Not related to wargaming, but this particular endeavor has really caught my attention for a variety of reasons, most of all because I believe it has a good chance of succeeding.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mars- ... on-in-2018

The Mars-One mission concept is detailed at mars-one.com, laying out their plans to land 4 individuals on Mars in 2023 who will spend the rest of their lives on Mars. Such a person has to be equipped with a major set of stones (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Has anyone else been following this? What do you think?

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

I wasn't aware of this, really intrigued by the concept, however not particularly happy with anyone going to another planet before we've all stopped arguing about how to treat the one we already have tbh, but that discussion will probably turn political in about 30 seconds so I'll stop here

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Just some guy

My hobby/painting threads

Army Forge List Co-ordinator

I'll plan a mission to mars for anyone who'll pay me $400,000.

I could even draw some nice graphs and include some pretty animatics.


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On a more serious note, a mission to allow 4 people to live like hermits on Mars doesn't really interest me.

If we really want to get to explore space, it'll require a large, self-sustaining colony on a low gravity body (the Moon, or perhaps a very large asteroid), where local means of production can build and launch methods of transport considerably heavier than can be managed from Earth-based launches. It'd take a hundred years or so to establish a large enough self-sustaning colony though I'd guess, and that's clearly boring, so people would rather see 4 thrill-seekers die on Mars (though they won't see that happen from this Indiegogo project, IMO).

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Currently doing a plastic scenery kickstarter

I think you would like this mission then. The colony is extraordinarily dependent upon recycling because shipping everything up there is cost prohibitive. The air is recycled, the water is recycled, and the electricity is solar. Their very lives will depend upon being careful with their resources. They will be growing a lot of their own food and it seems -for at least the short term- it will be a vegetarian utopia. Personally I love meat and burning gasoline for fun, but for those who don't this mission will have a special veggie-appeal.

Of course, I am wildly entertained by the idea of chickens being raised on Mars.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

They've been around for a while. I didn't realize they were on indiegogo now though.

Here's hoping!

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My shifting projects

A satellite and a lander for 400 k? I hope this is only a part of the funding. O_O
Curiosity had a total cost of 2,4 Billion Dollar and was considered a cheap mission.
OK its a different mission concept. No rover or something like that.
But the cost of getting something in orbit is still very high.

Edit:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/10/5193 ... n-and-sstl

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Bioframe - my first wargame:
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=31704

I'm only going to travel in space if it can be in the comfort of the Enterprise ... any version will do ...

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

This was pretty much my thinking from the funding page (i know nothing about this project outside of that, it may well be great), but the video alone would make me dismiss them.

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs

Check out the website. The indiegogo campaign is a small portion of their larger mission - they are planning a Big Brother type of funding (a.k.a. advertising), which I could easily see working. The goal is to send 4 people, then two years later send 4 more people, and so on. After ten years you have 20 people (minus any unfortunate casualties) which is a great labor force from which to start other activities.

One of the biggest costs involved in going to another planet is the return trip, and without having anyone there to troubleshoot the mission, it is all theory and guesswork. Having a mission control on Mars would be invaluable to increasing safety for those not wanting to stay. Imagine astronauts making a trip to Mars, staying for 6 months, and then returning. That would extremely difficult without an established colony. With one, it becomes an easy task.

Besides, every colony has to start someplace.

Don't worry, Ben. There will be plenty of money for your crowdfunding - no need to get jealous.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

I have too much respect for the early colonisation attempts of the 16th and early 17th centuries.

While some did succeed in the Caribbean, many failed due to lack of supplies, disease, natural disasters etc. The timescales and costs of these early voyages are also similar.

At least there is no current equivalent of the Treaty of Tordesillas . . . yet