Mars Society & 1000planets Team Up 8
Anonymous Coward writes "According to 1000planets, they are teaming up with the MarsSociety to offer a lottery of sorts for rides into space and ultimately to the Red Planet. Money problems are over. (fyi: the Mars Direct plan which the MarsSociety aims for costs $10 billion spread out across several years for a sustained exploration/developement mission on Mars--a tiny fraction of the current NASA budget) I'm sure many of you have heard of the X-Prize. This is just another great way for human exploration of space to commence."
Great... (Score:1)
Seriously though, the idea is great, but I'm interested in a timeline. All that I can guess right now is "not in our lifetime." Despite the benefits of privatization in some cases, the public sector really seems much better suited to future-oriented programmes like the space programme. How can they guarantee funding?
"Gurantee funding"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Consider how quickly the funding for Mir, the Apollo program, the "fleet" of space shuttles, dried up after initial investments.
The "public sector" has no gurantee of funding what so ever. Programs are picked up or dropped on the whim of a single election cycle.
Worse yet, that funding depends on coersion in the form of taxes. There is also the opportunity for vast quantities of corruption, the American space shuttle program is a perfect example of that in action.
If you want "guranteed funding", put the contract in writing. No government will give you such a contract.
Bob-
WTF? (Score:3, Interesting)
Just send your credit card number to XXX-XXXX to enter yourself in the mars lottery!
This sounds fishy to me (Score:2)
I doubt it (Score:2)
The Mars Society might be interested in volunteers for its experiences on Earth like the Arctic base or desert station. You would still need the right qualifications though.
I'm afraid this article won't do any good for the credibility of the Mars Society. Too bad cause they do some real useful scientific work.
Better Idea (Score:1)