# Would you go to Mars? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841 "2011-10-26T12:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/41 "2011-10-27T17:04:45Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’d jump at the chance, even if it were one-way. But I’d try to get my partner and pets on-board too. No family - if it goes wrong they don’t want a Saving Private Ryan type PR disaster. No pets either - wasted life support capacity. > [@rachelellogram](#): > > What is the pay, sir? If it’s for an astronaut’s wages, hell yes. If it’s for free? No. They’d at least have to cover storage for my shit and make sure I have a job when I get back home. Standard astronaut pay, but you’ll have to arrange your own affairs yourself. Went with the 400-450 days trip based on Wiki’s cite - if it ends up taking longer don’t blame me! ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/42 "2011-10-27T17:06:00Z")
Nope. I’ll be in my 50s in 2030 but even if I were much younger I’d still say no. I’ll see Mars after I die (I plan to go galaxy hopping) - I can wait. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/43 "2011-10-27T17:15:05Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Something tells me that “I’ll go if my pet(s) can come along” might cause you to miss the first couple of missions. I was wondering why he wanted to take his pets and his partner on a one way death mission myself. Maybe there are some simmering issues we don’t know about? 🙂 Don’t throw em under the spaceship! ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/44 "2011-10-27T18:56:36Z")
Probably not, but I could possibly be convinced to go. There’s just so much to see and do on Earth that I haven’t come close to experiencing that I’d rather just stay here and do those. Plus, a year without running or even significant movement outdoors would be awful. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/45 "2011-10-27T19:58:25Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > What is the pay, sir? If it’s for an astronaut’s wages, hell yes. If it’s for free? No. They’d at least have to cover storage for my shit and make sure I have a job when I get back home. Yeah, I do it. I’d do it for free. Because aside from the adventure, the journey, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the mystic and the mystery, and the bar bragging rights, I’m fairly certain that speaking fees for one round on a lecture circuit would blow any “astronaut’s wages” I’m waving to sign up for this mission. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/46 "2011-10-27T20:36:38Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > in a nanosecond. > > if they’d asked me if i wanted a seat on the next shuttle the day after the Challenger explosion, i’d have said yes without hesitation. I’m right there with you. I get the shivers just watching a launch on TV. I was at the Kennedy Space Center this summer, and the Saturn rocket was more interesting than any of the rides at the Orlando parks. I’ve wanted to go into space for as long as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/47 "2011-10-27T20:39:41Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > in a nanosecond. > > if they’d asked me if i wanted a seat on the next shuttle the day after the Challenger explosion, i’d have said yes without hesitation. Same for me. I might have been peeing down both legs the whole way up, but nothing would have kept me from going. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/48 "2011-10-28T03:09:20Z")
Well, there is the whole “having a wife, child, and responsibilities” thing that would make have to say no thanks…but if I was younger and unattached, I’d go in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/49 "2011-10-28T06:49:35Z")
No. I would love to go into space some day and see the earth from orbit but a round-trip to Mars seems like overkill. After a few weeks the novelty of space travel would wear off and it’s basically a very long journey to a barren rock in very cramped conditions. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/50 "2011-10-28T15:16:04Z")
Life on Mars (once you get there) is going to be pretty boring…basically, you will be living in a small tin can, with several other people. Entranced by the vistas? Mars looks a lot like the SW US deserts-without life…apt to get boring soon. So as you sit in your smelly tin can, you contemplate the 18 month journey back to Earth (assuming that’s in the plan). nless you are a totally devoted scientist type, life on Mars is going to disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/51 "2011-10-28T23:15:29Z")
Of course not. I’m not an astronaut, and I couldn’t withstand the training even if I wanted to, which I really don’t. I marvel at people who can stand weightlessness and the lack of a useful vestibular system. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/52 "2011-10-29T00:06:35Z")
I would if I could smuggle a McDonald’s wrapper on board, just to toss it onto the surface of Mars before leaving. I’d rather do it on the moon, though, because it couldn’t be buried, blown away or destroyed. The ultimate in a long-term-timing joke. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/53 "2011-10-29T01:03:56Z")
If there was actual research that I could do upon landing (in other words, the man-to-Mars mission isn’t just a PR stunt), not only would I be willing to go, I’d be willing to go even if it meant there would be no return trip. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/54 "2011-10-29T01:44:26Z")
Just being there is research, Student. Long-term survival, medical issues resulting from long-term habitation on Mars? These are important things. I’d go even if that was all I could do. There are very few things I believe in as much as I believe in the human need for exploration. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841/55 "2011-10-29T02:05:14Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > I’d have to say that I’d cut off my right nutsack for the chance, even if it meant my death. You have multiple nutsacks?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-mars/600841.md?page=2)