Mars One, a Dutch not-for-profit organization, is planning the project to have no return ticket back to Earth due to a lack of technology, and the physiological changes the human body will undergo after it adjusts “to the 38% gravitation field of Mars, and be incapable of returning to the Earth’s much stronger gravity,” the Mars One website explained.The company has already received thousands of application from over 120 countries. The majority of applicants are from the US (17,324), followed by China (10,241), the United Kingdom (3,581), Russia, Mexico and Brazil.“With seventy-eight thousand applications in two weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired job in history. These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants,” Mars One Co-Founder and CEO Bas Lansdorp said in a press release. The funds for the $6 billion project are being raised through a planned reality TV show that will follow the applicants as they train and prepare for their one-way journey. The mission has currently raised $84,121.The applicants have a wide range of personalities, professions and ages. “This is significant because what we are looking for is not restricted to a particular background,” Mars One Chief Medical Officer Dr. Norbert Kraft said.When applying, individuals were told to explain why they want go to Mars in a one minute video. Twenty-year-old private security contractor Benjamin Payne from the US describes himself as a “space cowboy” who wants to “explore new planets and new things.”Undergraduate student Connor, 24, wants to be part of the first human colony on Mars because“it is groundbreaking, revolutionary, and historical. I feel it is our duty as human beings to maintain, advance and ensure the survival of the human species. Mars is a stepping stone for that,” he said in his video.Even the older generation is interested in making the trip despite the lengthy training – at least seven years – plus the seven-month journey to Mars. Retired systems engineer Richard, 60, believes that Mars is “explorer’s golden ring for the next 25 to 30 years and I’d like to be a part of that experience.”Successful candidates will receive at least seven years of training before leaving Earth, the company explained.“Four rounds make the selection process, which will come to an end in 2015; Mars One will then employ 28-40 candidates, who will train for around 7 years. Finally an audience vote will elect one of groups in training to be the envoys of humanity to Mars,” Mars One said in its press release.Once on Mars, settlers will be involved mainly in construction work such as installing greenhouses, maintaining the settlement’s systems and researching Martian climate and geological history – all in inhospitable environment with no breathable air, and with temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius.The perfect candidate for the mission would not be a scientist with specific skill sets, but people with “a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust,” Mars One explained.This is not the only ongoing Mars project. Previously, Russian space agency Roscosmos signed a deal with the European Space Agency (ESA) to participate in the ExoMars project, a new attempt to discover life on the Red Planet. The mission will drill 30 times deeper beneath the surface of Mars than the currently operating Curiosity rover, reaching a depth of approximately 6.5 feet (2 meters).In 2010 and 2011, Russia carried out the Mars-500 experiment: A group of six volunteers were locked inside a simulated spacecraft at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow for 520 days – the time it would take to travel to Mars and back. … Read More
Families Of Navy SEAL Team 6 Reveal Government Culpability In Their Deaths Today
Today families of Navy SEAL Team 6 are to reveal the Federal Government’s culpability in the death of their sons in a fatal helicopter crash in Afghanistan, following their raid on Osama bin Laden’s house. … Read More
Austrian gets $38 million tax bill by mistake
A 22-year-old Austrian had the shock of his life when he received a tax bill for more than 29 million euros ($38 million), a newspaper reported Wednesday. Agadir B. told the Heute daily he got the bill after filing his tax return for 2008, when he earned around 600 euros a month as a trainee, with…
Main Manhattan bus terminal all clear after ‘suspicious package’ evacuation
The south wing of the terminal was evacuated, with buses outside dropping off pedestrians on the sidewalk, according to WABC-TV in New York. After about an hour, authorities gave the all clear to have the terminal return to normal operations. Bus service to/from Port Authority Bus Terminal is temporary suspended due to police activity. — NJ TRANSIT – NBUS (@NJTRANSIT_NBUS) 26 апреля 2013 г. In the picture below, passengers wait on the sidewalk at West 40th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan as all doors to the bus terminal have been closed while an investigation is underway. … Read More
Dutch reality show seeks volunteers for a getaway to the first human colony on Mars
