Ahh, I'm away for a few days and the topic drifts. OK, first...
Cole: One major problem I have is that the FAQ really contains nothing that isn't in that video, except that they use more words to say the same nothing. Every indication they've given is that the FAQ contains all the answers they have. So, for instance, my earlier example wasn't an exaggeration. Their current plan for dealing with radiation en route is "a reinforced area of the ship" where the astronauts can go in case of a major solar storm. No indication that they even realize that the ambient radiation would be too much during the entire trip, no indication of how they will "reinforce" this area.
I've heard the objection that most people aren't technically minded enough to care about this, but that leaves 2 possibilities. 1) They have done their homework enough to have a real technical plan, but they haven't bothered to share because most people aren't technically minded, or 2) They don't actually have a plan, but think saying things like "reinforced area" are sufficient for now. In either case, they haven't done their homework enough the make the reality tv plan work; technically minded people are their core demographic! In the first case, they are still being unnecessarily evasive. People want to know if this will work, but they are refusing to tell us how it could work. In the second case, well then this is a pipe dream at absolute best.
They are shopping this around for money, and the fact that they are so reticent about their technical plan makes it hard for me to believe that they even have a plan. If they have no plan and are still perfectly happy to ask for money, that's either a scam or a delusion. In either case, people are going to lose money in exactly the same way.
OK, now getting on to the discussion of the regulation of planetary exploration:
Yeah, it's fun to complain about governments controlling things, but hang on here. Would you rather have a responsible and publicly accountable organization like NASA be the first humans on Mars, or whatever jackasses are selected by a group of reality TV producers? One argument in favor of this whole Mars-One scheme is that one of the major people involved is a highly successful reality TV producer. Are you kidding me, that's who you want to choose our first Mars exploration team? That is literally the last possible type of person we should want at the helm of this kind of project.
Now I know, they've said that they are sending researchers there, and that's fine. I'm sure something sciencey would be done. However, their whole plan is to fund this with corporate sponsorships and a reality TV show. The people holding the checkbook are going to want to see a return on their investment, which means they will want control. I'm all in favor of commercializing space, but this is not the way to do it, and now is not the time to do it on Mars.
This isn't about governments controlling things for the sake of being big government. This is a necessary and good protection against irresponsible nonsense like this. Filming a reality TV show on Mars isn't a personal liberty that the government wants to take away from you. It's an idiotic idea that needs to be slapped down for what it is.
