New Mars Forums

Honestly, this is a good thing. Think about it for just a second: between the Google Lunar X-Prize and Virgin Galactic, it's obvious these guys care about space. The rather elaborate nature of the joke shows that they did their research (heck, their plans look similar to Mars Direct in a lot of ways). Even if it is a joke, it's going to give the concept huge publicity, and probably get a lot of people thinking about it seriously.

Meanwhile, the Mars Society is going to be reaching out to both companies, thanking them for acknowledging us and offering to help if the idea ever becomes real. Who knows? Maybe we'll catch their attention long enough to be able to do some serious collaborative work.