The Best Australian Science Writing 2015 Read Free Page A

have communication breakdowns and conflict among crews and between mission command.
    A well-known effect on astronauts undertaking long missions is the dip at the halfway point, when the excitement has worn off and the return seems unbearably distant. There is no way to know how someone will encounter passing the threshold of no return, when Earth recedes from sight, and the black enormity of space and the impossibility of turning back sinks in.
    The four Mars One colonists will arrive on an inhospitable alien world, with only themselves for company for two years, until another flight arrives – if it, too, survives the perilous trip. They will not speak to anyone but each other in real time ever again; the delay in relaying communications between Mars and Earth is 20 minutes, minimum.
    They would be the most isolated human beings in history – a mantle currently held by Michael Collins, who orbited the dark side of the moon in 1969, though he has said of his incredible solo journey that he never felt lonely.
    * * * * *
    I fly across the country to Perth. As the hours pass, the plane crosses the great expanse of the Nullarbor Plain. Inland are the monoliths of the ancient Petermann Orogeny, Uluru and Kata Tjuta; the Great Sandy Desert; the Pilbara and its billions-year-old rock formations; the Wolfe Creek meteorite crater; the lands of the world’s oldest native people, Aboriginal Australians. Finally, Western Australia: the continental shelf it sits on has barely shifted in the past four billion years, making it a portal through which scientists can peer at the earliest incarnations of Earth.
    Josh’s parents’ property is on a narrow road overlooking a lake glinting silver under the sun. Josh lets me in, makes me a coffee, and leaves me to wander the patio while he takes some calls.
    Josh is prone to self-deprecation, and punctuates his sentences with a hard cackle. He’s wearing an ensemble favoured by many Australian men, even in winter: shorts, sneakers and a hoodie. Right away, the internet handle I’ve been seeing in our six months of correspondence makes sense: The Mighty Ginge, slang for redhead.
    When Mars One announced it had received 200 000 applications, Josh’s heart sank. That list was sure to include a ton of fighter pilots, NASA engineers, private space company employees, scientists, geologists, people with PhDs and genius-level IQs. So when he found himself on the shortlist of people ready tolive out their days on the lonely surface of Mars, he was shocked, to put it mildly.
    Before he’d applied, Josh had met a girl, Eli, at a festival. He was drawn to her easygoing demeanour, and they fell in love. But a shot at Mars would be life-changing. He didn’t wait for the application deadline to break it off.
    Josh moved back to his parent’s house to dedicate his life to Mars. He was prepared to do whatever it took to make the final selection. He’s appeared on television, radio and in the local papers to talk about the mission; he visits schools to speak with kids he hopes will be inspired to follow a path in the sciences. He’s writing a book about how colonising Mars would affect humanity. Josh has invested everything – financially, emotionally, romantically, professionally – in Mars One.
    In the kitchen, Josh’s mother, Shelley, heats up last night’s lasagna. I ask her how she feels about her only son wanting to leave Earth forever. ‘I feel incredibly proud that he’s suitable and that he’s passionate about it,’ she says in a quiet, measured tone. ‘When he told me, I thought are you crazy? But now I see the passion. His eyes sparkle when he’s talking about it.’
    I ask Josh how his father feels. ‘Dad is very outwardly supportive. Though he’s becoming less supportive as it becomes more of a reality,’ Josh says with a laugh. ‘He pulled me up on it a month back and said, “What’s