Actually the original rallying year for the Mars One project was to be 2023. So if I had been right on the mark, I would have started a Death Watch 2023 at that time.
Getting a satellite in place around Mars has been pushed back by two years. The Mars One team says this will place the ultimate goal one year behind 2024. Methinks the mission will eventually be for 2026 as they now have a built in reason to be a year later than currently promised. So at the appropriate time I will be calling this Death Watch 2026.
So let’s look at 3 more of the astronauts. This time because of the source, they are British. We begin with Maggie Lieu who says, “Once you’re on Mars, they can’t make you do what they want.”
Oh great. We have a possible astronaut practically promising insubordination. If this carries on throughout the ranks of the selected 1000, we might get such a split in direction of astronauts that they might not be able to succeed at everything and thus die.
Ryan MacDonald says that in 3 weeks one human on Mars could do all that the rovers have done. I disagree but will not argue the point here as there is a much bigger fish to fry.
He says, “If we want to ever prove definitively whether there is life on Mars, we will have to send someone there.” And I predict with certainty that astronauts will discover life on Mars.
It’s just that it will be Earth life, brought along by the astronauts themselves. This mission has no safeguards to ensure that Earth bacteria and other life doesn’t tag along or contaminate the Martian samples. There will be plenty of the microscopic organisms inside the living quarters of any human astronauts and I’ll bet that they will easily be able to sneak out on Mars walks.
Which brings up a problem for the whole mission. Earth life may find the necessary supports on Mars, so all future missions evermore will be contaminated by Earth life. We may destroy the Martian ecology before even finding its life.
Astronaut in Waiting #3 is Alison Rigby. She seems the brightest of the three as her and her partner tried staying indoors for two weeks with only the internet to communicate with the outside world. But by her own admission she started having the symptoms of cabin fever after 10 days. Her own study seems to invalidate her going to Mars.
Well there you have it. 3 potential astronauts up and 3 down. Next time perhaps I’ll specifically look for Canadian prospective astronauts who put their feet in their mouths. Something that’s probably way easier on Mars and may indeed be their only food source.
