Andy Thomas is "very unimpressed with the Mars One project.
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Australian astronaut questions Mars One project
THE first Australian to go in to space has questioned whether the entrepreneurial Mars One project is 'morally defensible'.
Andy Thomas, in Brisbane for the World Science Festival, said he was "very unimpressed with Mars One", which plans a corporately-funded one-way mission to the red planet.
"They claim they can launch a crew to mars in the mid to late 2020s and do it for less than $9 billion," Mr Thomas said.
"It (the cost estimate) is so low as to be laughable. We don't know how to build a habitat that can sustain a crew for an outbound mission and on Mars indefinitely.
"I don't think it's morally defensible to send crews one way to Mars.
