." - rhetorically asks one of the founders MarsOne Bass Lansdorp - Dutch high-tech entrepeneur and the founder of a start-up development planning wind turbines Ampyx Power. "The whole world, with bated breath, will monitor its implementation, starting with the selection of the first colonists to their life in the first Martian settlement", I'm sure Lansdorp, with whose position as other members of the initiative group, please visit the official website of the project.

Media components will indeed play a greater role in MarsOne: not only the selection and training of the colonists, but all subsequent phases of the project, including life in the colony, will be broadcast to Earth in real time.

To this end, a Sunny and arasindan orbit (similar to geosynchronous) is expected to launch two satellites-repeater, providing round-the-clock data transfer (except for one rare "blind" window period of two hours, when the Sun will be between Earth and Mars, and Mars - between areostationary and second satellite). For their development and production will meet the British company Surrey Satellite Technology, with experience in developing telekommunikacionnykh satellites.

Organizers stress that

for MarsOne do not need to develop any fundamentally new technologies, as a modern level of development of space science and systems, Autonomous life support is quite enough for construction and support of the first inhabited the colony on another planet.

One can argue that, although one bottleneck in the project is this: if the problem of protection against cosmic radiation during the seven-month flight to Mars is still possible somehow to solve with the help of a capsule-shelter, how Martian settlers will be protected from elevated levels of cosmic radiation on Mars, devoid thick atmosphere and magnetic field, it is not yet clear.

Anyway, adapted for the first Martian home lowered modules on the basis of already tested in the case of a ship Dragon from SpaceX, supplemented inflatable sections, in which will live first Martians, the problem is solved only partially: already created polymeric materials, effectively shielding of particles to high energies and cosmic radiation, but the full and long term protection comparable to the earth's atmosphere and radiation belts, they are not yet guaranteed.

So the first colonists going to live on Mars a long time (almost the rest of my life!) will have to either fall asleep living modules of the Martian soil, or to impose them in blocks of frozen carbon dioxide and water ice (water, or rather hydrogen, also has a good protective properties). In this case, for the settlement it is necessary to select a place where there are deposits of subsurface ice, which will provide colonists water, oxygen and carbon dioxide necessary for growing plants.

It is clear that the first obstacle to confront MarsOne is starting funding.

The flight to another planet and weekdays first Martians will cause a huge stir in the media, the capitalization of which will exceed the most successful modern telepress, such as broadcast competitions and sporting events. No wonder the project are already interested in the Creator of "Big brother" telemagnate Paul Roemer, appointed one of "public ambassadors" MarsOne: from the point of view of show business colonization of Mars is a unique entertainment and psychological space reality shows, round-the-clock broadcast from another planet, which will be difficult to compete.

But to get the basic sustainable financing, convincing potential starting investors to invest in the colonization of Mars, it will be more difficult, but this, the authors, only a matter of time. "Now our main efforts are focused on detailed technical justification of the project. If we can convince donors that the project is real, and it really real, the financing problem will be solved", convinced Lansdorp.

Consent to be contractors MarsOne already received the largest private aerospace companies.

Key elements of the expedition - the Falcon 9 rocket, which will lead to low earth orbit modules to build space ship, in which the colonists will fly to Mars and its propulsion system (upgraded upper stage Falcon 9) and Martian descent module (a larger version of Dragon ship, recently successfully launched on and prestitoveloce to ISS) will be developed by SpaceX. Thales Alenia Space, built several sections of the ISS, ready to construct transport residential unit which will live astronauts during the flight to Mars.

ILC Dover, developed depreciation pillows re-entry modules Martian missions, NASA will be responsible for inflatable units, in which will live and work colonists. And another provider NASA - Paragon Space Development - will create a module to support the main function of which is extraction of water and oxygen from the Martian ice and soil, as well as inert gases (nitrogen and argon) of the Martian atmosphere necessary to create suitable for breathing mixtures. The same company is ready to take and for the development of protective Mars spacesuit. Finally, MDA Space Missions, created, among other things, the robotic arm for the ISS, constructs the Rovers - vehicle colonists.

Contracting arrangements with these companies are already signed. The case for funding.

Well-known argument of skeptics that the "flight to Mars is possible, but not necessary" (which adhered to, including, and Boris Chertok, the legendary colleague Sergey Korolev, in an interview to "Газете.Ru"), and the first Martian colonists will simply have nothing to do in stony and barren, the initiators of the project consider it weak.

In their opinion, the first settlement on Mars will be a landmark and an unprecedented event - the real civilizational breakthrough, psychological, moral and philosophical aspects of which (not to mention the technological) only have to comprehend, and the usual skepticism and the appeal to common sense in anticipation of the new frontier simply cease to work is enough to remember the history of all the pioneers.

Physicist Gerard t Hooft solidarity with them and believes that from the point of view of science return of robotic missions completely incompatible with human.

Regardless of how to evaluate MarsOne, this project shows that within the space industry, and among ordinary people, there is a stable group of enthusiasts and lobbyists, who consider the Martian expedition necessary, while their opponents are no longer able to offer an equivalent alternative, captivating the imagination as much as the flight to Mars. As for the first candidates for the Martians, the enormous risks associated with dangerous expedition and life on another planet, they are not scare: to them, the real heroes who will obessmertil their names at any outcome will be the eyes of all mankind, so indulge on Mars melancholy they will not have exactly believe the organizers MarsOne. For the same reason are taken and possible claims to the principle of "one way ticket": as rightly pointed out by the initiators of the project, not ethical is the idea of sending astronauts to Mars without the possibility to found a colony, but with the return module that may not work that will condemn people to death.