These people applied to go to Mars • Hacker News Board

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#41

Post by skrebbel » Sun, May 05, 2013, 6:58 AM UTC

zalzane wrote: post #10

This feels like one of the most "in your face" scams I've seen in awhile. The first thing I wanted to find out when I visited the site is where they got their funding - of course that section is absent from the site. The second thing I looked up is how they expected to get there and how they were solving the engineering challenges involved. On the technology page I found a dumbed down list of the different modules in…

There's less than 500 people on that page. Let's be wild and assume they quadruple that to 2000 applicants. Times 38 dollars, that's less than 80000 dollars.

For that, they made an elaborate web page, did tons of PR outreach (not just on the internet; they're Dutch, and have been in Dutch traditional media a fair lot). They even got a reputable university on board (Universiteit Twente).

To scam people out of $80k?

No. They actually believe that there's a fair chance that they'll pull this off. Whether that's a sensible belief is another thing entirely, but they believe it.

You do know that they plan to finance the trip by selling TV show rights for it? Even if it miserably fails, it's great television.

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#42

Post by TeMPOraL » Sun, May 05, 2013, 7:17 AM UTC

shmageggy wrote: post #12

kiba wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By their settlement date, a falcon heavy or a variant of it, should be ready.

So it doesn't exist, and is therefore unvalidated...

In defense, it's being built right now. AFAIR SpaceX tested engines for it recently.

It's engineering. When you have a design validated "on paper" you're likely already 80% done - the rest is to actually assemble and fix problems simulations didn't catch.

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#43

Post by pawelwentpawel » Sun, May 05, 2013, 7:19 AM UTC

zalzane wrote: post #10

This feels like one of the most "in your face" scams I've seen in awhile. The first thing I wanted to find out when I visited the site is where they got their funding - of course that section is absent from the site. The second thing I looked up is how they expected to get there and how they were solving the engineering challenges involved. On the technology page I found a dumbed down list of the different modules in…

One thing is the application fee. Second are google ads (very unrelated in my case). It would be too bad if it turned out to be a complete scam. It occurs to me that some of those people put quite a lot of effort into making their "demo" videos (not all of them are webcam presentations).

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#44

Post by stcredzero » Sun, May 05, 2013, 7:46 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #39

tnuc wrote: post #5

490 people times $38 application fee. $18620 collected thus far. Maybe someone could start a site to send people to the sun? I'm sure it would work if they went at night.

You'd make more if you took money to send third parties to the sun.

They are going at night? :)

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#45

Post by enupten » Sun, May 05, 2013, 7:52 AM UTC

mtowle wrote: post #23

Couldn't help but notice the applicants are almost exclusively white people. What do you make of that?

That white people are less sane ?

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#46

Post by rdl » Sun, May 05, 2013, 7:56 AM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #44

rdl wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd make more if you took money to send third parties to the sun.

They are going at night? :)

Indeed, and when they get back, they will be going to live on a farm in the country with lots of other friendly people, water, food, etc., where they can run free... but no, you can't visit them :)

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#47

Post by rowanseymour » Sun, May 05, 2013, 8:13 AM UTC

If I was looking for people to build the first human colony on Mars I'd want the most mentally stable, non-egotistical, discerning people on planet Earth. Precisely the last people who'd make videos of themselves and apply to be on a reality TV program.

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#48

Post by scotth » Sun, May 05, 2013, 9:13 AM UTC

mostly_harmless wrote: post #30

SCAQTony wrote: post #17

I suggest that death row inmates be selected for the "Mars One" mission. These inmates are the most practiced at being forcibly confined in a hopeless environment and would be the most inspired individuals to make a death sentence into a life sentence. Australia is a de facto example.

Then again, throwing a whole bunch of murderers into a can with no authority figures to referee is bound to end badly

Just send the guards too.

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#49

Post by scotth » Sun, May 05, 2013, 9:14 AM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #27

grimtrigger wrote: post #18

"Don't attribute to malice what you can attribute to stupidity". I think taking application fees even when they are at least 10 years away from their goal is absurd and probably unethical, but it looks like their team has a sincere desire to make the mission happen. Its threads like this that make me wish HN was not so cynical.

Remember to quote it correctly: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity The differences may be subtle, but the meaning is quite distinct from the way you phrased it.

Blah blah blah

Re: These people applied to go to Mars

#50

Post by [deleted] » Sun, May 05, 2013, 9:54 AM UTC

whatshisface wrote: post #6

Elsewhere on the website, they discuss a few reasons why they think they are more likely to complete their mission than others who have attempted. Sadly, a couple of their points seem a bit iffy: - Simple rovers – Through the use of relatively simple rovers, designed to conduct basic settlement construction prior to human astronaut arrival, saving both time and cost. I'm not a professional aerospace engineer, but con…

[deleted]