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Mars One Is a “Money Grab” Where Everyone Loses

79 points by xaro 9y ago

blackrock 9y ago
Even the Chinese government called Mars One to be a scam [1], and advised their citizens to avoid the organization. So when you've got China calling you out to be a fraud, then you must definitely be doing something wrong, in order for them to bother issuing a public statement like that. [1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/24/chinese_papers_brand_mars_one_hoax/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/24/chinese_papers_bran...
- fastball 9y ago
  What sense does that make? Or, China could feel threatened by the project because they want to get to Mars first?
- zingmars 9y ago
  EVEN the Chinese government? You say that like they're in business of scamming people. And honestly reading the original Chinese articles it doesn't look like an official government position or anything. It's just a newspaper that happens to be owned by the ruling party posting an article on things happening in the west.
  - RobertRoberts 9y ago
    I would suppose the commenter was referring to the fact that most of the business scams based on fake products (that us normal everyday people would be directly affected by) come from China. And since the Chinese government has large stakes or outright ownership of those businesses, they are culpable in massive worldwide product scams. (I really don't think I need to link the news articles for this it's so pervasive).
jdpigeon 9y ago
Funny enough, when Mars One launched I happened to be at a conference that was sharing a venue with another conference on Mars planetology. It was great because of all the conversations it allowed us to start. However, I think about half the scientists I talked to agreed with my assessment that it was either a 2012-era social media pipe dream (e.g. Kony) or a scam.
shmerl 9y ago
Is it even still a thing?
saas_co_de 9y ago
They are as likely to go to Mars as Elon musk so at least they are in rare company
- Robotbeat 9y ago
  I will be willing to bet that by 2040 SpaceX significantly helps send people to Mars, either by launching the people to orbit, launching a lot of the supplies (at least 40% by mass), building the Mars lander that lands people there, or even the whole-hog BFR/ITS architecture as Musk presented here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qo78R_yYFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qo78R_yYFA Willing to bet a $beverage? SpaceX has the largest (by payload) current launch vehicle in the world, and pioneered supersonic retropropulsion for landing (a critical technology for human-scale Mars landers) which they use to reduce the cost of space launch with most flights. They're the only US company that does regular orbital capsule flights (including reentry and recovery), and they're one of two US companies that will be flying people to orbit within about a year. Their Falcon 9, also one of the largest rockets in the world, launched more often to orbit than any other rocket (of any size) in the world last year. They're also currently building a reusable upper stage (which is also a human-scale Mars lander) for an even larger launch vehicle. If anybody is going to be landing people on Mars within the next couple decades, they'll most likely be at least substantially helped by SpaceX.
  - vannevar 9y ago
    SpaceX is certainly in the best position of any private organization I know of to get to Mars, from the infrastructure perspective. But in terms of financing, the parent comment is right, Musk may not be a whole lot better off than Mars One in the big picture. A single manned mission to Mars could cost north of $100B, and the entire value of SpaceX is only about $20B. SpaceX is private, but estimates are that if it's profitable on an operating basis at all, it's only marginally so. Throw in Tesla's likely cash needs for the foreseeable future, and Musk may have some tough times coming. Money is going to decide the outcome here, not technology. Unless SpaceX finds some hugely profitable business to start generating cash (maybe their planned satellite constellation?), Mars is speculation.
celim307 9y ago
I mean, pay to apply? Any company serious about this effort knows they should be chasing the handful of people mentally and physically capable of surviving timhis endeavor, not the other way around.
novalis78 9y ago
MarsOne definitely introduced the concept of colonizing Mars to a wider audience. For that, I think, they get far less credit than they deserve.
- hinkley 9y ago
  No, no it didn’t. For one, this is the first time I’ve heard of it. And more importantly, I think you are forgetting Robert Zubrin and Mars Direct: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin
  - reustle 9y ago
    "I didn't know about it therefore nobody did"
    - hinkley 9y ago
      And your retort to the “more importantly” part?
      - zulban 9y ago
        Popularising an idea isn't accomplished 100% by the first person who tries. I love the Mars Direct plan and I even travelled to see Zubrin at a Mars Society convention, but the man is absolutely shit at PR. There's definitely some bad with MarsOne, maybe it's mostly bad. But saying it's all bad is simplistic and ignorant of how public awareness is raised.
        hinkley 9y ago
        Sure, but I’ve seen news clips and Discovery channel specials and a bunch of other media. Most of them these days mention Elon, many many talk to or about Zubrin and their experiments (IIRC they just did a new one last fall?). If they dig deep enough they might even get Kim Stanley Robinson to answer a couple questions. But I’ve never heard them talk about Mars One. Which makes me believe there’s a bubble and I’m not the one inside of it.
ccccccccccccc 9y ago
Mars One is like the Fire festival of space
upofadown 9y ago
If they are actually spending their money on things to advance their cause then it is not a scam. It is likely an unwise enterprise and a terrible investment, but a scam is different...
8bitsrule 9y ago
MO promotes the concept of going to Mars ... that seems to be its main raison d'etre.
voidmain 9y ago
The best thing to come out of Mars One is the satirical ad campaign by the state of South Dakota. "Why die on Mars when you can live in South Dakota?" [1] http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/21/news/economy/south-dakota-mars-ad/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/21/news/economy/south-dakota-ma...

