Volunteer for Mars?

Would I volunteer for Mars?
18 months out in space
With 5 companions
To share the place.

I’m not convinced
The experiment
Will provide
The data they meant.

Is it one way or return,
Will it be shut when I arrive
Will I get on with my companions
Will I still be alive?

What’s to be gained by going to Mars
Do little green men drive around in cars?

A planet we can see from here,
Its obviously got no atmosphere.

Is this science fiction or science fact,
will we discover something amazing,
some new technology to take us forward
or an extra terrestrial liaison?

Perhaps there minerals that we need,
Or we could take holidays by the red sea,
But only the rich will be able to go
Its too expensive for you or me.

Stuck in a tube for over a year,
With 5 sweaty men and no bath in sight
Living on microwave meals watching telly
It sounds just like a skiver’s delight

But I’m sure it’s all done for science
And people will learn of the ordeals they faced
Unless spending cuts force it to close,
All that time lost they’ll never replace.

So is Mars just pie in the sky?
You’ll never know if you don’t try.


This was a response to a BBC discussion on a Russian experiment