CALGARY Sending humans to colonize Mars would be a suicide mission, former Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk said Friday. <\/p>\n
Thirsk, who holds the Canadian space endurance record with 204 days in orbit, said a private Netherlands-based group's plan to send 24 people to settle the red planet in a decade is a death wish. <\/p>\n
During his six-month stint aboard the International Space Station in 2009, Thirsk said he spent much of his time repairing equipment like CO2 scrubbers and the craft's toilet. <\/p>\n
That doesn't give him much confidence in Mars One's plans. <\/p>\n
\"I don't think we're ready ... we don't yet have the reliable technology to support a one-way trip to Mars,\" Thirsk said in Calgary Friday. <\/p>\n
\"It's naive to think we're ready to colonize Mars it'd be a suicide mission.\" <\/p>\n
He said such a voyage to Mars would take six to nine months. <\/p>\n
Calgarian Zac Trolley, 31, who's on a short list of 705 hopefuls on the Mars One sweepstakes, called Thirsk's comments \"absolutely ridiculous. <\/p>\n
\"It's not a suicide mission. It sounds like you're intending to die and no one wants to put themselves in harm's way and intentionally die,\" the electrical engineer said. <\/p>\n
He said any form of space travel comes with risks, adding the lunar module Eagle was never tested before it first touched down on the Moon in 1969. <\/p>\n
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Mars colonization a suicide mission, says Canadian astronaut<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CALGARY Sending humans to colonize Mars would be a suicide mission, former Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk said Friday. Thirsk, who holds the Canadian space endurance record with 204 days in orbit, said a private Netherlands-based group's plan to send 24 people to settle the red planet in a decade is a death wish Continue reading