Controversy about the program to send people to Mars

Joseph Roche is on the list of 100 people who can get close to the opportunity to go to Mars, but thinks the Mars One program is just a fantasy. A week later, the head of the organization denied it.

Controversy about the project of the Mars 'Mars One'

Simulate the whereabouts of human communities on the red planet.(Photo: Mars One)

Joseph Roche is an assistant professor at Trinity, Dublin, Ireland, specializing in physics and astrophysics. He is one of 100 people on the list of candidates for the second round of the search for Mars Mars One. On March 17, Roche answered an email interview with Matter that the selection process was fundamentally flawed, and he had never met anyone in the Mars One project.

Candidate's question

" When you join the Mars One community, things happen automatically if you register as a candidate and they start having to score. You score through each selection round (arbitrary score, not related to things). self-rank), and then how to get more points than buying goods from Mars One or donating money to them , 'Roche said.

According to Roche, the object most likely to be selected for the project to establish a human community on Mars is the generous people who spend the most money on it . This priority is greater than an astronaut's training or expertise. According to the initial announcement, the organizers will interview by area and personal inspection, but then the plan was replaced by a 10-minute Skype interview.

During the interview, Roche said that Mars One's medical staff, Norbert Kraft, asked him questions based on their own compilation of documents related to the red planet and this mission, without psychological testing. . Meanwhile, to become a training candidate for a space flight by the US Aerospace Agency (NASA), individuals must meet at least 1,000 flight hours.

" That means that the information they gathered about me was just a sketchy video I made myself, the registration with the main answers one word, and then a 10-minute Skype interview. All that is not enough to judge someone about any aspect , 'Roche said.

Mars One said they received more than 200,000 records of candidates, farmers hoping to fly to space and test a new life. But according to Roche, the actual number is much lower, only 2,761.

Life on Mars is relatively harsh, but thousands of people still want to live on this planet.(Artwork: NASA)

Feedback from Mars One

After Roche's announcement, Bas Lansdorp, head of Mars One, announced a video on YouTube on March 19.

" The idea that our candidates are selected based on how much they donate to the Mars One. This is simply not true and very easy to check on our website. There are many candidates. the third round has not yet donated to the Mars One and many people who have reached the third round still support the project, " Lansdorp said.

In the video, the Dutch businessman revealed the project will be postponed to 2027 , three years later than the previous plan. The first unclaimed mission will also be implemented in 2020 instead of 2018, because the agreement with investors "takes longer than the idea".

However, he said the $ 6 billion cost of the Mars One project is not a low figure as many criticisms. NASA estimates the cost for this program must be around $ 23 billion. " We are confident that this budget is sufficient," Lansdorp said.

Many candidates on the list of 100 people eventually rejected Roche's claim , including Ryan McDonald, a 21-year-old physics student. However, in fact, there is very little information from Mars One about this mission.

Recent information seems to be related to the Mars One on March 18 announcing the postponement of unmanaged robots. Lansdorp also acknowledged that the production and distribution company Endemol had withdrawn, not reporting on the project, and they were looking for a new production company.

Since the initial research contracts with Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellite Technology were completed in 2013, Mars One has no partnership with aerospace technology manufacturers, nor is it Report any investment activities with major corporations.

Many criticisms about the Mars One have been raised since this bold idea was first announced in 2011. This will probably continue, until they prove that the dream conquers. Mars has a practical basis.