Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for your feedback, you've given me some things to think about.

I'm sorry. I was just being honest about what I believe in related to this topic. I am not a physicist and I agree there is a degree of conformation bias on my part with relation to this topic, in that I hope it will be developed and believe it should be taken more seriously. I am not the type of person to "tow the party line" and simply conform with mainstream beliefs; I prefer to be honest. My thinking on this particular issue has been largely influenced by Nick Cook's book "The Hunt For Zero Point"; he is a very well-respected expert in aviation engineering. We clearly have a lot more to learn about physics; it would be foolish to think we already understand how gravity works, or to assume it can never be overcome by means other than Newtonian methods (imho).

Actually I don't. Quite the opposite. I'm fully aware of the shortcomings in my ability and knowledge, and very self-conscious of it, and I apologise for that. I have limited time in which to research and think about this topic. But I try my best. If someone asks me to give a presentation or answer questions, I am grateful for that, and try to give good value. I have been involved in the Mars community for 16 years and I am indeed no more than an enthusiast. I would say I am less ignorant than most, but it's true that I still have a lot to learn. I will keep studying and hopefully be able to provide more satisfactory answers in the future. You will find my book "The International Mars Research Station" to contain much more technical content (including calculations and drawings) than could be presented here.

You're right in the sense that they need tens of billions of dollars which will be hard to raise. However, I like to think about the technical details of their plan, because it's not just about them. It's about how it can be made to work; how the architecture could be improved, irrespective of the business model. Mars One may have taken the wrong approach, but this still offers an opportunity to generate ideas for how it might be done correctly in the future. That's interesting for me. Regarding the money, there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about how they have been raising money, particularly with regard to candidate contributions. These misunderstandings have largely been propagated by an ignorant media. Bas, and Mars One candidates such as Ryan MacDonald, have made efforts to rectify these misunderstandings. Sure, it's your right to not believe them and assume the worst of people, but I do not.

You're welcome :) I wanted to give good value to the people who asked questions.