Mars One

[olivier]

Mars One is a private spaceflight project led by a Dutch entrepreneur to establish a human outpost on Mars by 2023, through the integration of existing, readily available technologies. They intend to fund the program mainly through a reality TV show.
They have cleverly studied the main cost drivers and technological challenges, and come with solutions. Doesn't it sound attractive? Just be sure to read the conditions in small print before firmly enrolling... well, see by yourself if this is for you: Mars One.
I know something similar was proposed by Buzz Aldrin. These guys seem serious, if not fully credible. The Netherlands is so densely populated.
(I have been away for a while, excuse me if that has already been posted)

[djolds1]

Mars One is a private spaceflight project led by a Dutch entrepreneur to establish a human outpost on Mars by 2023, through the integration of existing, readily available technologies. They intend to fund the program mainly through a reality TV show.
They have cleverly studied the main cost drivers and technological challenges, and come with solutions. Doesn't it sound attractive? Just be sure to read the conditions in small print before firmly enrolling... well, see by yourself if this is for you: Mars One.
I know something similar was proposed by Buzz Aldrin. These guys seem serious, if not fully credible. The Netherlands is so densely populated.
(I have been away for a while, excuse me if that has already been posted)

Zubrin's Mars Direct architecture is robust and simple, plus you can double to treble the cargo/personnel if its one-way, eliminating the ER Stage.

[williatw]

Mars One is a private spaceflight project led by a Dutch entrepreneur to establish a human outpost on Mars by 2023, through the integration of existing, readily available technologies. They intend to fund the program mainly through a reality TV show.
They have cleverly studied the main cost drivers and technological challenges, and come with solutions. Doesn't it sound attractive? Just be sure to read the conditions in small print before firmly enrolling... well, see by yourself if this is for you: Mars One.
I know something similar was proposed by Buzz Aldrin. These guys seem serious, if not fully credible. The Netherlands is so densely populated.
(I have been away for a while, excuse me if that has already been posted)

Zubrin's Mars Direct architecture is robust and simple, plus you can double to treble the cargo/personnel if its one-way, eliminating the ER Stage.

And yet if it is legitimate I would strongly suspect some variation on my "Bank of Mars" is probably calculated into the cost/benefit equation behind the scenes.


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[GIThruster]

Unfortunately as Musk pointed out, going one way doesn't save you all that much. In order to drive the prices down sufficient to do the project, you need to reuse your spacecraft, and if you have them flying back to earth, you no longer need to stipulate all colonists have made a one-way trip.

[Blankbeard]

And yet if it is legitimate I would strongly suspect some variation on my "Bank of Mars" is probably calculated into the cost/benefit equation behind the scenes.


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You should pitch the idea to them. I bet the overlap between financial geeks and space geeks is small enough they've never thought of it.

The worst they can do is say no.

6 billion is more affordable than I thought it would be. I hope they can hit that price point.

[djolds1]

Unfortunately as Musk pointed out, going one way doesn't save you all that much. In order to drive the prices down sufficient to do the project, you need to reuse your spacecraft, and if you have them flying back to earth, you no longer need to stipulate all colonists have made a one-way trip.

Reuse is necessary for a commercial ETO operation. Colonization using "believers" as colonists and financiers is another animal.

[GIThruster]

Yes well, Musk is planning to retire on Mars, and he is the guy with the reusable rockets.

[williatw]

And yet if it is legitimate I would strongly suspect some variation on my "Bank of Mars" is probably calculated into the cost/benefit equation behind the scenes.


viewtopic.php?t=3383&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

You should pitch the idea to them. I bet the overlap between financial geeks and space geeks is small enough they've never thought of it.

The worst they can do is say no.

6 billion is more affordable than I thought it would be. I hope they can hit that price point.

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/r ... finite.php

Rocketpunk and MacGuffinite
...According to Wikipedia, a "tax haven" is a state or a country or territory where certain taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all while offering due process, good governance and a low corruption rate. An offshore financial centre (OFC), ... is usually a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds. A free economic zone is a designated areas where companies are taxed very lightly or not at all to encourage development or for some other reason. A corporate haven is a jurisdiction with laws friendly to corporations thereby encouraging them to choose that jurisdiction as a legal domicile.

These are generally located in small geographic areas, tiny countries, and itty-bitty islands. But most readers will see where I am going with this. An orbital habitat could possibly fulfil any or all of these roles.

More to the point, this could be an incredibly lucrative species of MacGuffinite.
A related concept is that of a data haven. Wikipedia says "A data haven, like a corporate haven or tax haven, is a refuge for uninterrupted or unregulated data. Data havens are locations with legal environments that are friendly to the concept of a computer network freely holding data and even protecting its content and associated information. They tend to fit into three categories: a physical locality with weak information-system enforcement and extradition laws, a physical locality with intentionally strong protections of data, and..." Possible uses include access to free political speech, avoiding internet censorship, whistleblowing, copyright infringement, circumventing data protection laws, online gambling, and pornography.

In 2008, John Perry Barlow suggested that Iceland become a data haven, he called it "The Switzerland of bits". The Principality of Sealand is a former World War II sea fort off the coast of England that is owned by the Bates family, who claims it is a sovereign state. It does have an internet hosting facillity that is operating as a data haven, and plans to open an online gambling casino.

Again, an orbital habitat would make a dandy data haven.

Patri Friedman leads the Seasteading Institute. It wants to create a series independent nations, in the middle of the ocean, on prefab floating platforms. In 2011, Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, has donated $1.25 million to the Seasteading Institute. Once again, an orbital habitat is more expensive than an off-shore ocean platform, but it is far more secure.

These kinds of instant independent nations would also be valuable, to allow wealthy individuals solve the problem of "citizenship." Such individuals might be willing to pay enough to make orbital habitats profitable