One Way Ticket to Mars

Remember what you learned in elementary school? Science, math, art, history, and all about the pilgrims crossing the ocean to America. I remember hearing about the explorers' stories of hardship, death, and the fears that came with arriving on a new land. It never even occurred to me, until very recently, that pioneer stories no longer exist. No more land to be discovered and explored. Have you ever thought of that?

Well then, read this: http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/One-way-ticket-to-Mars

Scientists have introduced the idea of a one-way trip to Mars for a select few brave souls. They say it will cut costs by 80 percent and force the explorers to set up a colony, and mentally and physically adapt to a new way of life. But the astronauts must get used to the idea that they will never return back to Earth. Now, I consider myself an adventurer but I always know in the back of my mind that I possess a roundtrip ticket. Maybe it's my easy way out, a sort of chicken door if you will, but it gives me peace.

I'm sure I could think of a few people on this earth that I would volunteer for this one-way trip. Let's see...a few politicians, some dictators, annoying comedians, Nickelback...just to name a few. I can understand, though, why the government refuses to send the rejects into space. It would be a public relations nightmare if Carrot Top and Sarah Palin started fighting on Mars and Entertainment Tonight found out.

But on a more serious note, think about that for a second - you leave to a foreign land, you're gone for a few months or even years, and you can never return to Earth. That's not even like entering the Congo or the Yukon where you may learn to adapt. This is a planet with different air, different ground (which technically can't be called earth), different sky, different light, different...creatures?

These scientists who are leading the campaign claim that our planet is on the path to destruction and we must explore the skies for answers, and we must do it now. I never thought I would see this in my lifetime. The discovery of the "new world" ended in the 1800s and we landed on the moon in 1969. So what does our generation have? Maybe this is our chance to show that we are willing to be explorers, that we are willing to step into the beyond and never come back. Others before us have left everything they had for the darkness, for a better life.

So ask yourself, would you do it? Would you fly into the dark unknown for the sake of humanity?