New Mars Forums

Relix

Banned

Registered: 2005-09-19

Posts: 2

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

This is really a big problem with me.Im  Black Amercian and i been into space/mars for a long time.Im 16 right now but if everything goes to plane in about 30-40 years we might be colonzing some parts of space.Do to the recent  Katrina problem im really concerned if they will allow black to go also

reddragon

Banned

From: Earth

Registered: 2005-01-24

Posts: 193

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

I very much doubt that the American government would institute any program of racial discrimination in exploring space or colonizing Mars. We've come a long way in ending racial discriminatioin in many areas, and in 30-40 years we should be a lot further than we are now. I don't think we're going to regress when we go into space. Besides, any politician who suggested such a thing would be effectively ending his career. Space, will I hope, be a place of greater equality than Earth is now. If you go into the space program or space sciences, then when the time comes to pick colonists, you should be a good candidate regardless of your race.

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Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

             -The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
              by Douglas Adams

Relix

Banned

Registered: 2005-09-19

Posts: 2

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

Yeah man thanks i needed to hear that from someone else.I hope a 100 from now Race discrimation will be breedded out.You just dont know how bad i wont to go bro.When i seen the latest pic of a planet with a triple star system it was beautiful.Its 2007 do you think we could get there before im a Oldy

evilcitizen

Member

Registered: 2005-09-18

Posts: 21

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

Yeah man thanks i needed to hear that from someone else.I hope a 100 from now Race discrimation will be breedded out.You just dont know how bad i wont to go bro.When i seen the latest pic of a planet with a triple star system it was beautiful.Its 2007 do you think we could get there before im a Oldy

You're lucky you're young. The EU is planning to make their first manned trip to Mars around the time you're 40 years old. The US may go a bit earlier, but it depends on how much time they spend on their Moon plans.

RobS

Banned

From: South Bend, IN

Registered: 2002-01-15

Posts: 1,701

Website

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

There have already been several African-American astronauts who have gone into space and there is no reason to assume that won't continue. Work to develop your science and engineering expertise and piloting skills; those seem to be the criteria for selection.

In my novel about Mars, the principal character is African American; or to be more precise, his father was African American and his mother European American.

                    -- RobS

redhorizons

Banned

From: Oklahoma

Registered: 2005-09-27

Posts: 50

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

Work to develop your science and engineering expertise and piloting skills; those seem to be the criteria for selection.

The great thing about the prospects of settling another celestial body, moon, mars, asteriods, is that not only will they need engieneers, scientists and pilots, and the typical "astronuat" fields but they will need horticulturist, therapist, teachers, farmers, mechanics and many other fields. 
What I would do is determine what it is you want to do, and figure out how that field is going to be needed in the exploration of space and then devote resourses in to being the best in your particular field and show how you can benefit the mission by being part of it.  Sell your self.  So when they are looking for the lucky the few you will the opportunity I am affraid I will never get.
I do not think race, creed, religion or any of those medevil ideas will hamper anyone who does not let it hamper themselves.

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RobS

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From: South Bend, IN

Registered: 2002-01-15

Posts: 1,701

Website

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

Horticulturalists, therapists, etc., will be needed when the Mars outpost grows beyond a dozen or so, but we may not see that in our lifetime! The first flights will need geologists, engineers/mechanics, and pilots, who will also know first aid, be able to run a greenhouse, and can cook a meal. After the outpost grows beyond six or eight it will need a horticulturalist; about that size will also need a physician/therapist/dentist. And someone will have to know how to give haircuts.

               -- RobS

Reptoid

Banned

Registered: 2005-07-28

Posts: 7

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

A therapist on Mars will be essential since the montonous landscape and confining environments the colonists will live in would drive anyone crazy.  Someone will need to check the sanity of the therapist herself from time to time.  A therapist willing to go to Mars in the first place should be highly suspect.

Cobra Commander

Member

From: The outskirts of Detroit.

Registered: 2002-04-09

Posts: 3,039

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

A therapist on Mars will be essential since the montonous landscape and confining environments the colonists will live in would drive anyone crazy.

This strikes me as one of those modern assumptions based on the idea that humans are incredibly fragile creatures that need to be coddled. People have fought wars, explored and conquered frontiers, endured hardships far in excess of the relative comfort of a Mars colony and managed just fine without some psychobabbler checking up on their sanity.

Suck it up and build a world, that's what they'll have to do.

