Question of the Day – Would You go to Mars?

With the Curiosity rover landing on Mars, the thought of public space travel or even a Dutch guy’s vision of a suicide mission to Mars doesn’t seem so far off. By 2023, Ben Lansdorp, founder of Mars One plans to have a habitat waiting for 10 lucky reality TV show winners who will get to go to Mars where they will live and, eventually, die. If only all reality TV shows banished its winners from Earth.

It raises the question, however, if given the chance, would you go to Mars? It turns out people are actually unbearably practical when it comes to a fantastic, hypothetical intergalactic vacation.

Have you heard about the rover that landed on Mars?

George Foreman, 65, Civil Engineer: Mmhmm. Curiosity killed the cat.

Right. So what are your thoughts on the Curiosity landing on Mars?

George: I think it’s a good deal.

What do you think they’re going to find?

Tammy, 41, Unemployed: I know they’ve already found water.

George: Probably different minerals, elements, things of that nature.

If we start traveling to Mars regularly, would you vacation on Mars?

Tammy: No, no, no.

George: Oh no, it’s too long. I could never book off work. Do you know how long it would take if you drove in your car to get there?

No, I can’t say that I do. How long?

George: 375 years.

Well thank god for spaceships.

Have you heard about the Curiosity landing on Mars?

Sarah, 19, student: Yeah, it parachuted down spectacularly and when it landed safely everyone was like “Whaaat?”

You should see the video of a hundred brilliant NASA dorks celebrating the landing, it’s great. Anyway, do you think that they will find anything?

Probably lots of rocks and iron I suspect. They’ve already found water.

What about life?

They might find death.

Well that’s morbid. Would you go to Mars?

Yes. Actually, how much does it cost?

I don’t think tickets are for sale yet.

Yeah, my dad for his 70th birthday wants a skiing vacation to Olympus Mons. I suspect it’s not gonna happen.

I wouldn’t be so sure, there’s this Dutch guy trying to send 10 people on a suicide mission to Mars by 2023. Would you go?

Yeah I might do that if it was offered. Do I have to speak Dutch?

I have no idea. If you went and you found a bunch of humanoid aliens, would you consider having sex with an alien?

It depends if they wanted to. It’s a fine line between bestiality and discrimination.

Did you hear about the Curiosity landing on Mars?

Sarah, 21, student: The one that was like “Oh it’s kind of rocky”…

Um, I don’t know. Maybe?

Yeah, no, I know it.

What do you think they will find there?

My professor was saying—he studies the Arctic and the Antarctic—that those areas and Mars are very similar. He thinks that there is some kind of link between them so whatever’s in the Arctic maybe.

Do you think we could potentially start living on Mars?

Absolutely not. It would be disastrous.

Tell that to the Dutch guy trying to build a sustainable community on Mars within the next 10 years.

What?? No way.

Oh yes. Would you have a long distance relationship with someone on Mars?

Aren’t men already from Mars?

Even better—would you do a Martian?

It would depend on how strange the penises are. Probably not.

Have you heard about the Mars rover landing?

Mario, 57, store owner: Yeah I heard of that rumor.

I think it’s a little more than a rumor. We’re definitely on Mars. You don’t seem to care all that much. Is this exciting to you at all?

No, no. Maybe if they actually find something up there, but no.

Do you think they will actually find anything?

No, no.

Really? They found water already, that’s a pretty big deal.

Yeah, not really, No, it’s too hot there.

Some people say we will start traveling there and maybe even living on Mars.

No, never. There is too much here. We have enough here, we should be content.

Would you ever vacation to Mars if it was offered for free?

No, even for free. I like my feet grounded.

Mario’s wife: Ha, the closest he’s going to get is a Mars bar.

Have you heard about Curiosity landing on Mars?

Alli, 19, barista: I have. I’m pretty excited about it. As much as it is an astronomical waste of resources that are definitely needed on Earth, it is very new and exciting. People are just constantly intrigued by other special forms so, as much as it is a waste of time and money, it’s almost inevitable in the sense that humans want to explore.

Ah, a pessimist. So should we not be on Mars?

Ideally the Mars resources would be diverted to somewhere that people need food and water and basic means of livelihood and if you divided 2.5 billion dollars into microloans you could basically solve poverty but, I mean, that’s not gonna happen. Ideally you divert military spending as well, but that won’t work out. It is exciting, though. I totally think they’re going to find things. Not a cure for cancer or anything, but they might find cool clues or something.

Do you think there is life on Mars?

Oh, absolutely. Or at least there was. There is frozen water, which means there was life or there will be life at some point.

Would you go to Mars?

Yeah, if I didn’t have to pay for it I would go. They’re studying a bunch of horticulture projects on space stations, so they’re looking into planting plants in space to sustain people for longer, which is an important step to creating sustainable ways to bring people into space instead of just giving everyone freeze dried strawberry ice cream.

Then maybe sustainable space travel and potentially situating people on Mars actually could be a good thing? Not a waste of money?

Possibly, especially in light of the fact that we are enormously over-populated right now, so if we could relocate and live sustainably—start fresh with people who want to live in a sustainable permaculture way then it would be a good way to restart. Then again, it could just be a mass exodus of environmentalists from Earth leaving everyone else in the shit that is the environmental degradation of the planet.

Have you heard about the rover that landed on Mars?

Jean-Francois, 24, Worker: Um, no.

Well, we’ve landed a rove on Mars and have gotten some of the first color pictures there and now we just have to wait and hear about what they find. It’s a pretty big deal. Do you think they’ll find anything?

No. Well, maybe. You know. I don’t know.

Do you care if they find anything?

Well, yes, it would be a nice push for humanity, maybe. Like “Oh, shit! Yes we can!”

If we could start traveling to Mars, would you go?

Yeah, yeah. That would be really nice.

Have you heard about the rover on Mars?

Cécil, 20, café: No, I didn’t know about it.

We’ve just landed a rover on Mars that is basically going to explore the landscape and report back all of its findings. Do you think there is anything for them to find?

On Mars? Maybe not. I think it’s really cold. I really don’t know, I’m no scientist. But I can believe that they would find something.

Would you believe it if they found life on Mars?

Well, I know there is life outside of Earth, I don’t need proof. There’s a lot of proof already, actually.

Now that Mars is becoming more accessible, do you think we could start traveling there?

No, I don’t think we will go that far. I think if we go too far, something is going to happen and will put an end to it.

There is a plan, though, for a suicide mission to Mars. This Dutch scientist wants to send 10 people to live on Mars and never come back.

How is he going to pick them?

A reality TV show.

NO! Oh no. That’s unbelievable. Ugh. No.

Tell me about it. Would you go?

No, I have too many things to do on Earth.