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Asked by anon-251974 on 29 Apr 2020. This question was also asked by anon-257954.
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David Sobral answered on 29 Apr 2020:
Definitely! Who wouldn’t? Arguments of “but you would be pretty isolated” don’t even apply right now anyway 🙂
Of course, going (and coming back from) to the ISS would be much easier to do and go on. For Mars I wouldn’t go right now, but if we were to put our collective efforts we can certainly do it
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Lori-Ann Foley answered on 29 Apr 2020:
I would – definitely. It would be great to go to the ISS but even more amazing to go to Mars. I study the Martian climate and geology and to actually go there and see the surface, the features, the rocks – we would learn so much. And studying the weather, I know that it snows on Mars – would that not be the coolest thing ever – to be standing on Mars in a snowstorm! Sign me up. 🙂
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Paul Saffin answered on 29 Apr 2020:
To see the Earth from space would be incredible, and I would definitely accept a trip to the ISS. Going to Mars would take a bit more thought. Apart from probably being a one-way trip, the radiation levels on the journey would be 700 times higher than staying on Earth, compared to 200 time higher for the ISS. At the moment it’s probably not safe.
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Sheila Kanani answered on 29 Apr 2020:
I’d love to go to the ISS and float about and have fun and do experiments! It would be great to see the Earth from space too. I wouldn’t go to Mars just yet if it was a one way trip unless I could take my friends and family! But I’d go as a retirement plan – that would be amazing!
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anon answered on 29 Apr 2020:
Without a doubt! To have such a unique experience!
In fact, the requirements for becoming and astronaut are quite achievable – look them up.Mars is tougher, because the conditions are very, very harsh. The first people on Mars will be basically fighting for their life. I think it takes a special sort of people, like the extreme sports enthusiasts, survivors. I am just not one of them, I also have a family.
I love the idea of going to another planet, but I would not want to go there as a pioneer. My wife and I discussed this actually, and decided that if we can retire on Mars, perhaps then – but of course being old brings health issues along. -
Kerrianne Harrington answered on 29 Apr 2020:
Absolutely! I would definitely go to space if I could, despite the cost on my life. A trip to Mars is likely to be very long, dangerous and expose your body to lots of problems with long term consequences (a lot of radiation, long term lack of gravity, etc). I’m a big fan of sports like roller derby and skating that happen to have a high injury rate, so I often weight the cost of potential injury and cost to my body to the gained experience. It would be such an amazing experience to be able to leave Earth, I think it would be worth it!
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Helena Bates answered on 29 Apr 2020:
100% I would go to the ISS! Imagine being able to see the curve of the Earth, and floating around in zero gravity, a real once in a lifetime opportunity. Also the opportunity for science on the ISS is really cool, I can think of lots of interesting things to test up there. BUT I’m not sure I would go to Mars just yet. Not unless there was a definite return trip plan. I actually think I would rather do a big ol’ Solar System tour without landing anywhere but visiting multiple planets before going to Mars on its own. Also none of this is helped by the fact I’m absolutely terrified of flying so I would probably have to get over that before either trip…
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Susan Cartwright answered on 29 Apr 2020: last edited 29 Apr 2020 11:42 am
The honest truth is that I wouldn’t be given the opportunity: I’m probably too old, and certainly not fit enough. There was a TV programme a year or so ago called “Astronaut” that put the competitors through a good approximation to astronaut training, and there’s no way I would have passed that – I’d probably have been dumped in round 1. However, I would like to go to the ISS (even though from a purely scientific standpoint I think the thing’s a gigantic waste of money): I’d love to see the Earth from space and know what it’s like to be weightless (though I’d probably be sick, snce I do have a tendency to motion sickness!). I’m not so sure about Mars: the trip is much longer, and with my experience of the current situation I realise that my tolerance of being shut up in a box for several months is not great. I do think it would be great to have a manned Mars base, because there is so much about Mars that I’d like to know, and humans are still much more flexible than robots when it comes to adjusting experiments to account for previous results. Not sure it’s going to happen in my lifetime, though.
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Roan Haggar answered on 29 Apr 2020:
Absolutely! I think you’d struggle to find a single physicist who wouldn’t want to go to the ISS — the idea of becoming an astronaut and taking a trip into space is what gets a lot of people interested in science in the first place. Going to Mars would be a bit more tricky, it’s much more of a commitment to know that you might never be able to return to Earth!
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Malgorzata Drwila answered on 29 Apr 2020: last edited 29 Apr 2020 11:56 am
Assuming the non-pioneer stage of Mars colonisation and me being perfectly fit physically I would love to take that opportunity! Contribution to building human friendly environment on Mars and Mars exploration is one of my dreams. Also no option of coming back (or no quick comeback) would be another factor to devote all my time and energy to science.
Somehow I don’t feel that excited about ISS. Probably it is too easy to come back to Earth for me to fully commit.
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Imogen Whittam answered on 29 Apr 2020:
I would DEFINITELY go to the ISS – I love seeing images of Earth from space, and to see this in person would be an absolutely incredible experience. Images of the northern lights from the ISS are some of my all-time favourites.
I don’t think I’d go to Mars though – with the technology we’ve got at the moment this would be a very long and uncomfortable journey, with cramped living conditions on arrival, and the distinct possibility that it would be a one way trip. I like my life on Earth way too much for that!
(Side note that we should definitely be looking after the Earth the best we can for further generations – it’s our best option!) -
Anne Green answered on 29 Apr 2020:
I’d love to go into space, but not quite enough to have actively pursued becoming an astronaut. I applied to take part in the BBC TV programme ‘Astronauts: do you have what it takes’, but didn’t get through the 2nd (video interview) stage of the selection process.
I’d probably say yes to a trip to the ISS, but would want to find out more above the risks first. If I was single I’d consider Mars, but I suspect my partner might not want to come too (and I wouldn’t want to leave him at home).
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John Davies answered on 29 Apr 2020:
I’d have to say yes to a trip to ISS, even though like one of the other replies, I’m probably too old to be asked.One thing though, if you read the books by people who have been there, a lot of it is pretty dull stuff. Fixing the toilet, changing the filters, loading and unloading cargo ships, exercising 2 hours a day. That said, lots of jobs have boring bits and sometimes you have to do the dull stuff to get to do the interesting stuff. I don’t know anyone who has said ‘I wish I hadn’t bothered to be an astronaut’.
As for Mars I’m definitely too old, but once upon a time I would have jumped at the chance.
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Greg Wallace answered on 29 Apr 2020:
YES. It woldn’t be related to my research in any way but It’s a once in a lifetime trip! The same goes for Mars IF it includes a return journey. I’m not so excited that I’d book the one way trip like some people wanted to a few years ago.
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James Smallcombe answered on 3 May 2020:
The ISS definitely. Right now I think Mars would be a one-way trip. While I’d enjoy the peace and quiet, the average distance between Earth and Mars is about 13 light minutes, meaning two-way communication has an almost half hour delay. So no talking, no internet (at least not like we are used to). I’ll only sacrifice so much for science and adventure, no Netflix is a step too far.
Comments
Rihab commented on :
Anyone said go to Mars ? Yes! I would love to go there (cryo-shipped maybe? who knows!) I have always been fascinated by the red planet, I have all its local rover clocks on my phone how many Sols they have been there…Thank you for this question, for a second I was on Mars in my mind.