Sunday, January 5, 2014

Flight to Mars, to die there - THE WORLD

recommend

article by e-mail
flight to Mars, to die Good

200,000 applicants for travel without Rückehr. Cost of six billion dollars

Good 200,000 applicants for travel without Rückehr. Cost of six billion dollars By Gerhard Hegman

In ten years it will go. The journey from Earth to Mars would take 210 days. But for the four crew members it would be a flight through space without recurrence. Every two years to arrive then other crews from Earth to Mars and live there. For this adventurous plan of private Dutch foundation Mars One in a first call more than 200,000 people had expressed interest. Most applications came from the USA, India and China. Now a first selection has been made.

First, the serious candidates were fished out of the big pile that could be grown physically and mentally trip. There remained 1058 potential candidates, Mars One informed now. “We even had some applicants who submitted a nude video,” said Mars-One Bas Lansdorp boss. By 2015, six or ten teams are put together with four astronauts who will begin a seven-year training. The group of about 1000 Erstausgewählten also includes the 45-year-old German Stephan Günther – although only one percent of the applications came from Germany

.

The 36-year-old Mars-One chief Lansdorp is convinced of the success of the overall mission. The entrepreneur and engineer was employed for several years at the Dutch Delft University of Technology and has the wind energy company Ampyx Power founded. The mission is to be funded through donations, sponsors and especially the sale of television rights. The transport of the first four people to Mars would cost an estimated six billion dollars, each additional manned flight to Mars four billion dollars.

But the costs do not deter the entrepreneur. The Dutch foundation, which is not designed to gain anticipates, before that by 2012, each with three-week summer Olympics and winter Olympics were taken over eight billion dollars, for example, at the Olympic Games in period of 2009. The majority accounted for $ 3.9 billion in television rights. If people land on Mars, probably more than four billion people would have access to live viewing – the promise immense revenue. Before the first manned mission starts, including unmanned exploration missions to be done first landing on the Red Planet. 2018, that in four years, a robot lander and a communication satellite to be launched. Mars One has first issued the orders for the creation of concepts in December. The costs were not disclosed.

The Mars lander would therefore built from the large U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the communications satellite by the British company SSTL. The rather small British company is known only experts, but plays a key role as a supplier for the European Galileo satellite network. SSTL company belonged to EADS Astrium division and is after their name change now a member of the Airbus Group. The unmanned Mars rover will explore whether it is possible to win from the Martian soil water. That would be a prerequisite for subsequent colonization of the planet. The communications satellite from the Airbus Group will then send live images of the mission and the colonization of an orbit around Mars to Earth.

in 2012, for the first time presented larger projects of Mars One is accompanied by many critical voices. A main point of criticism is the ethical question of the journey without return to Earth. In addition, the schedule is considered extremely ambitious. The launch of the spacecraft has been postponed for two years. In the first publications of Mars One it was still called that in 2023 the first human beings to land, now is the talk of 2025. The mission is considered very risky, although the U.S. successful Mars missions have recently been successful. Mars One will initially carry seven freight charges on the surface of Mars before the first crew to land. One of the key issues include the recovery of oxygen and water and the other supplying the Martians in the colony with food.

A major challenge is the extreme Martian temperatures up to 27 degrees Celsius heat can range from minus 133 degrees below zero, and cosmic radiation. A return from Mars to Earth, the idea behind not before. It would be extremely complex and expensive if the Martians would get a fully-fueled rocket, according to the Foundation. For the trip who have never flown heavy carrier rocket Falcon Heavy U.S. company SpaceX is to be used.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk himself has a vision for the colonization of Mars. He could imagine to carry in about 15 years, about 80,000 people to Mars, the billionaire declared in 2012 in London. Musk is known as the romancer. With its electric sports car company Tesla, he is a pioneer in the industry, and its only founded about ten years ago rocket company SpaceX has now become a serious competitor for the European Ariane rocket.

© Axel Springer SE 2013. All rights reserved

No comments:

Post a Comment