Happy Moon Day!

It was on this day 43 years ago that man first stepped foot upon another world.

It’s important to remember, in these days of a shuttered shuttle program and no clear direction for the future of manned space missions in NASA what we were once able to accomplish.

The focus of the future of manned space flight has kind of shifted away from NASA and into the private sector with things like SpaceX and their Dragon Capsule, but no one seems to be focusing on anything farther than low Earth orbit. That may be changing.

I don’t know if this is serious or a joke, but if they really mean it, it sounds like a good idea. It’s somewhat similar to a paper I wrote in college, the basic premise of which was “Submarines are designed to be airtight, self sustaining systems that operate for long stretches of time isolated and alone, can’t we just put one on the moon?” Someone has taken that to the next step, and is planning on doing something somewhat similar, but with Mars.

The premise they use is an interesting one, and it’s been a stumbling block for why NASA never really planned anything major. The basic idea behind NASA missions was always that they were limited stays, and you always came back. But what if they weren’t? What if you took that pioneering spirit of the Mayflower, and just emigrated, with no intentions of ever returning? That would make things a lot easier. You wouldn’t need all that redundant stuff, like a way to return home. What if you just went, and made your way once you were there? That’s the idea these guys over at Mars One have.

Using currently available hardware, it should be feasible to just send people to Mars. Just get them there. Then you can keep sending them supply ships, and every once and a while more people. Eventually they would have enough landers and things stockpiled that they could build a sizable base of operations. Mars One plans to monetize the whole thing by turning it into a reality TV type of thing, like Big Brother or the under appreciated TV pilot film by Ronald D. Moore (of Deep Space Nine and Battlestar Galactica fame), Virtuality. It’s certainly an interesting concept, and I know I for one would watch it if they can make it happen. You can read more about the details of the plan at the Mars One website.

And who knows. Maybe in 15 years, instead of Moon Day, we’ll be celebrating Mars Day!

JohnScott is the proud owner of a life size replica Captain Kirk Chair. He is a hoarder of Comic Books, Transformers, and Star Trek action figures. He attended Space Camp as an adult. He has taken vacations to the closing of the Star Trek Experience and the final night Shuttle launch. He has been known to yell at his television when the kids can't put together the damn statue in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. When not writing for InsufficientScotty, he is a Software Engineer for a major healthcare communications company. You can Email or follow on Twitter @NotEnoughScotty or Facebook