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

SpaceBull

Member

Registered: 2005-09-26

Posts: 45

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

A therapist on Mars will be essential since the montonous landscape and confining environments the colonists will live in would drive anyone crazy.  Someone will need to check the sanity of the therapist herself from time to time.  A therapist willing to go to Mars in the first place should be highly suspect.

I have met people that live in far more monotonous places than most seen on Mars, and I do not think that has anything to do with their sanity. Tough conditions will not make people go nuts - quite the contrary.

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[url=http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3941]Martian Settlement 2035?[/url]

redhorizons

Banned

From: Oklahoma

Registered: 2005-09-27

Posts: 50

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

It is not the tough conditions that will generally cause insanity, it the isolation and total contrast to what we are used to, the distance, the lack of any familiarity.  These are the factors that many psychologist feel will cause mental conditions on Mars, but hey no one knows how any bosy will handle it.  I am sure quiet a few of the early explores went crazy to some degree, maybe even committed sucide, we don't know their stories.  You never know how any one person will respond to trauma.  I live in Oklahoma City and saw 1st hand the different effects the Federal Building Bombing had on different survivors.  Uprooting yourself and moving to a different world in itself can be traumatic on some level.  Then add in all the possible things that could go wrong.  You will have to have psychiatrists on the first mission, or at least some one with a lot of skill in that field, because mental conditions or some sort are sure to develop, even if it is just interpersonal issues.
I can't imagine being crammed into a tin can for 4-6 months with the people I work with, without going a bit crazy, or homicidal.... LOL

Cobra Commander

Member

From: The outskirts of Detroit.

Registered: 2002-04-09

Posts: 3,039

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

It is not the tough conditions that will generally cause insanity, it the isolation and total contrast to what we are used to, the distance, the lack of any familiarity.

The apparent distance won't be that bad. Twenty minute communication delays. Still have TV, email, all that sort of stuff. It won't be that unfamiliar, most Americans spend the bulk of their time in artificial enclosed spaces already. Not to mention that the astronauts will have gone through so many simulations, trials and training exercises that it won't be unfamiliar at all. It just won't be that alien or grueling.

These are the factors that many psychologist feel will cause mental conditions on Mars. . .

They have to look out for their own jobs. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't see a space being made for a shrink as "mission critical." People just aren't that prone to cracking at the slightest provocation. Too much of the recent thinking seems to think that humans will be the weakest link, I tend to think just the opposite.

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

SpaceBull

Member

Registered: 2005-09-26

Posts: 45

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

It is a myth that difficult conditions make people go nuts. Most people can actually survive for instance a plane crash and be able to do their job efficiently the next day. Even survivors of holocaust are surprisingly sane. Besides, there are people who travel across the oceans on our own planet all by themselves, and I think that is much tougher than going to Mars. The only people who go nuts on a trip to Mars are those who are already nuts before they go.

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[url=http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3941]Martian Settlement 2035?[/url]

redhorizons

Banned

From: Oklahoma

Registered: 2005-09-27

Posts: 50

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

I agree that it is not the difficulty of the job or the situation that make people lose their sanity, it is their perception of their situation.  Hopefully the people that are going to Mars will percieve their situation as a positive one and will not have difficulties in that area.  However, where I see the difficulties arising is in the interpersonal relations of the crew, missing home and loved ones, conflict between the crew, dealing with stress issues, that sort of thing. 
But like Cobra pointed out, it is all about job security.  I want to see the mental health professional as "mission critical" because that is my speciality, so I have some bias in the matter.

noosfractal

Member

From: Biosphere 1

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 824

Website

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

interpersonal relations of the crew, missing home and loved ones, conflict between the crew, dealing with stress issues

These people are going to be adventurers.  The sort of people who answered Shackleton's ad:

"MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG
MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL.
HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS."

What drives such people crazy is exactly the mundane domesticity that others find so appealing.  For them, the adventure is liberation.

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Fan of [url=http://www.red-oasis.com/]Red Oasis[/url]

Grypd

Member

From: Scotland, Europe

Registered: 2004-06-07

Posts: 1,879

Re: Concern about the Government.Will they allow black to go

In times of adversity people grow CLOSER they tend to rely on there friends and family more and there is the feeling of the common good. If we actually use psychology then the territory that is strange and unreal for Humans is cities and there buildings. We are designed to operate in small groups and to work together. This in cities does not happen so we need psychobabblers to sort heads.

One thing that Mars has for the people that will go there is the sense of accomplishment and a sense of job satisfaction. This alone makes it worth going.

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Chan eil mi aig a bheil ùidh ann an gleidheadh an status quo; Tha mi airson cur às e.