# Would You Take First Trip to Mars ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860 "2009-01-25T01:42:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/21 "2009-01-25T05:50:29Z")
Sure, I’d go. Would the gravity inside the ship be such that my muscles wouldn’t deteriorate? What’s the time limit in the ISS - 6 months? Q ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/22 "2009-01-25T06:02:54Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Those who say “yes” have probably just read too much sci-fi. And those who say “No” are boring. Yes, I would. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/23 "2009-01-25T06:10:41Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > there’s always the chance to do research on the effects on humans, including psychological… No need to go to Mars for that - it would be easy enough to research all effects of a long lonely trip on or near earth. (For extended low-G, you’d have to put subjects in orbit.) The only good reason to send a person to Mars would be for the adventure and bragging rights. But if I thought the planning sufficient for a decent chance of success, I’d go. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/24 "2009-01-25T10:32:53Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > No need to go to Mars for that - it would be easy enough to research all effects of a long lonely trip on or near earth. (For extended low-G, you’d have to put subjects in orbit.) The only good reason to send a person to Mars would be for the adventure and bragging rights. I’d wager the psychological implications of being actually some 100 million km away from Earth and everything, including rescue if anything goes wrong, not to mention actually setting foot on some alien planet, are quite different from just merrily hopping about in orbit. And yes, I would. In a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/25 "2009-01-25T10:41:48Z")
I dunno, man. 21 months is a long time just for some sightseeing. Yeah, some incredible, epic sightseeing, but that’s still pretty expensive, life-wise. I guess I’m pretty boring. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/26 "2009-01-25T14:27:45Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Sure, I’d go. Would the gravity inside the ship be such that my muscles wouldn’t deteriorate? What’s the time limit in the ISS - 6 months? > > Q Now my chance to bitch at NASA. :mad: Zero G is sooo bad for you they say. Astronauts to Mars can’t handle the zero or low G’s for so long. We keep trying different things on the space station. We are working on it. We will let you know when we come up with something. ARRGHHH ! SPIN THE @#%@^#^&%&&^ spaceship to get “artifical” g’s and be done with it ! All those years and hundreds of billions farting around in low earth orbit and they have never done the ONE thing they STILL need to know if we are to go to mars and stay for long periods of time. How many G’s are enough to prevent any real degredation on the human body. 1? .9? .7?.. And how long can humans live in a Mars G level environment? Robert Zubrin? in his book The Case for Mars, tells a story where he gave a presentation at a big conference. He laid out his (great BTW) proposal. It includes (or at least allows IIRC) for ship spinning to create “gravity”. During the question phase, a NASA scientist objected greatly to the spinning of the ship. The reason? All their procedures and data are for zero G ! :smack: great, now my blood pressures gonna be up half the day now. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/27 "2009-01-25T14:36:20Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > I dunno, man. 21 months is a long time just for some sightseeing. Yeah, some incredible, epic sightseeing, but that’s still pretty expensive, life-wise. > > I guess I’m pretty boring. Try calculating how many weeks/months/years you spend doing all kinds of mindnumbing if not downright upleasant things during the course of your lifetime. Warning, do NOT do this if you either already feel your life is a waste or you waste to much time or you have suicidal tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/28 "2009-01-25T14:47:42Z")
Sure I’d go. Just give me an internet connection to keep me from being bored. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/29 "2009-01-25T16:14:22Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > Not for a suicide mission, but definitely for a two-way trip. The rub is, it almost certainly is a suicide mission, unless the state of the art of spaceship shielding has advanced substantially from the last time I checked. You’ll almost certainly contract some form of cancer from all the cosmic rays etc. which will bombard your spacecraft. That said, going on the adventure of a lifetime, even knowing it will kill you? I might make that choice. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/30 "2009-01-25T20:43:22Z")
When do we start? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/31 "2009-01-25T20:46:20Z")
I’d love to, but I have a little girl who needs me on this planet. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/32 "2009-01-25T21:19:55Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Try calculating how many weeks/months/years you spend doing all kinds of mindnumbing if not downright upleasant things during the course of your lifetime. > > Warning, do NOT do this if you either already feel your life is a waste or you waste to much time or you have suicidal tendencies. But it’s not as though I get to just cut out the mindnumbing unpleasantries and go to Mars progressively over the period of those otherwise-wasted short intervals in the middle of the day. I have to actually cut out several years from my life, with little to no contact with everyone I know, stuffed in an uncomfortable tin can with no amenities, all for the sake of a couple days of pretty pictures. And I’ll still be stuck doing all the mindnumbing unpleasant crap when I get back… It is, as the OP said, like being stuck on an airplane for two years. I understand why some would jump at the chance, but not me. I’ll content myself to watch the first steps on TV. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/33 "2009-01-25T21:29:05Z")
Eh. Give me two years’ worth of movies, TV, video games and I dunno, throw in some porn, I could wile away the time. I assume all the latest multimedia could be streamed to my ship. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/34 "2009-01-25T22:01:49Z")
Sign me up. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/35 "2009-01-25T22:14:13Z")
If I could do it without feeling nauseous the whole time, yes! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/36 "2009-01-25T22:17:37Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I’d wager the psychological implications of being actually some 100 million km away from Earth and everything, including rescue if anything goes wrong… No great problem simulating this on Earth. Bury someone in a self-contained capsule with a time lock and the understanding that rescue is impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/37 "2009-01-25T22:57:23Z")
Sign me up. Even if the internet access is going to be the equivalent of dial-up. Load up a few library’s worth of books onto a Kindle. Bitchin game system with all the games I haven’t had time to play or finish. Imagine the threads I’d open here. **Going to Mars. What should I pack?** **Ask the Doper headed to Mars.** ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/38 "2009-01-25T23:23:26Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I’d wager the psychological implications of being actually some 100 million km away from Earth and everything, including rescue if anything goes wrong, not to mention actually setting foot on some alien planet, are quite different from just merrily hopping about in orbit. IF I can handle going to Walmart, I can handle that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/39 "2009-01-25T23:38:15Z")
No, I could not be confined for that amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860/40 "2009-01-26T00:53:03Z")
I’d do it. I feel so damn bored on planet Earth some (a lot) of the time. Plus, it sounds like a good opportunity to get some reading done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-take-first-trip-to-mars/482860.md?page=3)