Why would Bellevue man want to go on one-way trip to Mars?

Taken from The Jason Rantz Show on KIRO Radio.

Mars One is this group that plans to send humans to live on Mars. The plan is to send them on a one-way trip to live there.

According to KING 5, one of the finalists in these 100 people being considered for a one-way trip to Mars lives in Bellevue. His name is Carl LeCompte. He has a video profile that explains why he wants to go to Mars.

LeCompte says:

“The idea of not just trying to survive but thrive in an alien environment has always held a strange sort of fascination for me. The first novel I ever read was “Dune.” But more than myself I feel it’s the next big step in human evolution and I want to be a part of that.”

So basically what Mars One decided to do was find all the big sci-fi geeks who have this weird fantasy of living on Mars.

So what exactly are LeCompte’s qualifications?

“I’m a quick learner,” he says in the video. “I’m good at adapting with the tools I have at hand. I think of my friends as family. But most importantly I’m at my best when building a home for myself and those around me and that’s why I feel we’re going to Mars. As much as to explore or to learn, we’re going there to live.”

If you’re going through 200,000 videos, what about this particular video piques your interest? He also describes his sense of humor. Maybe this is why he’s the frontrunner.

He says he has: “A lopsided grin, a maniacal laugh, and a friendly tease.”

I don’t know if that sells me on being stuck on the planet Mars with this guy.

In all seriousness, I look at this and say good for him. But really, you want to do this?

I don’t see it. I’ve never felt compelled to leave earth. I barely feel compelled to go to Europe in two weeks. I literally barely feel compelled to leave the comfort of my Tempur-Pedic bedroom in my apartment in South Lake Union to travel to Europe.

I’m going to London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Copenhagen and yet part of me is like, I don’t need to go. And I’m just going for two weeks and I’ll be back. This guy is choosing to want to go to Mars to never return.

A lot of it has to do with ego. If we’re being totally honest. The base reason anyone would do something like this is because you want to be remembered, you want your name to be in the history books. You want to be that original explorer.

But I still wouldn’t go to Mars.

Good luck to Carl.

Taken from The Jason Rantz Show on KIRO Radio.

JS