David Spain wrote on Fri, 15 Feb 2019 08:08:11
-0500:

On 2/13/2019 6:12 AM, Jeff Findley wrote:
In article , says...

On 2/11/2019 8:03 PM, Alain Fournier wrote:

Mars One, which was proposing one-way trips to Mars has declared
bankruptcy.

https://spacenews.com/mars-one-company-goes-bankrupt/


Alain Fournier

At least they didn't get sued out of existence by grieving families.

What crewed spaceflight company has ever been "sued out of existence by
grieving families"?


Well first. This wasn't a spaceflight company. This was an outfit
providing "one-way" trips to Mars. Kinda like those ill fated guided
tours up Mt. Everest.


Yes, this wasn't a spaceflight company because one can apparently get
people to Mars without spaceflight.

When the US does start flying crew commercially, the FAA attitude is
more or less make sure that the participants are informed of the risk.
That's about it. I don't see this upcoming era of crewed commercial
spaceflight being that much different than early aviation when crashes
and deaths were frequent. How the heck else are we supposed to learn
how to make spaceflight routine and affordable?

Jeff please don't confuse spaceflight companies with Mars One.


Yes, because you can get people to Mars just by having them click
their heels together three times and chant, "There's no place like
Mars". No spaceflight at all required.


SpaceX at least provisionally is providing a return capability for their
proposal. It may require in-situ refueling, but I'm sure they will have
that solved before sending up large numbers of people. Unlike Mars One.


What's that got to do with whether something is 'space flight' (flying
through space) or not?

I keep meaning to buy this book by one of our former frequent posters:

Safe Is Not an Option Paperback - October 31, 2013
by Rand E. Simberg (Author), William Simon (Editor), Ed Lu (Foreword)
https://www.amazon.com/Safe-Not-Opti.../dp/0989135519

I ought to just buy it on Kindle ($3.79) and read it on my phone (I
don't have a dedicated Kindle with e-Ink display).

It's an excellent read, yes you should definitely get it.
It has really nothing to do with Mars One.


I'm pretty sure no one implied that it did.


BTW, just because folks sign releases up the wazoo, doesn't mean those
left behind can't or won't sue their carrier. We've seen this time and
again with "settlements" arranged after some tragic airline mishap.


OK, name the airlines that have been sued out of existence by grieving
relatives.


Sometimes these suits are often brought by insurance companies
themselves trying to re-coup losses on life insurance policies that
don't exclude air travel for example. In this case its insurance
companies vs insurance companies.


OK, name the airlines that have been sued out of existence by grieving
insurance companies.


My take is Mars One was ill-considered from the get go.


My take is that it was within a hairs breadth of being fraud. Where
did the money go?


That it died
from poor organization before it got anyone killed is to its credit
actually. It would almost certainly would have had to deal with a
carrier such as SpaceX or Blue Origin to achieve its goal.


Yet it apparently had no plans to do either and was promising trips to
Mars before either of those companies would have vehicles.


Why the middle man?


Because they can take the money, deliver nothing, and then declare
bankruptcy.


Maybe once Mars flights are more common ...


You mean 'more common' as in 'exist'?


... a Mars One type
"colony" company can responsibly contract flights for carriers to get
their "communities" established, with even return capability if
something goes majorly wrong. Time will tell.


Perhaps, but they will be organizations that have some working
relationship with people who can actually deliver boosters and
vehicles and actual plans for sending people and equipment. Mars One
had none of that.


--
"Taught me how to shoot to kill.
A specialist with a deadly skill.
A skill I needed to have to be a survivor.
It's over now, or so they say.
But sometimes it don't work out that way.
And you're never the same when you've been under fire."
-- Huey Lewis and the News "Walking On A Thin Line"