There’s talk in the
media about missions to Mars, there has been ever since the moon landings 40
years ago. How would we fund such a trip, would we be able to overcome the
technological and psychological obstacles? These are all issues that now have
potential solutions. Mars One is a project that hopes to use reality TV funding to raise the cash.
So the audition
(sorry selection) process will be televised (as will the revolution but that's a different story). Their web site states “The online
application will consist of general information about the applicant, a
motivational letter, a resume and a one minute video in which the applicant
answers some given questions and explains why he or she should be among the
first humans who set foot on Mars.” I might even apply myself, surely a
dissipated, middle aged writer with poor eyesight and a dodgy beard would be
just what they need. What’s the worst that can happen, I get rejected? Hey, I’m
a struggling writer, I’m used to rejection.
audience
The process
continues with the obligatory medical checks but round three is the most
telling. “This round is the national selection round, which could be
broadcast on TV and internet in countries around the world. In each country,
20-40 applicants will participate in challenges that demonstrate their
suitability to become one of the first humans on Mars. The audience will select
one winner per country and Mars One experts will select additional participants
to continue to round four.” So it really is possible to see the selection
process turning into an audition and once the public becomes involved we are
talking about the full Big Brother experience. Will the first colonists of other
worlds be the most beautiful and handsome? Will the first children born on other
planets have square jaws, perfect clear skin and the blondest of hair?
Presumably the broadcast will continue right to the point where they land on
Mars, build their settlement and begin their existence on the red lifeless waste
that will be their new home for the rest of their lives.
We might imagine how their daily lives, of survival decisions
and scientific experimentation, are influenced by ratings. Will there be a behind
the scenes struggle between the directors of the scientific programme and the
media division, with the associated back stabbing and scandal? This would make a great plot
for a film or TV series. In fact I think the film might already have been made
and I think there was a series with a similar background. The series was
cancelled, I seem to remember, because the real world accountants pulled the plug when ratings didn't take off. So what
happens when the audience figures for the real Mars landings drop off? Actually, when you consider it, it would be
self-sustaining as lack of audience figures would put their funding at risk,
which would put their lives at risk, and their audience would increase with the likelihood of disaster. They would be on a constant knife edge though. (Comparisons to
Columbus might break down when you consider he wasn’t reliant on a constant
stream of funding from his supporters in Europe to ensure he had survival
resources on board ship or in the new world.)
televised
But this is where the big issue arises. When the inevitable
disaster happens, when they have a catastrophic failure, or worse, a slow demise
due to some equipment failure that can't be resolved in the eight months it takes to resupply, how much will be televised? Doubtless the media
will debate the fact that this is what they might have expected and as such the
colonisers/stars would want it to be broadcast, it's in their contract, after all the royalties will go
to their families after their death.
The first Dutch Big Brother programme in 1999 was a game
changer and this will be too (it’s interesting to note that the first Big
Brother series was in Holland where the Mars One project has its base). The
spread of Big Brother and other reality TV concepts in the first years after the
millennium changed what we considered to be acceptable in the media in general
and so will Mars One. Once we see people in daily peril for the sake of audience
figures disguised as exploration, how long will it be before live reality TV is
used as a funding source for other risky activities? Will it then become
acceptable to film the death of participants in extreme situations? Hell let’s
take people and film them while they risk their lives for big cash prizes, they
sign a release form so there’s no risk to the producers at least. Come to think
of it, this would make a good plot for a film.
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