Nonprofit Organization Wants to Send Married Couple to Mars

Hevva

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Aug 2, 2011
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Nonprofit Organization Wants to Send Married Couple to Mars



As romantic getaways go, it's out there.

Since the Curiosity rover noise pollution [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118530-NASA-Releases-Kinect-Mars-Rover-Game], the Red Planet has been in the headlines more than ever. It captures our imaginations easily, being near enough to see on select nights and yet too far away for us any of us to ever touch. The prospect of sending humans towards it is a tantalizing one, however; so tantalizing, in fact, that one super-rich space tourist, Dennis Tito, and his non-profit space company, the Inspiration Mars Foundation (IMF), have decided to send two humans on a fly-by of Curiosity's new pad in 2018.

So, what kind of people do you send on a 500-day round trip to Mars and back? The answer, according to Jane Poynter, president of the Paragon Space Development Corporation (a life support systems developer) and a member of the Inspiration Mars team, is a happily married heterosexual couple.

"It's important that this is a man and a woman because they represent humanity," said Poynter. "After all, we are more or less 50 percent men and 50 percent women [on Earth]. It represents our children - whether they are a girl or a boy, they see themselves reflected in that crew." Added to that, the team says that a married couple are the most likely to be able to help one another through the psychological impact of being stuck in a box in space for such a long stretch of time.

When it comes to spending time with a spouse in an enclosed space, Poynter has more experience than most: She and her husband were two of the participants in the fascinating Biosphere 2 experiment [http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/09/years-glass-biosphere-2-mission/] of 1991. "It was extremely helpful to have somebody that I could problem solve with," said Poynter, reflecting on Biosphere 2. "It was also fantastic to have the opportunity to be there and share the experience when we had those wondrous moments." She also added that when the time comes, she expects that she and her husband will apply to be the couple to fly to Mars.

Interesting as that is, however, there is something of a leap between 2 years on Earth in a bubble and 500 days in the inky black in a tin the size of a parking space. That's no exaggeration, either; because of the required fuel, water, and mechanical weight, living space in the IMF's planned Mars vehicle would be that small. Additionally, there are no provisions in the plans for hygiene equipment more complex than sponges.

At the moment, Tito and his team are still seeking funding for the early stages of the mission. They insist that the technology required to achieve their goal, which relies on the craft slingshotting around Mars in one go, exists, and that the biggest danger - radiation in space - will have been solved by technological advancements prior to their launch date. However, at time of writing, it would seem to be the case that the private donors required to provide the hundreds of millions of dollars (that's the conservative estimate; others go upwards of $1 billion) to fund this brave, exciting venture are reluctant to come forward. It's easy to see why the money has been slow, given the scope of the task and the proximity of 2018. Without that money, all of this planning will have been for naught.

Still, imagine coming home to your wife or husband and being able to tell them, "Honey, we're going to Mars! Just you and me, in a tin with no shower, for 500 days! And we get to see Mars!" And then the look on their face as they contemplate travelling with you through in the cold, sweet, lifeless expanse of space for 500 days with no way of turning the craft around and heading home. Nothing more romantic, right?


Source: Space.com [http://www.space.com/19998-inspiration-mars-mission-married-crew.html]





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Genocidicles

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"I'm telling you we already passed that asteroid! Stop and ask for directions!"

I made that joke so no one else could. I could see it coming from a mile off.
 

Xan Krieger

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Feb 11, 2009
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2 leave, only one returns alive, that's the results I can imagine. 500 days in an enclosed space with one other person, anyone, sounds like hell.
 

CCountZero

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Xan Krieger said:
2 leave, only one returns alive, that's the results I can imagine. 500 days in an enclosed space with one other person, anyone, sounds like hell.
Might be it just returns with one dead from stabbing, and the other practically vanished from self-inflicted starvation and dehydration, set on by the psychic trauma of being stuck in a box with a corpse for so long.
 

oldtaku

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Hopefully a married couple of over 20 years, who have lost the will to fight and are now just resigned to and can tolerate each other.
 

rodneyy

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i would have the atrophy their bone and muscle tissue were exposed to would be a larger risk. according to a quick wiki search people loose about 1.5% bone mass per month thats about 25% over the 500 days, and for every 3-4 months its 2-3 years to get that density back.
 

RicoADF

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rodneyy said:
i would have the atrophy their bone and muscle tissue were exposed to would be a larger risk. according to a quick wiki search people loose about 1.5% bone mass per month thats about 25% over the 500 days, and for every 3-4 months its 2-3 years to get that density back.
Yeah that's the biggest issue. Granted being a couple there are extra exercises they can do..... which could cause other problems. What would happen if the wife falls pregnant.
 

Tragedy's Rebellion

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I'd go insane on the second month from the sheer boredom of the whole ordeal. Seriously, almost 2 YEARS without doing ANYTHING while stuck in a BOX, the space sex will get boring pretty fast, trust me ;d. I suppose they could get a laptop, if they somehow find a way to install something to charge it with, and install enough games on it to last for 2 years ;d. Books too, I suppose. Still, it would be maddening.

