Reality TV on Mars?

Some people are adventurers by nature, whether they're jumping out of planes or Ocoee white water rafting. Other people are exhibitionists: how else could reality television work if people weren't willing to do anything to get in front of the camera? And some people dream of the stars, hoping one day humanity will settle other planets.

What happens when you take all three of these personality types, put them in a large bag and shake until they merge?

If recent news is any indication you get Mars One, a Dutch company that plans on launching humans on a one-way, completely televised, trip to the Red Planet. Depending on whom you talk to, the idea is an inspired means to finance interplanetary travel or an insane version of Jersey Shore in space (okay, so an insane version of Jersey Shore may be redundant).

Voted off the Planet

Mars One plans to televise every aspect of the trip to Mars, starting with a Survivor-like contest that reduce 40 hopeful astronauts to the first four people to go to Mars ... and not come back.

Yes, although Mars One suggests return trips may be possible after more people make the trip, they're only planning one-way trips for the foreseeable future. If the first flight succeeds, Mars One will send four more people every two years. A rover will precede the astronauts to Mars, scout out an appropriate settlement site and build housing for the astronauts.

The astronauts will train in a "Mars-like" environment in a desert, and — get this — viewers will have a say in who gets to go. Essentially, viewers get a chance to vote four people off the planet, never to return.

Now, let's think about your typical reality show for a second. Who do viewers like to watch? The calm, reasonable people or the crazy, "drink a quart of tequila, have a fight with a stripper and pass out in my own vomit" types. Yup, these are the personality types I'd want with me on a deep-space flight.

Could it Work?

It's tempting to dismiss the entire idea as completely and irrevocably insane, especially when you realize one of the driving forces behind Mars One is Paul Römer who gave the world Big Brother. On the other hand, the project also includes Gerard 't Hooft, theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner. The company is in talks with Elon Musk, the billionaire behind private space mission company SapceX. These are people who know their stuff, and the project is certainly designed to spark the public imagination.

There’s something a little off-putting about the idea of the first human to reach Mars being a reality TV star. Somehow it implies we're not going to make the best first impression on the universe.