Chris Hadfield knows a thing or two about space exploration. The Canadian Space Agency astronaut served time as commander on the International Space Station, while also wowing audiences on Earth with his zero-gravity rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
So when Hadfield raises doubts about a project like Mars One, we should probably listen.
The Mars One project started in 2012 as a privately funded expedition to set up a human colony on Mars in 2025. Instead of astronauts, the company is pulling those colonists from the general public, allowing everyone to submit applications for the project. Initially, over 200,000 people applied, but the agency behind Mars One recently whittled that down to just over 600.
The project will be partially paid for by crowdfunding, with much of the rest of its funding coming from a network deal for a reality series that covers the training of the would-be Martian colonists.
When asked about Mars One, Hadfield was vocal about his concerns.
"There's a great, I don't know, self-defeating optimism in the way that this project has been set up," says Hadfield. "I fear that it's going to be a little disillusioning for people, because it's presented as if for sure it's going to happen. They're choosing crews. And so all those people are therefore rightfully excited."
Hadfield also pointed out that the hows of setting up a Mars colony have not yet been addressed by Mars One officials. There has been no word of what technology the mission will use in getting colonists to Mars, nor what sort of equipment the manned mission requires for success. Hadfield states that going to Mars isn't easy and that getting a crew together before figuring out the other details is counterproductive.
"I want to see the technical specifications of the vehicle that is orbiting Earth." says Hadfield. "I want to know: How does a space suit on Mars work? Show me how it is pressurized, and how it is cooled. What's the glove design? None of that stuff can be bought off the rack. It does not exist. You can't just go to SpaceMart and buy those things."
Hadfield isn't alone in his beliefs. MIT recently released a paper stating that the Mars One mission would fail and result in the deaths of the Mars colonists. Their prediction was a morbid one: in their scenario, colonists will die from either suffocation, starvation or incineration in just a few months.
The Mars One mission team, however, remains determined, and plans on going forward with their project. Only time will tell if their ambition pays off.
[Photo Credit: Mars One]
