Suzanne Flinkenflogel

Articles

Why Mars Should Be The Next Giant Leap for Mankind

Imagine living on another planet; looking up into the sky with the knowledge that one of the 'stars' is actually the planet you were born on. Those who observed Neil Armstrong land on the Moon all those years ago still remember every detail – where they were, who they were with and how they felt. This will be our moment.

It feels like yesterday when I first heard about Mars One , the not-for-profit foundation that will establish a permanent human settlement on Mars. It was at a business meeting when I met Bas Lansdorp. We started talking and at one point in the conversation I asked him about his job. He said he was organizing a manned mission to Mars. I honestly thought he was joking, so I politely laughed and said, "Now that's very funny, but seriously, what do you do?” He repeated the same thing. Although I wasn’t yet taking him seriously, this intrigued me tremendously, so I started asking him more questions. He told me that ever since he saw images of the Sojourner rover on Mars in 1997 he wanted to go to Mars himself. He explored the idea in the years that followed, and after numerous discussions with friends, colleagues and experts, the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall in place. Together with Arno Wielders, he founded Mars One in 2011 and started working full time on the plan. It didn’t take him long to convince me of the sincerity of the plans. Enthusiastically, I said that if Mars One ever needed help with communications, I would be thrilled to assist. So, here I am, almost two years later, responsible for the communications of Mars One.

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