My name is Josh Richards — I’m a physicist, former soldier, and stand-up comedian. I likewise happen to be just one of 100 people shortlisted as astronaut candidates to Mars One, the worldwide not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the permanent human colonisation of Mars.
During my degree I found out we had the technology to land humans on Mars however not to bring them back, and I’d asked why we didn’t merely go anyway. My very first solo comedy show was all about the science and religion of doomsday, and I’d ended it along with a hopeful note that if an extinction level event was about to occur maybe it’d be just what we required to finally leave this planet and explore more of the universe. So in September 2012 — merely days after finishing my 4th year performing at the Edinburgh Fringe — I sat down to start researching and writing a comedy show about sending people one-means to Mars.
I typed “Mars One Way” in to Google, and immediately found Mars One — an organisation preparation to send people to Mars as portion of a one-means colonisation. Mars One had made its very first substantial press release merely 3 days before, announcing that in early 2013 they’d be opening for astronaut applications. They wanted to send the right people to become humanity’s ambassadors on an additional planet — regardless of nationality, gender, religion, or sexuality. So rather than writing a comedy show complaining that we as a species had the capability to colonise various other planets however were too afraid to take that giant leap without a return ticket, I signed up for a one-means mission to Mars to guidance turn us in to a dual-planet species.
What thoughts went through my head about leaving Earth behind forever when I became a finalist for Mars One? An overwhelming sense of relief.
Speaking to Dr Norbert Kraft in early December 2014, I was one of the very first of the 660 candiates to take portion in the psychological interview phase. Which likewise meant I was one of the candidates that waited the longest when the results were announced in February 2015.
I’ve always had contingency plans in the event I didn’t pass a phase of Mars One’s selection, and every step of the means the opportunities outside of Mars One have actually gotten much better and better. however I’ve always put everything on the line for this and never swayed from the path because I know every day I’m involved is an additional day I’m directly championing the human exploration of various other planets. Being decided on as one of the final 100 candidates gave me a profound sense of relief in knowing I’m still quite much on that path.
Preparing For Mars
To celebrate the Blu-ray/DVD release of The Martian, Josh recently undertook a five-day public challenge to survive in a simulated Martian base at Sydney’s Circular Quay. just what did he learn that may be applied to the Mars One mission?
The biggest lesson from the experiment joined recognising the disconnect between how busy I looked and how busy I actually was. along with a huge number of jobs merely to keep points clean and organised; maintaining the communication, video cameras and computer systems in the extreme heat of the hab; and the addition of different challenges such as the oxygen alarm on Sol 2 or the heat-loss on Sol 4; I was working flat-out in there for 5 days straight and regularly forgot to eat. just what limited downtown I had was spent recording video journals and responding to social media and press requests. I had a little time to play ukulele late on Sol 1, however barely had a possibility to play for the rest of my time in the hab.
“Humans can easily achieve absolutely extraordinary points if we put aside our difference and job with each other in the service of something bigger than ourselves.”
On Mars along with a crew of 4 in a much larger habitat, points will certainly be far much less hectic.
With a 3-20 minute time delay, the tension to respond to press and social media immediately will certainly likewise ease. however the biggest lesson was that you may be working flat-out, however because the people outside can easily only see you moving around a small room through a video camera (or glass) it can easily LOOK like you’re bored — nothing could be further from the truth. So it’s important for the folks in mission control not to try to add “merely an additional thing” because they Believe you’ve got time to do it.
I know Mars One will certainly happen, however only if people believe space exploration is a worth the time, effort and risk. Humans can easily achieve absolutely extraordinary points if we put aside our difference and job with each other in the service of something bigger than ourselves, and I’m sure that every one of the remaining 100 candidates understands that they’re involved along with something far bigger than that they are as individuals.
Personally I started making changes to my lifestyle the moment I read about Mars One and decided right there in that little Brighton cafe that I’d sign up for it. Within months I’d moved from the UK back to Australia — as much as it pained me, I knew Australian schools and the Australian media would certainly be more interested in hearing from an Australian candidate than the UK would. My time along with the military meant I lived a quite spartan existence already, however over the last 3 years I’ve actively sought ways to reduce my personal possessions and attachments. While I would certainly never have actually gone done the “traditional” path of marriage and children, my romantic relationships have actually had to evolve to the prospect that in 10 years I may not be on this planet anymore. My upcoming comedy show “Cosmic Nomad” is entirely about how my life has actually changed by being a Mars One canidate, and even my global tour of the show is based around living from a backpack, living off the land and carrying only just what you need.
Virtual Reality And Drones
Virtual reality and robotic missions are fantastic, and form a vital element in the exploration of space, however they’re only portion of the picture. Robots may not need sleep, oxygen or food… however compared to humans they likewise kind of suck at science.