“Gone are the days when bravery and the number of hours flying a supersonic jet were the top criteria,” said Norbert Kraft, Mars One’s Chief Medical Director and former NASA senior researcher.The company invites anyone from anywhere in the world to fill out an online application for the departure, scheduled for 2022, and land in April 2023. As the technology for a return flight does not exist, it will be a one-way ticket, according to Mars One website.“When that day comes there will be a memorial service and cremation ceremony, just like customs on Earth dictate.”The return to Earth is also not possible due to funding, as a one-way mission greatly reduces costs. Mars One is a non-profit organization, planning to raise money to fund the project, estimated at about $6 billion, according the web site.”It sounds like a lot of money. And actually it is a lot of money. But imagine what will happen when the first people land on Mars. Literally everybody on the globe will want to see it,” Lansdorp said as quoted on Mars One website.In addition to application fees, which will vary from $5 to $75 depending on the per capita GDP of the applicant’s country, the company plans to raise money by selling broadcast rights.”Not unlike the televised events of the Olympic Games, Mars One intends to maintain an on-going, global media event, from astronaut selection to training, from lift-off to landing,” the site said.Last year Mars One received 10,000 messages from applicants from over 100 countries, though the official launch of the selection program started on Monday.Requirements for ‘Martian citizenship’“We are very excited about launching the selection program. Round One is where we open the doors to Mars for everyone on Earth. This is an international mission and it is very important for the project that anyone anywhere can ask themselves: Do I want this? Am I ready for this? If the answer is yes then we want to hear from you,” said Lansdorp.The company established certain requirements for potential Martians. It is looking for applicants older than 18 years, who are ‘both mature and interesting’, according to Mars One. They have to possess certain character traits – ‘resilience, adaptability, curiosity, ability to trust others, creativity, and resourcefulness’.“For this mission of permanent settlement we are more concerned with how well each astronaut lives and works with others and their ability to deal with a lifetime of challenges”, said Kraft.According to the company the candidates don’t need particular professional skills, as they will obtain those during a seven-year training program in the US – everything you need to learn to survive on an inhospitable planet.The first settlers will be picked by an audience vote during the last stage of several rounds of the selection process of the trained and qualified candidates. They will travel to the red planet in groups of four every two years.The deadline for the first round of online applications is August 31.The company will use only existing technology available in the space industry. According to the website, a SpaceX spacecraft will send rovers and supplies ahead of the astronauts, and then the SpaceX Falcon Heavy will take the crew to Mars, where they will assemble their habitat.However, many questions rise about how the astronauts would survive on a planet with freezing temperatures and a carbon dioxide atmosphere. The company’s representatives claim that their project is ‘ethically sound’, calling it an ‘idealistic mission’.This is not the only ongoing Mars project. Previously the Russian space agency Roscosmos signed a deal with the European Space Agency (ESA) to participate in the ExoMars project, a new attempt to discover life on the Red Planet. … Read More
Former military dictator Pervez Musharraf banned from running in Pakistan election
Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was Tuesday disqualified from contesting Pakistani elections next month, crushing his ambition to “save” the troubled country just weeks after his return from exile. Pakistan goes to the polls on May 11 for an election that will mark the first time…
We find your lack of faith disturbing: Lego to shelve ‘anti-Islamic’ Jabba’s Palace
Muslim critics argued that the Lego set closely resembled Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, and that the film’s oriental and Asian figures had “deceitful and criminal” personalities – a criticism published in a January statement by the Turkish Cultural Community of Austria (TCA). Lego’s take on Jabba’s Palace shows his lair laden with machineguns and rockets, and its resemblance to both the ancient Hagia Sophia mosque and the Jami al-Kabir mosque in Beirut was described as “uncanny.”“The terrorist Jabba the Hutt likes to smoke a hookah and have his victims killed,” the statement read. “It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations.”The character of Jabba, who first appeared in the 1983 film ‘Return of the Jedi,’ is a ruthless hookah-smoking gangster with a penchant for gambling and torture who chained up a captive Princess Leia. His villainous nature led critics to label the Jabba’s Palace Lego set “pedagogical dynamite” because of the impact it would have in creating negative associations among children.Jabba’s Palace was added to the Star Wars Lego line in 2012. Controversy emerged after a Muslim father discovered his son had been given a set by his sister earlier this year. The TCA requested the immediate shelving of the set, which is targeted at children aged 9 to 14.Lego initially protested against the complaints, saying that the set was true to the depiction of Jabba’s palace in the ‘Star Wars’ films.“We see no reason to take it off the market, we have simply followed the film,” a spokesperson said in January.However, the new decision was announced over the weekend, following a meeting in Munich between Turkish community leaders and Lego executives. The halt in production will not occur immediately as requested, but will take place next year, according to the Independent.TCA President Birol Killic hailed the move in a statement:“We are very grateful and congratulate Lego on the decision to take Jabba’s Palace out of production.” … Read More
