Mars 1 Year Isolation Experiment Has Begun

I hope they brought TONS of movies and other forms of entertainment with them... by the time they go out of this, they'll know everyone's kindergarden teacher's names!

http://news.yahoo.com/long-mars-isolation-experiment-starting-hawaii-212900729.html#

But why isn't L.Spiro in this picture? Didn't he sign up for this? I wonder if those 6 are going to get a free viewing of the 'The Martian' (upcoming movie).

So anyone excited about a soon-to-be-future trip to Mars? Or at least interested in how the experiment goes? Or even curious as to why L. Spiro is not with that group?

Didn't L.Spiro speak about critical health issues a while back? Sounds very unlikely to get selected for this in those conditions.

This is NASA's experiment, and has nothing to do with actually going to Mars, they're just seeing how people will react by being isolated a year. The article/video specifically talks about this and compares it to another experiment already carried out, did anyone even click the link? :)

Also, these isolation/dome experiments are nothing new.

Hmm? Where's Pauly Shore?

I dropped out of Mars One when I joined Square Enix.
The chances of making it to the end at Mars One are extremely low (you can get kicked off the TV show at any time).

I had just rejected Valve Software and Gameloft Games (after 6 long interviews), and then would have ended up quickly leaving Square Enix too if I had stayed with Mars One.

It was too much to ask of me to damage my relations with all 3 companies just for a chance at being in the finals at Mars One.

To be clearer, Gameloft Games had fully decided to hire me and even sent the contract, only for me to e-mail them 1.5 months later saying I had decided to cancel and go with Square Enix. That may have been a burnt bridge right there, so I felt compelled not to burn another bridge by leaving Square Enix after just a few months.

L. Spiro

It's a shame that you dropped out of the mars mission L Spiro, but in many ways i feel that perhaps your new job at square enix, is a "fantastic voyage" itself, and perhaps what you were looking for in space... has been here on earth all along.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts on this sentiment

Shame to drop out when the next phase of M1 is only a few weeks in duration and would either leave you free to return to work, or full-time employed by the project, but there's no reason to be part of the program if you've doubts I guess.

It keeps being pushed further and further back but seems serious - the next phase anyway, I'm pretty cynical it will end up sending anything into orbit.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts on this sentiment

It is a different journey, in no way a replacement for Mars.
Nothing is.

I need radical change in my life every 5 years or so (moving to Thailand, moving to Japan 5 years later, etc.) or I get extremely restless. I’m not the settle-down type.
After 7 years in Tokyo, a change in jobs isn’t enough. I have more extreme changes coming soon about which I can’t talk, but in any case no set of changes could ever add up to that of the whole Mars One and Mars process.


L. Spiro

I need radical change in my life every 5 years or so (moving to Thailand, moving to Japan 5 years later, etc.) or I get extremely restless. I’m not the settle-down type.

And yet you stayed with us (Gamedev) for this long!

*feels special*

After 7 years in Tokyo, a change in jobs isn’t enough. I have more extreme changes coming soon about which I can’t talk

Oh no, not that... seriously, dude, don't.

Should we be expecting.... Caitlyn Spiro?

I need radical change in my life every 5 years or so (moving to Thailand, moving to Japan 5 years later, etc.) or I get extremely restless. I’m not the settle-down type.

Then WTF were you doing even applying for Mars One, when the whole point is you would be doing just that?

I need radical change in my life every 5 years or so (moving to Thailand, moving to Japan 5 years later, etc.) or I get extremely restless. I’m not the settle-down type.

Then WTF were you doing even applying for Mars One, when the whole point is you would be doing just that?

Maybe they hadn't really realized that was a thing for them till after they had sat down and looked at themselves a little more carefully in that frame of mind? I know that I didn't really learn how important being active and working with my hands was to me until I had a desktop for several years.

As for the mission at hand, it seems like it is just another long duration test, and it is kind of sad that we're not funding more of these with a larger selection of people. Not completely sure if I would jump at an offer to do an actual mars mission, but locking away for a year or two for an earth or moon mission? Sure, why not? Being a colonist would be interesting, but I rather doubt I would ever be in the running for such a mission (I don't foresee the tech and resource backing actually happening before I'm too old, and even if it were there today I'm not in the greatest of physical conditions.) so it isn't really a huge issue to me.

Should we be expecting.... Caitlyn Spiro?

Uh, no. Any changes to my body were so far off my mind that I hadn’t even considered what I said could be taken that way.

Then WTF were you doing even applying for Mars One, when the whole point is you would be doing just that?

As I said, “No set of changes could ever add up to that of the whole Mars One and Mars process.”

#1: Mars One is a 10-year process full of new big changes.
Moving to The Netherlands, 3-month spans in the desert, various training programs, the move to space for 7 months, and finally Mars.
Tons of change in there to satisfy me for a lifetime.

#2: In 10 years I am expecting to be ready to settle down. Whether I am on Earth or Mars I won’t be able to find the kinds of large-scale changes I need frequently enough. The issue is irrelevant since I wouldn’t fair any better on Earth.
For example, now that I live in Japan, I no longer have the possibility of changing up my life by moving to another country, since I only want to live in Japan. Each big change brings me closer to where I want to be in life, and thus is one more big change no longer available to me. I will certainly not be better off on Earth in 10 years after I have exhausted all possible big changes.
This is why I have been mentally preparing myself for the settle-down life over the last 4 years.


I thought about this all before even signing up. I felt it better not to mention it (while signed up) to avoid these kinds of conversations, since I’ve already considered it heavily and decided that Mars and the Mars One process would still be the better end result.


L. Spiro

I rather feel that colonising Mars would be quite boring once you get settled - assuming things go well. i.e. after all the training and the travel and the setup... now you have a daily drudge/routine.

I could be wrong, but it's how I imagine it going.

I’m relatively convinced that that routine wouldn’t last very long.
New studies have shown that colonials wouldn’t last more than 6 months under the best conditions and then suffocate. Slowly.
And whether the studies are accurate or not, it does stand to reason that the first people to live on Mars will indeed die off rather quickly as their habitat will be very unstable and untested.

I’m still interested in going, but my imagination assumes there would be actual life to live there. Reality is likely very different, and that was one major factor in my decision to withdraw.


L. Spiro

Confess L.Spiro, you are waiting for this:

You caught me red planeted.


L. Spiro

I have more extreme changes coming soon about which I can’t talk

I didn't know ISIS was starting up game studios in the caliphate!