79 points by xaro 9y ago

Even the Chinese government called Mars One to be a scam [1], and advised their citizens to avoid the organization. So when you've got China calling you out to be a fraud, then you must definitely be doing something wrong, in order for them to bother issuing a public statement like that. [1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/24/chinese_papers_brand_mars_one_hoax/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/24/chinese_papers_bran...

fastball 9y ago
What sense does that make? Or, China could feel threatened by the project because they want to get to Mars first?
zingmars 9y ago
EVEN the Chinese government? You say that like they're in business of scamming people. And honestly reading the original Chinese articles it doesn't look like an official government position or anything. It's just a newspaper that happens to be owned by the ruling party posting an article on things happening in the west.
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  I would suppose the commenter was referring to the fact that most of the business scams based on fake products (that us normal everyday people would be directly affected by) come from China. And since the Chinese government has large stakes or outright ownership of those businesses, they are culpable in massive worldwide product scams. (I really don't think I need to link the news articles for this it's so pervasive).

jdpigeon 9y ago

Funny enough, when Mars One launched I happened to be at a conference that was sharing a venue with another conference on Mars planetology. It was great because of all the conversations it allowed us to start. However, I think about half the scientists I talked to agreed with my assessment that it was either a 2012-era social media pipe dream (e.g. Kony) or a scam.

shmerl 9y ago

Is it even still a thing?

saas_co_de 9y ago

They are as likely to go to Mars as Elon musk so at least they are in rare company

Robotbeat 9y ago
I will be willing to bet that by 2040 SpaceX significantly helps send people to Mars, either by launching the people to orbit, launching a lot of the supplies (at least 40% by mass), building the Mars lander that lands people there, or even the whole-hog BFR/ITS architecture as Musk presented here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qo78R_yYFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qo78R_yYFA Willing to bet a $beverage? SpaceX has the largest (by payload) current launch vehicle in the world, and pioneered supersonic retropropulsion for landing (a critical technology for human-scale Mars landers) which they use to reduce the cost of space launch with most flights. They're the only US company that does regular orbital capsule flights (including reentry and recovery), and they're one of two US companies that will be flying people to orbit within about a year. Their Falcon 9, also one of the largest rockets in the world, launched more often to orbit than any other rocket (of any size) in the world last year. They're also currently building a reusable upper stage (which is also a human-scale Mars lander) for an even larger launch vehicle. If anybody is going to be landing people on Mars within the next couple decades, they'll most likely be at least substantially helped by SpaceX.
- vannevar 9y ago
  SpaceX is certainly in the best position of any private organization I know of to get to Mars, from the infrastructure perspective. But in terms of financing, the parent comment is right, Musk may not be a whole lot better off than Mars One in the big picture. A single manned mission to Mars could cost north of $100B, and the entire value of SpaceX is only about $20B. SpaceX is private, but estimates are that if it's profitable on an operating basis at all, it's only marginally so. Throw in Tesla's likely cash needs for the foreseeable future, and Musk may have some tough times coming. Money is going to decide the outcome here, not technology. Unless SpaceX finds some hugely profitable business to start generating cash (maybe their planned satellite constellation?), Mars is speculation.

celim307 9y ago

I mean, pay to apply? Any company serious about this effort knows they should be chasing the handful of people mentally and physically capable of surviving timhis endeavor, not the other way around.

novalis78 9y ago

MarsOne definitely introduced the concept of colonizing Mars to a wider audience. For that, I think, they get far less credit than they deserve.

hinkley 9y ago
No, no it didn’t. For one, this is the first time I’ve heard of it. And more importantly, I think you are forgetting Robert Zubrin and Mars Direct: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin
- reustle 9y ago
  "I didn't know about it therefore nobody did"
  - hinkley 9y ago
    And your retort to the “more importantly” part?
    - zulban 9y ago
      Popularising an idea isn't accomplished 100% by the first person who tries. I love the Mars Direct plan and I even travelled to see Zubrin at a Mars Society convention, but the man is absolutely shit at PR. There's definitely some bad with MarsOne, maybe it's mostly bad. But saying it's all bad is simplistic and ignorant of how public awareness is raised.
      - hinkley 9y ago
        Sure, but I’ve seen news clips and Discovery channel specials and a bunch of other media. Most of them these days mention Elon, many many talk to or about Zubrin and their experiments (IIRC they just did a new one last fall?). If they dig deep enough they might even get Kim Stanley Robinson to answer a couple questions. But I’ve never heard them talk about Mars One. Which makes me believe there’s a bubble and I’m not the one inside of it.

ccccccccccccc 9y ago

Mars One is like the Fire festival of space

upofadown 9y ago

If they are actually spending their money on things to advance their cause then it is not a scam. It is likely an unwise enterprise and a terrible investment, but a scam is different...

8bitsrule 9y ago

MO promotes the concept of going to Mars ... that seems to be its main raison d'etre.

voidmain 9y ago

The best thing to come out of Mars One is the satirical ad campaign by the state of South Dakota. "Why die on Mars when you can live in South Dakota?" [1] http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/21/news/economy/south-dakota-mars-ad/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/21/news/economy/south-dakota-ma...