Most settlers in human history have known they were going on a one way trip. At least these people will be able to communicate with their loved ones by videochat.
We should do with our prisoners the same thing the British did with their convicts. I'm sure there'll be plenty of volunteers from our prison.
“Most settlers in human history have known they were going on a one way trip. At least these people will be able to communicate with their loved ones by videochat.”
An excellent post. I did not read the article, but I’m guessing these explorers would be sent supplies, etc. for the duration? It would seem pretty pointless to send them up with enough supplies and air for 72 hours and a “so what is it like up there?”
Chat? The speed of light is 186,282.397 miles per second. Mars is between 3.1 and 22.2 light minutes from Earth. Worst case, that means almost three quarters of an hour to ask a simple question and get a simple answer.
So, "chat" is not the right word. It would be more like exchanging videos in the mail, albeit with a relatively fast mail man.
Obviously, the horrendous latency of the connection would dictate changes to normal internet protocols designed to minimize the number of "line turn-arounds".