New Mars Forums

So you're either planning a colony on mars or a deep space mission. Either way, no one is coming back to Earth.

I've seen a lot of lists showing who would need to go on such a mission. A lot of care is made in covering major topics of science and health as well as the obviously important astronomers and researchers.

But this is a bit more than just a mission - this is a step in the evolution of human culture. There will be no MTV. Not a huge loss, but it suggests a certain line of thinking regarding the development of this new culture.

I feel, that in addition to the ships crew, there needs to be careful consideration put into additional passengers - I guess they'd be the pilgrims.

Consider that the mission will want to communicate with Earth, at least for the duration it's in existing communications range. Also consider that, even if communication is at some point severed, eventually the location colinized by the mission will be in contact with the Earth.

This will create a huge split in our evolution in two different directions. I feel it's important that we retain as much of our diversity as possible when we fire off into space. What I mean is, we need to bring art, religion, and all areas of sience along for the ride.

Imagine calling apon the religions of the world and saying, "send us your best candidate to represent your religion, and we're going to let them spend the rest of their lives as part of a religious exploration study comprised of representatives from as many established religions as want to apply."

Or something like that - anyway, it's a chance for humans to actually 'get away' and focus... so why not bring that opportunity to more than just the astronomers and physicists on board.

Besides, what would a deep space mission be if there wasn't a janitor that happened to study music in his time off.

bla bla bla... anyone following my drivle?