So a few scientists proposed an unconventional idea: send astronauts — but simplify the flight by making it a one-way trip. The astronauts would be settlers as well as explorers. A return trip is massively more difficult than the voyage there, partly because the fuel and supplies to get home would have make the round trip from Earth.
It’s just a fanciful idea for now — but the editors say they were stunned when more than 500 e-mail messages came from people around the world, volunteering to be the first Mars colonists.
Students, soldiers, law enforcement officers, nurses, and space enthusiasts young and old wrote in, saying they’d be happy to leave their lives on Earth for the chance to be pioneers. (The response was so great, in fact, that the journal announced Thursday that it would actively seek volunteers and supporters for a Mars mission. It encouraged the public to sign up on the journal’s home page or e-mail them.)
Have you seen the world lately? Mars looks like the better bet with each passing day.
When asked why he would be willing to leave his son, family and friends behind, he said, “Christopher Columbus did it. It’s a pioneering thing. …Because it’s there.”
Well, yeah. There’s that, too.
We’re all about the need to explore and learn new ways of doing things. We also think the Professor summed it up nicely in last season’s Futurama.
via ABC news
