Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2014

19 ASTRONAUTICS NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2014 o the opia W ith increasing frequency, we hear about space missions aimed at sending humans on Mars in the next few years. They all seem feasible, but at the same time they all also seem leav- ened by an optimism that along with too grand and fragile enthusiasms raises quite a few concerns. One such mission is Mars One, an ambitious project, to say the least, set in motion by the eponymous non-prof- it Dutch foundation (head of International Media Group, which manages the funds), with the specific aim to create over the pe- riod 2018-2025 a permanent human settle- ment on the Red Planet. Mars One was of- One of the most ambitious projects of conquest of the Red Planet has proved to be, from an accurate analysis by the Massachu- setts Institute of Tech- nology (MIT), much less reliable than claimed by its creators. The settle- ments that on Mars will host the first colonizers could easily turn into a death trap, unless the mission is deeply revised.