It’s been argued that one person on Mars could have actually collected more data in 3 days than the Curiosity rover collected in it’s first 2 year mission. A human can easily walk over to a rock, easily notice differences in it’s geology, and then decide if it’s worth gathering a sample for analysis – a process that could take weeks along with an Earth-controlled robot on Mars.
“Robots may not need sleep, oxygen or food… however compared to humans they likewise kind of suck at science.”
It’s not merely the enormous time delay in Earth-Mars communications (3-20 minutes each means because of the speed of light) that holds up remote controlling a robot on Mars or using virtual reality — robots are likewise limited to the instruments and tools you send them in to space with.
A human can easily easily repair or improvise a tool to achieve something, whereas a robot lacks that versatility. So while robots and virtual reality are wonderful ways to learn more about our universe, they must always be an extension of human exploration — not a replacement for it.
There is significant precedent for humans operating long-term in small closed environments that are far smaller sized than just what we will certainly be living in — such as Antarctic research stations and aboard nuclear submarines. After the first 48 hours in my 81m³ habitat I felt pretty comfortable along with the reasonable room – you merely required to plan where you moved equipment a little more carefully, and I made a special effort to secure my own personal space at night by placing tarps across my bed area.
On Mars the first crew of 4 will certainly have actually approximately 1000m to share (250m³ each) along with our own private quarters – we may not be able to run around outside whenever we like, however we’ll adjust quickly and it undoubtedly won’t be claustrophobic inside.
There’s no need for us to wear spacesuits inside the habitats — merely like the worldwide Space Station — which has actually been continuously inhabited for more than 15 years now. Our habitat on Mars will certainly be pressurised to make it a comfortable “shirt-sleeve environment” along with highly regulated temperature, tension and humidity.
We’ll likewise be conducting regular EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activities) suited up outside the hab. So we might not feel the wind on our faces, however we’ll still grab to see the sky fairly regularly.
Leaving Earth
Mars One asked us to list three points we’d like to take one-means to Mars for our public candidate profile, and I still stand by just what I said 3 years ago: a ukulele, an ebook reader, and a video camera. 3 years later and knowing just what I know now though, I could easily read ebooks on one of the tablets we’ll need in the habitat, and there will certainly be plenty of cameras to document our journey and life on Mars. So I’m quite sure a ukulele would certainly be my only personal item.
When Shackleton’s “Endurance” was crushed in group ice during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and the crew then forced to live on the ice for months and drag their lifeboats hundreds of miles, Shackleton ordered his men to leave behind everything except their meals and no more than 2lb of personal items per man. The one exception he made was Leonard Hussey’s 5 string banjo (weighing 12 lb). Shackleton referred to it as “vital mental medicine” for the survival of the expedition, and I see my ukulele — and learning to play David Bowie’s “Starman” while I joined the hab — as being no different to that.
I have actually a huge amount of experience working in small, high-performance groups along with the military and the space industry, and it’s where I absolutely thrive and operate at my highest potential. Operating in a confined environment is obviously one more stressor, however it’s all about displaying expeditionary behaviour by respecting everyone you’re working with, while likewise recognising your very own need for personal space.
Being weightless likewise adds (pretty literally) a brand-new dimension, where you can easily spread out through the entire room quite than merely the floorspace. So while the spacecraft we use to grab to Mars may not have actually more internal volume than the 3x3x9m habitat I lived in for 5 days, we’ll be able to use it’s volume more effciently during the 7 month trip to Mars.
Goodbye Bacon
Obviously missing friends and family will certainly be a huge factor, however I’ve likewise been a nomad for years — stay in touch the very best you can easily via email, making the most of the time you have actually along with the people around you, and recognising that you’re involved along with something that is far bigger than the personal and will certainly benefit our entire species makes all of it much easier.
“These days I’m more honest about just what I’ll truly skip — bacon.”
I used to say that I would certainly skip scuba diving, however it wasn’t until recently I realised that just what I loved most about scuba diving was the sense of weightlessness and the relative quiet of being under water. Being the only people on a planet undoubtedly keeps the noise and bussle down, and 7 months in zero-g as we travel to Mars followed by the rest of our lives in 38 per cent of Earth’s gravity must offer me my weightlessness fix.
These days I’m more honest about just what I’ll truly skip — bacon. Everyone asks me just what I would certainly do along with my last day on Earth? consume bacon, because we’re not taking any pigs to space along with us. Despite the fact that I hear there’s a species of Japanese seaweed that tastes merely like bacon when it’s fried, and we’ll be running hydroponic systems for crops on Mars. So as long as I can easily grow underwater seaweed-bacon trees in 38 per cent gravity, then I’ll die on Mars a quite happy man.
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