Saturday, June 9, 2012

How to choose a martian

Since going public with their website, apparently a lot of people have made inquiries about becoming a mars colonist for the Mars One project which will be selecting 40 people to train for ten years at the end of which four people will be chosen to go on a mission to mars Sept 2022 landing Apr 2023 assuming they can get the funding.

Jim has given me the right criteria for choosing the candidates with the right stuff. Just ask them one question,

Can you make heavy equipment out of dirt?

Then have them prove it. Why is this the question? Because we have a serious can't do attitude in modern life. People think things come from stores. Grocery store, hardware store, you-name-it store.

That's not where things come from. But to be fair, the naysayers know this. What they're really saying is, yes in theory you could but practically you can't. To which I say, practically they had better be able. Otherwise, leaving earth will forever be too big a hurdle. Things break. No big deal on earth, but on mars that means you die (depending on what breaks.)

Some of the most insightful comments come from Trent, "When I see plans for sending a few guys one way to Mars I don’t see a serious plan. I see a space suicide pact."

Right on. Martians need to be self sufficient. Can they make heavy equipment out of dirt? Of course they can, but will they be able to? They say invention is a mother. The martian settlers will need to have mechanically aptitude and be willing to do dirty jobs (yeah, that's a great premise for a show in this can't do world.) Two guys can put a tractor together (that's just one item of heavy equipment martians will need) from components in 8 hrs. What does it take to build all of those components of steel (from dirt)? Can it be done at all?

Do you still believe that things come from stores? Everything made is made by somebody. Perhaps not me or you, but not by magic either. A person with the training and skills did it. Martians will need that training and those skills. Another misbelief is that people can only make one thing (a serious cognitive illness in this can't do world.) A qualified machinist can make anything if given a blueprint. They can even make the tools and machines they need if they don't have them to start with (yes, they do need a set of hand tools to start with. That they will have.) One person all alone can do this. What they can't do is do it as fast as two or more; but they can (all alone with no outside help) do it.

Especially if they have no real alternative! That's life on a frontier.

It's why we need frontiers. So the can't do attitude doesn't infect us all.

Still the naysayers have a point. We need to avoid a space suicide pact. That means we need to send enough people on a mission. Four to six is not enough. A dozen is barely enough and should have a lot of support. I believe four dozen by the second mission (at the first opportunity after sending the first dozen) is the minimum if we are serious about developing a new planet. A big commitment requires a lot of funding and those paying and risking their lives should have some benefit for it. They have the right to build their own value with their own hands or effort and we should recognize that. Taxpayers don't have to pay for this. It is totally self funding if we...


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