They probably calculated the risk for bone atrophy, it would be a huge oversight to not do it.
 

Anti-American Eagle

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I can see the headlines for when they get back... THE FIRST MAN TO ORBIT MARS EATS WIFE DURING VOYAGE
 

chadachada123

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Tragedy said:
I'd go insane on the second month from the sheer boredom of the whole ordeal. Seriously, almost 2 YEARS without doing ANYTHING while stuck in a BOX, the space sex will get boring pretty fast, trust me ;d. I suppose they could get a laptop, if they somehow find a way to install something to charge it with, and install enough games on it to last for 2 years ;d. Books too, I suppose. Still, it would be maddening.

They probably calculated the risk for bone atrophy, it would be a huge oversight to not do it.
You act as if communication with Earth would be impossible, or that power would be an issue.

I assume it would have solar panels, making power a non-issue. The Mars Rover, for example, gets 140 watts per hour for four hours every day on the surface of Mars, with the average laptop using about 50 watts during use, less when idle, on a ship that would have constant direct sunlight. Power would not be a factor, at least, not a factor that couldn't be solved by another foot of solar paneling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover#Power_and_electronic_systems
(Source for laptop wattage: Various. I actually used a high estimate compared to the most scientific result I found, which was from 2004, which gave 8-30 watts: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:TMvAc_8Qc0kJ:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.87.5604%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj-UShkCJqa8-MtuxqVBJmt8GNtTlTGQNAeBoN9I8yK4k9Q8GhItxxX_Wpw16yy2h9DYHPGwCtO8Nby9Izoo5e-XAR5MLYcgcIvESmITlc-nkMZsdr8-UAq31VFdj8JeRV6Om7e&sig=AHIEtbS-8v6efHg_ikjFo3CxlXz7ECSGqw )

As far as tech goes, of course they'd have a laptop or two. That would be a necessity. In terms of entertainment, they'd absolutely be able to download movies and games and books from online, since even at its furthest the time delay would only be forty minutes to receive a response (When Earth and Mars is closest, 3.22 light minutes between them, when farthest, 22.27 light minutes). I can't speak on the download speeds specifically but I see little reason to think it would be unusably slow.

Even if it was unusably slow for movies or complex games, it would still be very usable for news articles and books (and simple flash games), meaning all the entertainment they could ever need. 500 days? That's a few dozen novels, a few hundred hours reading news articles and science journals, etc. Pretty easy to handle, in my opinion, as long as the couple enjoys knowledge and learning and is by no means your "average" adult couple.

Don't forget, we have several-terabyte hard drives that can fit in the palm of your hand, and could start the trip with many hundreds of hours of movies and other entertainment, too.
 

Abomination

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Uh oh, heterosexual couple only.

Why not a homosexual couple? Oh wait then you only have one gender going up there.

TWO homosexual couples? Are only the gay allowed in space?

Two homosexual couples and one heterosexual couple? Life support for 6 people and privacy for 3 groups? That'll cost a ton.

How long were some sea voyages for? Months? I wonder if anyone ever hit multiple years on a boat without setting foot on land or calling into a harbour?

Wonder what the daily routine would be. Wake up, eat, check systems, {emergency maintenance}, bathe, exercise, check world news, routine maintenance, eat, exercise, recreation, eat, exercise, sleep?
 

Evil Smurf

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Nov 11, 2011
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What's wrong with gay people in space?
http://www.flickwit.net/images/little-britain.jpg

Do we not like these people?
 

CardinalPiggles

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In space, no one can hear you nag...

Seriously though, I would do this if I had a spouse. Let me take my PC and I'll be able to catch up on all of my games.
 

VanQ

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Tragedy said:
I'd go insane on the second month from the sheer boredom of the whole ordeal. Seriously, almost 2 YEARS without doing ANYTHING while stuck in a BOX, the space sex will get boring pretty fast, trust me ;d. I suppose they could get a laptop, if they somehow find a way to install something to charge it with, and install enough games on it to last for 2 years ;d. Books too, I suppose. Still, it would be maddening.

They probably calculated the risk for bone atrophy, it would be a huge oversight to not do it.
Sell everything then buy all the handhelds and a laptop and a fuckload of games and bring hard drives full to the brim with TV, movies and cartoons and hope you manage to bring enough to keep yourself entertained for nearly two years.

Evil Smurf said:
What's wrong with gay people in space?
http://www.flickwit.net/images/little-britain.jpg

Do we not like these people?
Oh boy here we go. Even if you're just having a joke let's not start this.
 

Abomination

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VanQQisH said:
Evil Smurf said:
What's wrong with gay people in space?
http://www.flickwit.net/images/little-britain.jpg

Do we not like these people?
Oh boy here we go. Even if you're just having a joke let's not start this.
Well, they were disturbingly specific about it being a heterosexual couple. One can't help but think "Is there some agenda to this we're not seeing?".