Destination Mars (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - A Return Journey - full transcript

(dramatic orchestral music)

(exciting orchestral music)

(trumpet fanfare)

I believe that we need to build

a new human settlement on the planet Mars.

I'm not at all interested
in a return mission.

I'm not a fan of a one-way mission.

It seems a little selfish.

I think that people should have

the freedom to come home if they want to.

And I think, frankly, they
would inspire many more



if they were able to go
to Mars and come home.

NASA's approach has always
been to preserve human life,

and so, consequently, the
ability for astronauts to go,

land on Mars, work on Mars.

And part and parcel of that
would be the ability to return.

Going to Mars is not a one-way trip.

Why one-way?

Maybe the wording,
"one-way," is the wrong wording,

because the goal of Mars One

is different from exploring Mars,

like for NASA or for ESA.

The goal of Mars One is to settle Mars.

(dramatic orchestral music)

We don't go there
primarily for the science.



We go there to set up a new
kind of world for humanity.

I'm a scientist and, at heart,

I would like these missions to produce

scientific results that
we can benefit from.

I understand the
excitement, the "We did it,"

but I think I would much
rather have a mission

that thought its way all the way through

survival and return.

In the settlement-like approach,

we're forcing the settlers
to actually be settlers.

I want them to come back.

(dramatic orchestral music)

(birds chirping)

(dreamy music)

(motorcycle engine starts)

The only way we're gonna go to Mars

in my lifetime is gonna be one-way.

(motorcycle engine revs)

It's gonna be super tough, super tough,

saying goodbye to Earth.

Be giving up the sun on my face,

the wind in my hair, my family, you know,

my friends, the freedom
to do whatever I want.

If it was my last few days on Earth,

I think the most important thing

would be seeing the ones you love.

I've got two young nieces,

and absolutely adore them to pieces,

and I'd love to spend some time with them.

(slapping sound) (talking)

Saying goodbye to my
family for the last time,

absolutely break my heart,

and I think the worst thing would be that

I'd probably break theirs as well.

(woman talking)

It would be tough, it
would be tough (sighs).

(breathes out heavily)

You know, one of my young nieces says,

"I don't want you to go,"

but she'd be so proud of me, she would.

You know, she'd grow up to say,

"My Auntie Claire was
one of the first people

"to leave the planet and go
and live on another planet."

It's just.. Yeah, the pride
would overcome the pain.

(ethereal music)

(dramatic rhythmic drumming)

(rocket ship blasts)

Launching a rocket is not
peanuts, and that means

that launching a rocket
from a different planet

is even more complex,

and then you have the additional complexity

of having to dock inside Mars' orbit

with the spacecraft
bringing the people back.

So all these elements will
make it much more difficult.

Lifting off from the surface of Mars

with a number of astronauts
will require a big rocket,

that's certainly true,

but it's nowhere near the size of rocket

necessary to lift off
the surface of the earth.

As long as you don't require

the large components for a return rocket,

then you're only using technology

that has already been
used for space applications.

Taking off from Mars is a lot simpler

than taking off from Earth.

Remember, the gravity is less than half,

on the surface of
Mars, what it is on Earth.

So it's actually quite a lot easier.

We think we can invest in the technologies

necessary to make this happen.

A return mission, it's
always going to be more risky,

more expensive, it will
have longer timelines.

The one-way trip is the least expensive,

but it's also riskier.

You've got to come up
with a way for these humans

to survive on the surface permanently.

(tense orchestral music)

(clicking)

So on my last day on Earth,

well, I think it's important

you'd have to start with a full English.

Definitely, a cooked breakfast,

bacon, sausage, eggs, and also tea.

Oh, of course, we have to have tea.

It'll be quite some time

until we have tea on Mars, I imagine.

(blonde woman laughs)

I mean, yeah, of course,

we're not going to be
out of contact, are we?

I mean, it's like...

No, it's not like you're
disappearing forever.

Yeah, I mean, what was it
like when I went to university?

Yeah, I'm guessing it'll
be a similar sort of thing.

Yeah, I mean, obviously,
a little... (laughs)

Obviously a little bit more distant, but...

