8/13/2019 Mars and Big Brother

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8/13/2019 Mars and Big Brother

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Interplanetary 'Big Brother'Mars One estimates that it needs $6 billion to send the first four astronauts to Mars. This moneywill cover developing the landing systems, habitats, Mars Transit Vehicle (MTV), rovers, solararrays and other  technologies  associated with the colony, as well as pay for the crew's journeyfrom Earth.

Every subsequent crew trip would cost $4 billion, Lansdorp told Space.com. Just sending asupply lander would cost $250 million.

Mars One plans to raise this money largely through a global reality television series that willfollow the colonization effort from astronaut selection to the first landing and the settlement’sexpansion.

The audience will vote for who gets to go to Mars from a pool of candidates selected by MarsOne’s experts. Lansdorp points to the 2012 London Olympics and the $4 billion it generatedfrom television revenues over its three weeks as evidence that such a funding plan can work.

Meanwhile, the application video revenue will finance early technology studies and prove thereis demand for a television show. ['Big Brother' on Mars? (Video)] 

“We can prove to the broadcasters that there is real demand and interest, and we will startnegotiations after the (astronaut) selection procedure begins,” Lansdorp said. 

Beyond the applicant videos and television show, future revenues include crowdfunding,exploiting the technologies developed for Earth’s markets and doing research on Mars forgovernments. For example, Mars One could eventually send samples of Martian soil to Earth, officials say.

Mission details taking shape

While the Mars spacecraft has yet to be designed, Lansdorp told the BIS audience that for the210-day journey, the vehicle would have a hollow 660-gallon (2,500 liters) water tank with fourcompartments.

 Astronauts would sleep in this area and use it as shelter from extreme solar radiation events.When the fir st team of four lands at the settlement’s location on April 24, 2023, the settlers willfind a colony whose habitats and solar arrays started working before they left Earth..

The colony’s habitats will be connected by fabric tunnels and covered in 6 feet (1.8 m) ofMartian soil, to provide radiation protection. Lansdorp told the BIS audience that with thecolony’s expected outdoor activities, the colonists will get a radiation dose over 10 years equalto that of ESA’s maximum allowed for its astronauts, which he described as “very safe."  

The colony will have inflatable greenhouses and use water from the Martian soil and nitrogenfrom the atmosphere to grow crops. The crew will cultivate rice, algae and insects for their highprotein content and will also likely grow mushrooms, along with tomatoes and other plants.