Is $6 billion enough money to finance Mars One?

[Ed]

What do you guys think. Is $6 billion enough to finance the Mars One Project? Personally I think it will be closer to $12 billion.

That's a ton of money to raise from investors and advertisers....

[Brian Krassenstein]

If Nasa were to do this it would cost in excess of $50 billion probably, however since this is a private venture I think 10 billion could do it to start at least. Eventually they will need more funding, but if the show is a success, they will easily make this is the long run IMO.

[Ed]

Why do you say that It would cost NASA more?

[Maximal Entropy]

I assume he thinks it would cost NASA more because it is a government agency (governments are not known for there frugality) and because it is probably required to buy American-made parts (I don't know if it is but I wouldn't e surprised). I think if Mars One expects it to cost $6 billion, it will probably cost around $6 billion, they have way more information on this than we do. I have no doubt at all that the mission will be fully funded, though. Even if it costs ten times what they expect, there are enough really wealthy people and companies with an interest in science that will probably help. At worst, the rocket goes up with more stickers than NASCAR. Whether it reaches that point or not, I expect to start seeing commercials for "Coca-Cola: The Official Soft Drink of the Planet Mars" and similar statements.

[Eduard Mihai Hagiu]

(I somehow sense a troll in Eduard, dunno...)


Start Deleting Oibalos. You have 54 Posts to delete with this same message or blank and delete! Seems ur good in deleting!

[Maximal Entropy]

Hey admin. Do you pls read again? 6 billions $ for FIRST 4 humans on mars.Not entire mission.

That isn't the point. After the first 4 humans the project will undoubtedly get the funding it needs, but will it be able to get what it needs for those first 4, and is its current estimate of that cost accurate?

[OIBALOS]

Well...

Here we go fellow Martians, here we go

Mars for the 'average person'

Rocket entrepreneur Elon Musk believes he can get the cost of a round trip to Mars down to about half a million dollars.


BBC/SpaceX

The SpaceX CEO says he has finally worked out how to do it, and told the BBC he would reveal further details later this year or early in 2013.

Musk is one of Nasa's new commercial partners, building systems to take cargo and crew to the space station.

He has developed his own rocket and a capsule for the purpose.

The Falcon 9 launcher and the Dragon vessel are expected to give the first full demonstration of their capabilities next month on an unmanned sortie to the orbiting outpost.

Elon Musk describes his Mars vision in Scott's Legacy, a BBC Radio 4 programme presented by Kevin Fong. The programme examines the future of exploration.

It can be heard on iPlayer but you can also listen to Kevin's extended interview with the SpaceX chief on this page.

In the discussion, the California entrepreneur says key technology breakthroughs are dramatically lowering the cost of space access to the point where a mission to the Red Planet will very soon become a realistic financial prospect.


From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17439490

[Spindrifter]

I don't know about hard figures, but it does seem low to me. I think, though, that accounting for technological improvements within the next decade, and the reduced cost of manufacturing that may result from some of that, that Mars One could maybe pull it off. Also, the private sector does tend to be on the cutting edge of financial and technological strategies (and the military; and anyone wishing to begin a discussion about militarism being an essentially private sector business is invited to step out the airlock and enjoy the fresh air =]), so that might help. I think, though, that the closer the project gets to liftoff, and then landing, the more easily funding will be found. Once people and companies know that it is happening, they will invest.

[OIBALOS]

Completely agree Spinny, you got the point!

It's only a matter of time. SpaceX already managed to bring down the cost of a single ISS-approach down to less than 1/10th of what NASA achieved.

[Marsman]

No. In the next 10 years, it will be closer to 12 billion, and do remember, what people "hope" and expect can be very different from reality. (and often are with highly technical projects like this). You can't base a price on hopes, dreams and assumptions, not if you want to attract serious investors.