Recall the older generation that cleaned up at Fukushima.[0] These are folks that knew their activities would be uncomfortable, may cause their death, but ultimately was absolutely vital to the benefit of all mankind.
This view on life is not constrained to a single culture or background. Self-sacrifice in such a way is often considered the highest pinnacle of morality -- even under the auspices of selfish genes since the act does not directly benefit descendants. Planting trees in your later years that the fruit may be enjoyed generations after.
You may ask if I have any special skills. I do, but suppose I don't. In such a place you will need grunts. And I'd be happy to join in to build humanity's insurance policy to be a bit broader.
[0] http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/31/japan.nuclear.su...
> the Mars city will need teams of specialists
> On Mars, SpaceX hopes to get by with “only” a million people and a lot of manufacturing automation
> What is the per capita area requirement on Mars? In a future post I’ll estimate this more rigorously but I believe it’s on the order of 10,000 sqft
How do you bootstrap to get there?
> If a Mars base is doubling its population every launch window, then the 5000->10000 person increment
So, let’s say you are such a specialist. What would entice you to sign up for one of the first flights?
Given the disadvantages (a return flight will be years out, if ever in your lifetime, and those in the first 10 or so flights will have to trust that 200-ish further flights will follow) I doubt ‘fame’ and ‘adventure’ will cut it (possibly for some people, but try finding 25,000 or so for those first flights, with the restriction on getting a good mix of expertises and a good psychological mix)
I can think of:
- coercion by your government
- Earth being wasted enough to make Mars look enticing.
- lots of unmanned flights, to ensure that the first flights going there have an escape vehicle, if needed.