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Mars One announces satellite and lander

By T.K. Randall
December 11, 2013 · Comment icon

26 comments

Mars One's ultimate goal is to settle a human colony on Mars. Image Credit: Mars One / Bryan Vertseeg

The company aiming to send humans on a one-way Mars trip is set to launch a robotic mission by 2018.

With more than 200,000 applicants signed up for a one-way ticket to Mars, the ambitious Mars One project has been at the receiving end of a fair amount of skepticism since announcing its intentions to have humans living and working on the Red Planet by as early as 2024.

The seemingly infeasible goal has done little to dampen the company's enthusiasm however as this week Mars One have announced plans to send a robotic mission to Mars within just four years.

The mission is aimed at testing out the technologies that will be needed to send humans to Mars and will consist of a lander and a communications satellite. Aerospace company Lockheed Martin will be working on the lander while UK-based company Surrey Satellites has been contracted to work on the satellite.

Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp described the endeavor as "the first step in Mars One's overall plan of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars." If it goes ahead then it will already be entering the record books as the first ever privately funded mission to another planet.

Source: The Guardian | Comments (26)

Tags: Mars

Recent comments on this story

#17 Posted by skookum 11 years ago

Another concern is the effects of being weightless for 6 months and then being pushed into an environment where there would be a lot of construction, setting things up just to survive. I appreciate that Mars has less gravity and people have survived in weightless environments for far longer. They will suffer muscle deterioration and may not be capable physically of setting up a base when they arrived. I read sometime back it was a major concern when Nasa started to think about manned Mars missions. People who have been on the space stations for any length of time sometimes need help just to st... [More]

#18 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 11 years ago

People who have been on the space stations for any length of time sometimes need help just to stand up on their return. Things have moved on since then. With the exercise regime that astronauts/cosmonauts go through they can generally walk almost as soon as they land. Muscle wasting is minimal (bone loss is more of a concern). The Russians have been looking into the ability of cosmonauts to do complex tasks after long duration missions. In March Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin simulated landing a spacecraft on Mars, using a centrifuge, immediately after returning from a s... [More]

#19 Posted by Junior Chubb 11 years ago

This is not suicide, this is progress; the next logical evolutionary step for humanity. I hope you signed up then

#20 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 11 years ago

I hope you signed up then I may be an optimist about the future of spaceflight but I am a realist when it comes to my own abilities. there is no way an overweight, unfit, very short sighted, diabetic, 48 year old is going to be selected. You have been very selective in which part of my post you quoted. I left wonder at the reason you ignored me saying this: Personally I don't think the time is right for this, we simply don't know enough to guarantee the safety of the intrepid voyagers. I'm also not convinced that "reality" TV is the correct reason to do this

#21 Posted by Junior Chubb 11 years ago

I may be an optimist about the future of spaceflight but I am a realist when it comes to my own abilities. there is no way an overweight, unfit, very short sighted, diabetic, 48 year old is going to be selected. You have been very selective in which part of my post you quoted. I left wonder at the reason you ignored me saying this: Of course it was selective, it was a quip (with a winking smiley at the end) rather than a constructive break down of your post. I didn't really want to get into the rest of your post, you seemed to 'want to' disagree with other peoples opinions of the Mars One proj... [More]

#22 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 11 years ago

I didn't really want to get into the rest of your post, you seemed to 'want to' disagree with other peoples opinions of the Mars One project while ultimately agreeing with them. It's not that I want to disagree with them. There have been quite a few thread on this topic and I have tried to keep out of them because my position can come across as ambiguous. It isn't but I didn't want to spend a long time explaining it. However as I've foolishly allowed myself to be sucked in I'll try to explain. There are many good reasons why I do not believe that the model chosen for Mars One is a good one, ho... [More]

#23 Posted by Junior Chubb 11 years ago

Blimey Waspie, I take it you feel quite strongly about this one. I was on my way to bed but hey ho lets go... It's not that I want to disagree with them. There have been quite a few thread on this topic and I have tried to keep out of them because my position can come across as ambiguous. It isn't but I didn't want to spend a long time explaining it. However as I've foolishly allowed myself to be sucked in I'll try to explain. I know that feeling... There are many good reasons why I do not believe that the model chosen for Mars One is a good one, however many of the reasons people are giving a... [More]

#24 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 11 years ago

Blimey Waspie, I take it you feel quite strongly about this one. I feel VERY strongly about all aspects of space exploration. I firmly believe that it is the best and only hope for the prolonged existence of humanity as a species. You need to give some of the UM users more credit. My comments were aimed ONLY at those making incorrect assumptions. I am fully aware that there are many logical and factual options that have been expressed on this. By the same token, if you go back and read through all the previous thread (it will take you time, there are a lot of them) then you will see that there... [More]

#25 Posted by Junior Chubb 10 years ago

I feel VERY strongly about all aspects of space exploration. I firmly believe that it is the best and only hope for the prolonged existence of humanity as a species. I can only agree with this, and have argued it myself in the past. My comments were aimed ONLY at those making incorrect assumptions. I am fully aware that there are many logical and factual options that have been expressed on this. By the same token, if you go back and read through all the previous thread (it will take you time, there are a lot of them) then you will see that there are a lot of illogical and fallacious opinions e... [More]

#26 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago

2018 Mars Lander 360° animationThe Mars One 2018 demonstration mission is scheduled to launch in May of 2018. The lander design is based on the successful Mars lander, the 2007 NASA Phoenix mission, built by Lockheed Martin.Credit: Mars OneSource: Mars One - YouTube Channel

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