Next year, the astronauts of Mars One are expected to begin their decade-long training before the first set of four astronauts departs for Mars in 2026. I decided to investigate a bit further into the details of the plan outlined for Mars One as a whole between now and then….
2017: Training begins! Hopefully the crew likes each other, because they’re now stuck together literally until they die – on Earth or Mars.
2020: Communication satellite #1 is launched into orbit around Mars, which will be vital for maintaining communication between Earth and the Mars settlement. A demo mission lands on Mars to run some tests on the technology developed for the settlement.
2022: Communication satellite #2 is launched into orbit around the Sun, enabling communication between Earth and Mars at all times. A rover is sent to Mars to choose a settlement location.
2024: So much stuff is sent to Mars! Including: rover #2, life support units, living quarters, and supply units.
2025: So much stuff (above) lands on Mars, and the rover sets it all up using solar energy. Water and oxygen begins being produced by the system.
2026: First crew departs! Along with them, cargo for the second crew is launched towards Mars.
2027: First crew lands and begins a new life on Mars. They set up the second set of supplies when it lands.
2028: Second crew departs, as well as the cargo for the third crew.
2029: Second crew arrives.
….And then the cycle continues every two years, sending four more humans to expand the settlement on Mars. Pretty insane, right?! There’s a good chance people will be living on another planet a little over a decade from now. I, for one, cannot wait to see how this goes.
Lindsey's Academic Musings 
This is SO incredible to me. 2027 sounds ages away, but is actually only 11 years from now! That’s the difference between now and 2007! I mean, in 2007 the final Harry Potter book came out, GW Bush was finishing up his presidency, and the first iPhone came out. That doesn’t feel that long ago at all ! It’s truly amazing to realize within a decade there will be people living on Mars. This seems so futuristic, but is a huge step for mankind! I can’t imagine what kind of dedication would be needed for a person to commit their life to this mission. As you pointed out, these people will be together until they die! This mission will truly be amazing progress for the human race.
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It’d be interesting to think about the social conditions of colonizing life on Mars, specially considering that initial volunteers outside of NASA would probably be among the monetary or social elite who could afford to sponsor such a journey. What type of training program would be involved for those who are sent up? While it seems to be looking far into the future, we would also have to start asking questions as to the autonomy of the Mars colony. Would life on Mars be considered as US colony is NASA was at the forefront, and thereby be an extension of the government and social conditions of the United States. The scientific and logistic developments clearly need to come first, but the societal factors are also important to consider.
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This is why I appreciate the hard sci-fi writers out there. So maybe the winds on Mars aren’t strong enough for The Martian intro, but the fact that the book and the movie adhere to some strong science shows all of us the possibilities of colonization. People are excited for Martian exploration. We want humanity to grow and thrive. NASA and popular science fiction feeds that growth and excitement.
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This is some really cool stuff! The pessimist inside me says that these men and women will probably end up the same way the Roanoke colony did, but hopefully they pull it off. Its crazy to think that people could be living on another planet before we even reach 40. Hopefully technology advanced to the point where we will be able to visit Mars (and come back) before we die.
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Grader here: Love the timeline!
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