
Mars One Finalist Announces That It's All a Scam - SonicSoul
http://www.iflscience.com/space/whats-going-mars-one
======
nmc
Reading on, at first the title feels exaggerated.

However, the end of Elmo Keep's piece on Medium (linked from the article, or
at the end of this comment) leaves little room for doubt:

 _Mars One has almost no money. Mars One has no contracts with private
aerospace suppliers who are building technology for future deep-space
missions. Mars One has no TV production partner. Mars One has no publicly
known investment partnerships with major brands. Mars One has no plans for a
training facility where its candidates would prepare themselves. Mars One’s
candidates have been vetted by a single person, in a 10-minute Skype
interview._

[https://medium.com/matter/mars-one-insider-quits-
dangerously...](https://medium.com/matter/mars-one-insider-quits-dangerously-
flawed-project-2dfef95217d3)

~~~
yincrash
I don't think 'scam' is appropriate. More like 'failure'? Scam is specifically
with intent to defraud, but I do think these guys wanted to go to Mars, just
didn't succeed like many other startups.

~~~
ddorian43
They knew from the very start that they would never go to Mars. Probably let's
try it and gather/scam/steal what we can.

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Nursie
Well duh!

Was it not obvious from the outset that (at the very least) it was pie-in-the-
sky fantasy thinking?

They came form nowhere, with an idea to run a reality show about sending
people to Mars. At this point we're already talking about it needing to be the
best-funded TV program (or movie) in history, because not only would the tech
to do it be hideously expensive, most of it doesn't even exist yet.

Then, before having secured any of this massive amount of funding, they start
inviting applicants?

Not a surprise.

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sago
_Does it matter if we 're 8 years late?_

Yes, yes it does. When you're relying on your mission crew to be at a
particular life stage when you are ready to go. When they're suddenly 8 years
later with families and commitments, it's going to be a whole different set of
decisions.

That's assuming some of your dupes don't waste the best years of their lives
waiting for you.

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iwwr
At least the whole endeavor has fueled public discussion about Mars
exploration, which is valuable in and of itself. There is also some value in
exploring Mars-to-stay kinds of missions.

To people interested in this, you can also contact the Mars Society for their
Mars analogue studies (Mars Desert Research Station). They take crews every 3
months.

[http://mdrs.marssociety.org/](http://mdrs.marssociety.org/)

~~~
bkcooper
_At least the whole endeavor has fueled public discussion about Mars
exploration, which is valuable in and of itself._

There's also a cost associated with having the most visible discussion of
human travel to Mars be a scam.

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tokenadult
Full article link here (as kindly pointed out by an earlier subcomment):

[https://medium.com/matter/mars-one-insider-quits-
dangerously...](https://medium.com/matter/mars-one-insider-quits-dangerously-
flawed-project-2dfef95217d3)

------
wyldfire
> Mars One was hoping to generate $6 billion from a reality show.

That dollar amount sounds pretty ludicrous. But if you could somehow bootstrap
some faith that it was real, I suppose maybe they could generate global
viewership that would translate to large revenues. In turn, those revenues
could actually be used to fund a real launch.

 _shrug_ , of course people would only watch in big numbers if you could also
supply some washed-up C-list celebrities and oddballs.

~~~
mschuster91
> That dollar amount sounds pretty ludicrous.

The UK soccer league makes 2 billion euros per year - assume that this reality
show runs for three or four years and you got yourself a big fat bag of money,
especially as this would be broadcasted and marketed across the globe
(including the US, which have a high population but 0 interest in soccer).

~~~
throwaway283719
The UK soccer league is the most popular sport in the UK, and has a huge
following elsewhere in Europe as well as in South America and Asia. For many
of the biggest teams, the majority of their fan-base is outside of the UK. For
many people, playing or watching soccer is their primary leisure activity.
There are 6-10 premier league games screened each weekend across a variety of
channels, not to mention the other leagues (which also have huge followings
going down into the 2nd, 3rd and 4th leagues) and the various regional and
international competitions that UK teams compete in, as well as the untold
hours of soccer-related programming that isn't showing games.

I don't think the comparison with a hypothetical reality TV show is very
meaningful.

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VariousPancakes
The site alone seemed a bit cheesy for such a lofty "mission".

At first glance I totally thought it was the start of a new ARG.

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username4321
This news article from Mars one's website proves that claim false!
[http://www.mars-one.com/news/press-releases/mars-ones-ceo-
ba...](http://www.mars-one.com/news/press-releases/mars-ones-ceo-bas-lansdorp-
answers-questions-about-mission-feasibility)

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morgante
Did anyone ever take this seriously in the first place?

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Lambdanaut
It's a shame that it's all a scam. They're doing a lot to wreck public
perception of the possibility of a Martian base/colony.

I'm still holding out hope for SpaceX's Martian ambitions!

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ourmandave
What is their pretend projected launch date for this?

When all the experts (outside of Mars One) are saying we're 20 years away
minimum (just like with sustainable fusion and personal jet packs), who would
sign up today?

~~~
afarrell
Is there a serious expectation that personal jet packs are going to be worn by
anyone but particular military personnel and particular field technicians
repairing infrastructure?

~~~
ourmandave
Maybe for recreational use?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboard)

My point was, as a potential Mars crew member, who is going to commit to a
minimum 20 year flight date without all ready being in a space program?

