We Landed on Mars, and Stayed?

Dutch company Mars One(website) plans on establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars by 2023. Ya, you probably said the same thing I did. That's only 10 years away!

So what's the difference between this mission and ones we see in movies? Well, the people who go, don't plan on returning, ever. Also, they plan on funding this project mostly through donations by having every aspect of the preparation and mission open and public to the whole world. Almost a 'Big Brother' effect. They've already done their homework about the availability of the parts needed. All supplied by private companies. No tax payers involvement. Here is the proposed 'schedule'.

2016 communication satellite/supplies will be sent to Mars
2018 planetary rover will be sent to find a suitable location
2020 living units/life support/rover and supplies will be sent
Sept 2022 humans leave earth for a 7 month journey
April 2023 land on Mars

The spacecraft the settlers will be traveling in will double as their 'home' once they land. The first crew will be made up of 4 astronauts joined by 4 more every 2 years. Want to be an astronaut? One condition, you aren't coming home.

Wow. Read more about this on their website. There's an interesting FAQ section. Questions like 'Can the astronauts have children on Mars?' It's amazing to think that only 10 years from now people may be leaving earth to head to Mars.

Comments

Ohhh the red, white, and blue

If you were given the job of creating a flag to represent your country, how would you design it? Myself, I would probably think of some symbols of your country then hand over the design portion to an artist, with the plan of choosing colors that aptly represent where you live. What have most countries of the world done? Three bars filled in with color. Lets talk about the Netherlands flag. This "orange" country has a drab flag, but not only is it drab it's deceiving. So many countries use red, white, and blue that it is confusing. + A little sun bleaching, Luxembourg +Sea sickness France + Dyslexia , Russia ...

Holland is just a step away

When life gives you lemons make green tea lemonade. So, when one lives in the midwest why not make the best of it and explore the sites in this area? You don't need a lot of money or even a passport. That brings us to Holland, Michigan a Dutch settlement in America. Obviously the city is very proud of its Dutch heritage, as shown in the klompen picture at the top. Klompen is the name of the Dutch wooden clog dance. There are many dutch settlements in Michigan but what makes Holland so distinctly Dutch are its two festivals: the tulip time festival in the spring and the winter festival. The tulip festival is held in mid-May and lasts for 8 days. The festival includes tours at the local windmills, tulip farms, local dutch houses, as well as dances, concerts, street scrubing, and a dutch marketplace. One interesting thing about the Dutch costumes that are presented during the festival is that they are from the 8 out of 12 different provinces of the Netherlands. Here is...

Skating the Canals

Check out this great MSN video - Skating The Canals Of Amsterdam Check out this video above. First glance you may think," OH, their skating down the frozen street...." Ehhhh. Wrong. That is the frozen canals. And why not. Looks like fun. Even more amazing is the amount of people on it. The city I live in has a ice skating rink that opens in the winter. It's covered but still the amount of people who come out to it is nothing compared to the shear numbers you see in that minute long video. Pay attention to their skates. Most people have the speed skates we see during the Olympics. Makes me wonder why Holland isn't more of a Hockey country than it is.

All Things Holland

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