It doesn't matter if Mars One is a scam, the article makes a good point: Our sense of optimism, of pioneering spirit, of looking to the stars, has suffered greatly in recent decades.<p>If all it does is nudge people from looking forward to a now ubiquitous (in fiction) dystopic future, to again staring at the sky with wonder and possibility, it will be a resounding success. I wonder if that wasn't a large part of the point of the whole undertaking.<p>Also, regardless of whether the mission is ever launched or not, the article is interesting for being a science fiction story that isn't. I grew up with authors looking for the small human stories in spaceflight and star colonization, and now here's a true personal one, for real... Someone is actually thinking deeply on what it will be like for their own spouse to leave them for MARS. That this can happen now, even if this particular mission ultimately leads nowhere, is incredible.