Sending humans to Mars gives us creative inspiration

Telescope Magazine: Silicon Valley entrepreneur and SpaceX founder Elon Musk said colonization of Mars is essential to our survival because the Earth’s environment is deteriorating. Do you share that thought?

Bas Lansdorp: I don’t think the Earth will be uninhabitable in ten years, although things can go wrong in many other ways. But our reasons for wanting to go to Mars lie elsewhere. Scientific research is one of them, although it’s not the most important one. There are places on Mars that are much older than the oldest places on the Earth. By exploring those places, we can investigate the history of the solar system and the history of ourselves. Also, we may be able to find life on Mars, which would be the greatest scientific discovery ever, because if life emerged independently on two planets, that cannot be a coincidence. It probably means there’s life everywhere in the universe, too. So, scientific research is part of our mission. But the most important reason for sending this mission is that a project like this can give creative inspiration to all of us. I was not yet born when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, but if you talk to people who were old enough to have experienced this, they still remember where they were and how great they felt when it happened. It made people—Americans in particular—feel they could accomplish anything. And this optimism made everything easier and nicer. Now we have wars and economic crises and terrorist attacks and storms and floods, but it should be possible for all of us to do something positive together and make the world a better place. This is why Mars One wants the entire world to be involved in this mission.

Telescope Magazine: Why is Mars One a non-profit organization (NPO)?

Bas Lansdorp: Mars One is a not-for-profit organization, but Mars One owns the majority shares of a for-profit organization, called Interplanetary Media Group (IMG). This company will sell the rights to broadcast the mission and look for big sponsors. IMG also seeks investments that we need, especially in the beginning, to finance the big pieces of hardware. As for our suppliers, they strictly remain suppliers and do not donate any equipment to us, because our freedom to choose optimal suppliers is compromised if we are financially indebted to any one of them. So our initial sources of income are corporate investments and donations from the public.

Telescope Magazine: How much will the mission cost?

Bas Lansdorp: The total budget including all the preparations for the first four people is about $6 billion. Since the project proceeds in phases, however, it’s not like we need this huge amount all at once.

Telescope Magazine: And you will receive broadcast rights fees once the mission gets started?

Bas Lansdorp: Yes, like the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games in London had revenues of about four billion dollars from sponsors and broadcasters, and that was only for three weeks of broadcasting. When humans land on Mars, this will be the biggest televised event ever in the history of humankind. In 2023, there will be four billion internet users, which is twice as many as there are today. So literally everybody in the world can watch it, either on TV or on the internet. The viewership may decline after the first two years or so, but the cost of a mission will also have come down by then—probably to $4 billion or so.

Telescope Magazine: As you send more people, are their roles going to change?

Bas Lansdorp: Yes. The first crew will do a lot of construction work and grow plants, as I said earlier, and things like stations for the astronauts, computers, communication systems, and so on will continue to come from the Earth. By the third or fourth mission, however, I expect it will be possible to make materials like plastics and concrete on Mars, and maybe create their own living areas and power systems. Solar panels will be sent to Mars at first, but perhaps they will be able to produce their own solar panels on Mars using local materials. Algae may also be used to generate power. As there will be only 12 or 16 people at most, however, factory-scale production will not be possible.