My sister was always...

I mean, she's much
more sensitive than I am.

She's... She always takes it really hard,

this issue of people leaving almost.

This, on a personal basis, is
the hardest question for me.

Because I've always been
there for her, I've always been

there to support her.
(laughing)

My dad left us when I would have maybe

been about two years old and then my sister

had only been born quite recently.

(mumbles) I'm heading off now.

I obviously find that really difficult,

but I always put that aside and

focus on how do I support
my sister in going through it.

(creaky door closes)
(dramatic music)

I want to help answer this question,

whether we're alone in the universe

to be remembered for
achieving a certain thing.

And people to remember that achievement.

I could go to Mars and directly look

for the first evidence of life there.

This is the one question
that has driven everything

that I've been doing.

So long as I know at the end of the day

that my actions in life has done something

that has made a difference
and that the world is a better

place for my actions,
then I'm satisfied with that.

(wind howling)

(orchestral music)

A one way trip to Mars may be a way

that this is possible for humans.

Because one of the
things that we don't have

a good understanding of right now is

how long term exposure to
space flight will affect you.

And for instance, and
specifically, how it'll affect you

if you want to come home.

So the longer time we
spend in micro-gravity or

partial gravity may have
such detrimental effects

on our bones and our
muscles and our other tissues

that it may not allow
us to come home again.

I would feel extremely sad

that I wouldn't see the earth again because

there's so much brilliant stuff here.

The things I will do
on Earth before I leave

will be the little things so

things that people do
every day which will be

near impossible on Mars
are the things I will do.

(laughs) I love swimming, I
really love being in the water.

I'm not going to win any
medals, but it just gives me joy.

There is no water on
Mars to swim in. (laughs)

We thought we can move to Mars.

Essentially, that was
the thought at the time.

We can just sort of up
stakes here and move there.

We got the news that I'd
been selected for round two

and my boyfriend, Casper, had not.

It will be really difficult.

It will be really difficult
to leave him behind.

I love him loads, I love him to death.

He's wonderful, he's everything.

He shares my vision of the world.

And he's so supportive.

Many people have called
Mars One a suicide mission,

in that we will go
somewhere and we will die.

But there is this amazing gap in between

going there and actually
dying that we call life.

(laughs) And that will happen
regardless of where we are.

It's more important to use
the one life you do have

to make a better world.

(rocket blasting off)

We're accused of being
unethical quite a lot because

we're sending people to their deaths.

That's what people are saying.

But what we do is we
give people the opportunity

to do something which
they want to do already

from the beginning of their lives.

The concept of informed
consent where people

understand the risks and the benefits

of what they want to do,
and they accept the risks

is a very important
concept in space flight.

And it's something that astronauts

have to deal with at all times.

They know and they will be informed

of every step of our process,
of all the risks associated.

From a Mars One perspective,

the participants, theoretically,
understand that concept

and understand the risks involved.

The difficulty is that, in my
opinion, in reality they don't

understand the risks involved.

I believe that the risks
are being downplayed

because people are very excited about this

and want to make it
happen in the short term.

We will never lie to them
about any risks because

they need to be informed
as much as possible.

And it's even in our own interest to ensure

that they are extremely
well-informed because

they are the ones who are
going to make this mission

a success or not.

If they fail within the first year

on the surface of Mars, we fail.

There is not an ethical
problem with sending

people to Mars one way.

Provided that your
organization and effort is geared

to continue to support that.

(dramatic music)

(voice recording)

The one way trip puts an onus on Mars One

to create a financial and
logistical engine to support

the Mars colony essentially, indefinitely.

So that is what is needed in my view,

to make the one way mission a logical,

ethical and practical proposition.

Going to Mars is extremely ambitious and

there's all kinds of ways in
which we might not succeed.

But I do believe that we have
already been very successful.

We have put Mars back
on the agenda, I think.

And it's my conviction that
if humans ever go to Mars,

it will be on a mission
of permanent settlement.

And I think that Mars One has contributed

significantly in making
permanent settlement acceptable.

(dramatic orchestral music)