600 Chinese apply to live permanently on Planet Mars
Over 600 Chinese have applied to join an ambitious Dutch aerospace
project that plans to send humans on a one-way trip to Mars for
permanent settlement.
The Dutch project, while triggering enthusiasm to explore outer space,
is also under fire with the trip being viewed by some as a suicide
mission, with applicants being shipped to a planet that is uninhabitable
by humans.
The project, Mars One, is being launched by a Dutch non-profit
organisation, and is scheduled to take four humans to the Red Planet in
2023.
In the first three days after it was launched this week, over 20,000
people from all over the world submitted their applications online, with
more than 600 coming from China, state-run China Daily reported.
Bas Lansdorp, co-founder of Mars One told the media in Shanghai that he
is confident of turning the dream
into reality, and plans to attract
more than five lakh applicants.
The Chinese enthusiasm to travel to Mars is building up as China, which
has a well funded space programme focussing on Moon missions and
building a space station is planning a three-phase Mars space missions
to collect samples from the Red Planet by 2030.
The three stages are remote sensing, soft-landing, exploration and
return after collecting automatic sampling, according to Ouyang Ziyuan,
China’s Chief scientist for Lunar missions.
But India may steal the march as Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) is bracing to launch its first Mars mission in November to become
the first Asian country to accomplish it.
NASA has already landed a rover on Mars remaining well ahead of other space programmes of the world.
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission is expected to be launched in mid-October
this year, will carry five experimental payloads with a total weight of
14.49 kg.
Lansdorp said that when about 40 candidates have been fully trained, the
final decision on choosing the first settlers will be made by a TV
audience vote.
Lansdorp said Mars One chose Shanghai as the second stop for the
application press conference after New York because he believes many
Chinese, including youngsters, are very interested in becoming
astronauts, especially as the country already has its own astronauts.
Ma Qing, a 39-year-old bookseller, said, “I think the chance to be part
of the project is a cool way for me to change a dull daily life.
Besides, the air on Mars must be much cleaner and easier to breathe,” he
said with sense of sarcasm referring to China’s vows with pollution.
But Chang Tianxing, a space-lover from Shenzhen, Guangdong province,
said, “I think such a task is only suitable for senior, experienced
astronauts.
Exploring life on Mars, with everything starting from scratch, is mission impossible for us.
Pang Zhihao, a space expert, said the trip to Mars will require a
four-member crew, including an experienced astronaut who can drive the
spaceship.
Lansdorp said that by selling live coverage of the Mars mission, it will
be easy to raise the $6 billion needed to fund the project.
“There will be 4 billion Internet users by 2023, much more than for the
Olympic Games,” Lansdorp said, adding that organisers of the Beijing
2008 and London 2012 Olympics earned $1 billion a week.
But Pang said the project may cost more than Lansdorp imagines. Pang
said the distance between Earth and Mars means the trip will take eight
to nine months using existing technology.
Pang also referred to the harsh environment on Mars, saying sandstorms
there can last half a year and be six times stronger than severe
typhoons on Earth.
Lansdorp said the first Mars settlers will be able to live on vegetables.
According to the project brochure, applicants will pay an administration fee based on their country’s per capita GDP.
For example, a Chinese applicant would pay USS 11 to join the space trip.
