Mars-One

A friend of mine posted an article on Facebook from FOX News, entitled, “Mars-One Plans Suicide Mission to Red Planet for 2023”.  The headline is a bit deceiving since there is a difference between planetary expatriation and 'suicide'.  Death is an eventuality whether you are exploring Mars on a one-way voyage or just sitting at home here on earth watching FOX News.  The article had a link to the Mars-One website which can be found right here: http://mars-one.com/en/.  I encourage you to check it out for yourself, to click around, and to consider the possibilities.  It turns out, “Mars-One” is a Dutch project to actually go to Barsoom (shout out to you John Carter fans) and establish the first station on another world.  “Fantastic”, you say?  The fact of the matter is, right now, with the use of existing technologies humanity could reach the planet Mars in 11 years. 

That’s big. 

Earth shaking big. 

To paraphrase Norbert Kraft, “History is what happens when the impossible is made possible.”  I have said it several times on the pages of this electric soapbox of a blog of mine; there is no such thing as science fiction.   

The obstacles that immediately come to mind are, “who goes?” & “how do you pay for it?”  Mars-One has come up with some unique strategies.  If one considers the seven month voyage it will take to get to Mars, the mind-bending isolation, the crushing claustrophobia that the first few generations settlers would have to endure, the harsh environment of an unknown world that has 40% the gravity of Earth and the fact that there is, at this stage in the game, no possibility of a return trip to the planet of your birth it becomes quite obvious that the selection process for the astronaut settlers will have to be rigorous with extra care taken concerning their psychological condition.  They will have a pool of 40 screened and trained people to choose from for the first generation of settlers.  I assume that the process would be the same for the next generation of settlers who would arrive two years later.

So how does one fund a trip to the fourth planet of our solar system?  Mars-One has come up with a unique way of making this happen.  Everything will be displayed for the world to behold via making it a global “reality TV” event.  Yes, the revolution will be televised.  By doing so Mars-One grantees two things that give me hope for success of this ambitious project; first, no tax dollars will be spent and second no politics.  Mars does not care where you come from or what your political ideology may be.  This is the liberation that free enterprise and brilliant minds brings to the table.  We have seen this evolve even before the Space Shuttle program was deemed too expensive to continue.  The X-Prize’s Space Ship One, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX, all examples of how the future will be shaped by free enterprise and brilliant minds.  One does not simply look to governmental structure for technological progress – you look to a freethinking populous for that.  Thank God for free enterprise and brilliant minds. 

You may have more questions than this humble blog can provide so here is the Mars-One FAQ page: http://mars-one.com/en/faq-en.  The only way any progression forward happens is when people take risks.  No doubt this is risky business but it also means that mankind, in my lifetime (he said selfishly) may have an established colony on Mars.

That’s big.

Earth shaking big.

I have but one modest request for their program; when the time comes to name the first town established on Mars please consider the name, “Bradbury”. 

It has a nice ring to it. 

Barsoom Bound

The film, “John Carter” is about to be released and I, as a huge fan of the Edgar Rice Burroughs books, am waiting with baited breath.  I voraciously read the Barsoom (Mars) novels.  I’m due to read them again as a refresher; still the voices of Mars call to me.  The mighty Tars Tarkas, the beautiful & dangerous Princes of Mars – Dejah Thoris, and the noble Woola all still hold a place in my imagination.  And I was not alone in discovering that world of wonder.  I could tell you how influential the Mars books are; how far reaching the scope & imagination or how there would not be a “Star Wars” or “Avatar” without their first being, “A Princess of Mars” (the book in the Mars stories that the film is based on).  I could tell you all that and more but all that has already been done by Jesse Schedeen in the article, “Without John Carter There Would be No Star Wars”, which can be found right here: http://movies.ign.com/articles/121/1219006p1.html.  It is a great piece that illustrates just how important the Mars books have been to the tradition of storytelling.  And, Gentle Reader, furthering the tradition of storytelling is what it’s all about.

John Carter was in, ‘development hell’ for decades.  There were a host of very talented people wanting to bring Barsoom to the big screen but for whatever reason(s) the plans fell through.  The rights for the project came to Disney and they eventually hired Mr. Andrew Stanton, director of Pixar’s, “WALL-E” to bring the world of John Carter to life.  The man knows how to tell a story but it wasn’t until this article by Quint from Ain’t It Cool News entitled, “Quint travels to Barsoom and visits the John Carter Set!!!” that I discovered how much of a fan Stanton really is.  There are spoilers but I encourage you to read it right here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/53465.  It is a wonderful visit loaded with interviews and some great behind the scenes shots that you will not see anywhere else.  Case in point?  Willem Defoe had to learn to speak Thark to play the part effectively while standing on stilts.  I love the shot of Defoe in the motion capture suit on stilts with the guy in the green-suit next to him.  I guess green-suit guy is his spotter.  Whatever the case read it!  It’s a great on-set article from Lake Mead, Utah; otherwise known as Barsoom.

The cast looks the part and it sounds like they are all very much so into their roles and have a sense of the source material – Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books.  It is my sincere hope that the cast and crew are successful in bringing Barsoom to the masses.  Further, I hope that the masses respond well to Barsoom.  This could be the flashpoint of a great, epic story and an amazing franchise.  With Stanton at the helm I believe that Mars is closer than I have ever imagined.

I have a date with a Princes of Mars on March 9^th!  I’ll be there opening night ~ Guaranteed.  How do I know this?  I am a fan of furthering the tradition of storytelling and John Carter deserves his due.    

Dad, You Were Right

I just finished a book that my father absolutely loved. He passed it along to my mother who, I was told, during her pregnancy with yours truly, read the entire series. That book is “Tarzan – Lord of the Apes” by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I remember reading ERB’s “John Carter of Mars” series and a few others here and there such as “Beyond the Farthest Star” or “At The Earth’s Core” but I had never read Tarzan. It was one of the books my dad read that has always been on my list. I was always more a Conan fan… until recently, Robert E. Howard’s highlander barbarian was my favorite pulp icon to read about. Mine to root for.

Dad, you were right.

Tarzan kicks all kinds of but and, literarily speaking, the character is one of the most recognized even to this day. Mr. Burroughs may have invented Barsoom and all its wonders on Mars (a world I still like to visit via my e-reader) but he will eternally be remembered for giving the world John Clayton, Lord Greystoke better known as Tarzan, Lord of the Apes; after reading the first volume, justifiably so.

I wish that I could have this discussion with my Dad but that is not possible. It is merely the latest discussion that I wish I could have with him. This one, however, was one that I wanted to share with you, Gentle Reader. There is no one else who would understand; no one else who may grasp the joy of these works of fiction. Yes, I know I’m beginning to ramble but if you have read the two authors who do you prefer? Which do you like better – Robert E. Howard or Edgar Rice Burroughs? Conan or Tarzan?

After reading ERB’s first volume I’m beginning to convert. Conan is great but Tarzan runs in the family. I just wish; even after these 23 odd years, that I could let my Dad know about it too.