關注社會:"火星一號"到中國招募移民

The statistics are staggering: 60 per cent of Chinese worth more than Rmb10m are either planning to move to another country, or have already done so.

統計數據相當驚人：個人財富超過1000萬元人民幣的中國人中，60%已經或正在計劃移民去別的國家。

Maybe that’s why the people from Mars One came to China on Friday to recruit settlers for the red planet.

也許這是爲何“火星一號”(Mars One)的人週五來中國招募移民去紅色星球。

Mars One is a non-profit organisation that promises to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars by 2023. “Mars One will fund this decade-long endeavor by involving the whole world as the audience of an interactive, televised broadcast of every aspect of this mission – from launch to landing to living on Mars, ” the group said in a press release.

“火星一號”是一個非盈利組織，承諾2023年在火星上建立永久的人類定居點。“火星一號將資助這一長達10年的努力，邀請全世界參與，通過互動的電視廣播，全方位轉播這一開拓之旅——從發射、着陸，到在火星上生活。”該組織在新聞發佈稿中聲稱。

So it seems man’s first cultural export to Mars will be reality TV.

所以，人類對火星的首次文化輸出看來將會是電視真人秀節目。

Mars One is expecting as many as half a million applicants to be Mars Pioneers, and has already started working on their life support system and spacesuits. On the project’s homepage are self-portraits of some of those from around the world who have already applied.

“火星一號”組織預計將有多達50萬人申請成爲火星先驅，並已開始致力於爲他們提供生命支持系統和宇航服。該項目主頁上公佈了世界各地一些已提交申請者的自我介紹。

Meet Melissa, 52, complete with bottle-blond hair, strapless top and smeary mascara: she recites a bit of dirty doggerel for the camera about her qualifications for the mission, and concludes that she should be chosen because “you ain’t gonna have that many candidates”.

來見見梅麗莎(Melissa)，52歲，染一頭金髮，穿露肩抹胸和塗着暈開的睫毛膏：她對着攝像頭背誦了一段關於她爲何能勝任這一使命的、有點兒下流的段子，並總結說自己應該被選上，因爲“你們不會有那麼多申請者”。

But Mars One says it already has more than 600 applicants from China, which last year sent its first woman into space. The website already showcases three applicants from China, all in their 20s.

但“火星一號”聲稱已收到600多份來自中國的申請，該國去年把第一位女性宇航員送上了太空。其網站上已發表了三個來自中國的申請者資料，年齡都在20多歲。

And exactly how will Mars One beam Melissa or her Chinese couterpart up there in the first place? “Through the integration of existing, readily available technology that can be purchased from the global private space industry”, the group says, adding that they are”in talks with various other aerospace companies for different components of the mission”.

而首要問題是“火星一號”究竟要怎樣把梅麗莎和她的中國同僚們送上去呢？“通過整合現有的、現成的、可向全球私營太空行業購買的技術，”該組織表示，並補充說他們“正就完成這一使命的不同環節，與多家宇航公司進行談判。”

Are they just crazy? David Sable, chief executive of Young and Rubicam, the advertising agency, thinks not: their “$6bn budget to make this happen is not too far off from the $5bn revenue made by the Olympics through advertising over a relatively short period of time, ” he says in a blog posted on the Mars One site.

他們瘋了嗎？其廣告代理揚羅必凱公司(Young and Rubicam)首席執行官戴維·塞伯(David Sable)不這麼認爲：他們“有60億美元的預算來令其成爲現實，這跟奧運期間相對較短的時間裏通過廣告實現50億美元營收，差距並不太大”，他在“火星一號”網站發佈的一條博客中說。

Xi Jinping is promising to make China’s dreams come true right here on earth – but if he cannot? Try Mars on for size: at this rate, it may be easier to breathe there than in Beijing.

習近平承諾要在地球上實現“中國夢”——但若不能呢？就試試火星的大小是否合適吧：按現在的速度發展下去，也許在火星上能夠呼吸比北京更好的空氣。