A Manned Mission to Mars in 2023

read more at Anne’s Astronomy News http://annesastronomynews.com/

Mars One announced receipt of initial funding through sponsorship revenue, a major step towards sending a manned mission to Mars.

Handout photo obtained on June 21, 2012 from Mars One shows an artist’s rendition of a settlement on Mars. The Dutch start-up is aiming to beat NASA at its own game by sending the first humans to the red planet and film all as a reality show. The start-up team called “Mars One” is planning a  landing of  four astronauts on Mars by 2023, seven years ahead of the US space agency’s target, and plans to start the search for volunteers next year. Image Credit: AFP 

Mars One is a private Dutch organization whose intent is to land the first humans on Mars in 2023. Following a fully robotic construction of a habitable outpost between 2016 and 2020, subsequent crew arrivals will occur every two years. The existing technical plan of Mars One is unique in that it requires incorporation of only readily available technologies developed by major, established aerospace companies from around the world. As such, Mars One is a non-political integrator capable of delivering humans to Mars with less overhead, less total risk, and faster than any other existing organization.

Bas Lansdorp, founder and President of Mars-One offers, “Receipt of initial sponsorship marks the next step to humans setting foot on Mars. A little more than a year ago we embarked down this path, calling upon industry experts to share in our bold dream. Today, we have moved from a technical plan into the first stage of funding, giving our dream a foundation in reality.”

Self-funded for the prior eighteen months, conceptual development and initial technical development is complete. In the latter half of 2012 and early 2013 Mars One will move to enable growth of its technical and management staff. From mid 2013 forward, funding will largely be generated through a growing, global media event built around the selection and training of astronauts for the manned mission.

This movie shows how Mars One plans to establish a human settlement on Mars in 2023. Video Credit: Mars One

Dan Petrovic, General Director of Dejan SEO and one of the sponsors: “Mars One is not just a daring project, but the core of what drives human spirit towards exploration of the unknown. We are privileged to be a supporter of this incredible project.”

Mars One corporate sponsorship funds will be used primarily to finance the conceptual design studies provided by the aerospace suppliers. These design studies demand 500 to 2500 man-hours each, a comprehensive technical design of the various components of the Mission to Mars. Conceptual design studies will be completed for all components of the mission, from robotic construction of the outpost to the arrival of the first humans.

“We consider landing humans on Mars an imperative mission for the future of human exploration. We are proud to support this initiative and in a small way, help Mars One achieve it … having invested in a prior initiative headed by Lansdorp, we have confidence in the success of this bold, challenging objective,” states Gruus van Woerkom, General Director for Byte Internet and also a sponsor.

Once the conceptual design studies are complete, the selection of astronauts will commence. Unlike anything ever conducted in the history of space exploration, Mars One intends to make possible the opportunity for any qualified applicant from any nation to become an astronaut.

Mary Roach, author of best selling Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, states, “The Mars One concept takes [colonizing Mars] to another level by adding an element of global audience participation. Yet at their core the Mars One team are aerospace professionals with the background and contacts to pull together the technical aspects of the mission.”

Roelf van Til, another sponsor and owner of New-Energy.tv: “New Energy also stands for facing the future, believing in progress and the ancient human dream to discover unknown lands.”

Aart Veldhuizen, notary at VBC Notarissen and a sponsor: “This project may sound fantastic, but bright enthusiastic minds are working on realizing this dream. VBC notarissen is proud that we can contribute to this ambitious plan.”

About Mars One

Mars One is a non-government, private organization whose intent is to establish a colony on Mars through the integration of existing, readily available technologies from industry leaders world-wide. Unique in its approach, Mars One intends to fund this decade-long endeavor through an interactive, reality TV style broadcast from astronaut selection to robotic construction of the outpost; from the seven month flight through the first years on Mars.

Source: Mars One

n/a

Source: