Guest: Bas Lansdorp of Mars One. Topics: The Mars One mission, a comprehensive discussion. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We welcomed back Bas Lansdorp, CEO of the Mars One project located in Holland. For more information, visit their website www.mars-one.com. During the first segment of this 94 minute program, Bas took us through the basics of the Mars One concept and mission. I asked him for clarification as to their company structure given some of the newsletters from last year regarding converting from a for profit to a nonprofit organization. During the discussion, Bas fielded numerous email listener questions addressing a long list of issues relevant to the Mars One mission. For example, we talked about why a one way mission, the flight time and launch windows for Mars, radiation, the differences with ISS and Mir crews in LEO as compared to going through the Van Allen Belts and entering deep space with cosmic radiation and possible solar flares. Bas talked about using 25-40 CM of water shielding. We talked about the psychological/emotional health of the crew, growing food on Mars, livestock, and a Martian greenhouse. Resupply from Earth came up & we inquired about the need for Earth resupply as compared to being Martian self-sufficient, plus other life support issues. Mars One plans on sending cargo missions and supplies to Mars well in advance of the first human mission so Earth resupply may not be what is needed. Another listener asked Bas about the planetary protection rules and if Mars One was up on them. Bas said yes and appears to be supportive of planetary protection efforts & regulations. In our second segment, I asked him about his PR given that Mars One gets so much positive PR. Crew selection questions came in & Bas said the most important qualification for the crew would be to get along in groups. They plan on teaching the crews all the needed skills so they do not have to select engineers, doctors, etc. He said that when they hire the first crew, it will undergo the comprehensive training for the mission over 7 years. Bas got questions about the costs and using a reality TV model for funding purposes. Bas corrected the listener as their model is the Olympics, not a reality TV show. Another listener wanted to know about the possibility of their being denied an FAA launch license. Still another set of questions came in about a Mars One failure leaving an unsupported colony on Mars. Bas had much to say about this issue so don't miss his comments. We also talked about nations implementing the Astronaut Rescue Treaty if Mars One went under & there was no other company in its place. More was said about the applicants, about 80,000 so far. He told us most want to go to do something useful to improve humanity and the world. Going because you are unhappy on Earth or something like that will not get you accepted as a Mars One crew member. Bas said he would be at two upcoming California events for those wanting to meet him, the Space Tech Conference in Los Angeles (www.spacetechexpo.com/conference-program-2013) and ISDC at the end of May in San Diego (http://isdc.nss.org/2013). If you have comments/questions for Bas Lansdorp, please post them on The Space Show blog. You can email Bas through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
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