He signed up for the one-way trip to Mars in a burst of optimism.
“I wanted to hope that it might be true. I think that in the moment, I figured that if companies like Space X and Blue Origin could make the technological steps they were making, then it made sense that other companies could do the same,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it did prove to be infeasible. Basically their concept, the resources, the funding, the overall goals — all of it was a little too unrealistic.”
Instead of travelling 55 million kilometres through space, he moved a mere 4,500 kilometres across land to work in British Columbia.
He compares the enthusiasm and widespread media coverage of private space companies from 2010 to 2015 to the tech bubble of the early 2000s. In the tech bubble, no one knew which companies would be Facebooks and which would be Friendsters — the now-defunct social networking service.
Reyno said it was the same with companies like Space X and Mars One.
Tyler Reyno poses proudly with his father after graduating with his master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. (Submitted by Tyler Reyno)
“Mars One capitalized on a very ripe time of optimism within the private space sector,” he told CBC News this week. “It was really eye-opening for a lot of people. I think it set the bar too high on what the private sector can do.”
Reyno got an email telling him he was off the spaceship a few years ago. Mars One was reported to have entered bankruptcy in 2019 and some candidates have said there was never any chance it would have gone to Mars.
But CBC News did speak to two Canadians who are still listed on the mission, and still expect to stand on Mars one day. No Nova Scotians remain connected to the project.
“I am still involved with Mars One, and in touch with both (CEO) Bas Lansdorp and the other candidates,” he said in an email.
“Bas sends us regular updates, but they’re confidential, so you’d have to go directly to Mars One for a more comprehensive update.”
The Mars One website still shows a hopeful timeline to get humans to Mars. (Mars-one.com)
Karen Cumming, a Ontario journalist and teacher, said she also remains on the Mars One team.
“The last communication I had from the Mars One CEO, Bas Lansdorp, was in October of last year,” she said. “We’re not at liberty to discuss anything concerning the mission.”
CBC News asked Mars One and Lansdorp for an interview, but didn’t hear back.
In 2014, the private company said training would take up to a decade. The first humans were supposed to depart Earth in 2024 and start the extraordinary colony in 2025.
The website still says candidates are “expected” to start training three years ago and would be living and training together full time until 2031, when they would leave Earth for Mars.
This image, taken by the Viking spacecraft on July 31, 1976, shows a human-like face on the surface of Mars. NASA scientists say the image is an optical illusion caused by the angle of the sun. (NASA/Associated Press)
The company’s last news release was issued 2½ years ago and it last posted on social media nearly two years ago.
The website does not show any actual spacecraft, but it does have many vivid illustrations of the Mars mission.
Reyno said the experience has not jaded his lifelong love of space exploration. He went on to earn a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and today works as an aerospace engineer for ASCO Aerospace in Vancouver, working on projects for Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Bombardier.
He mostly works on Earth-bound aircraft these days. “But I still do keep a keen eye on a lot of space technology and space progress. The goal is still to further myself in that area,” he said.
He said others should keep their eyes on the bright red dot in the sky, so close that humans have been able to see it for as long as we’ve walked the Earth, inspiring dreams of alien civilizations.
In 2020, three separate missions launched for Mars and all of them are due to arrive next month. No humans are on board, but with new space nations like China and the United Arab Emirates now involved alongside stalwarts like the U.S., Reyno sees reasons to hope the dream of life on Mars is not dead.
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Tianwen-1 Mars probe lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China’s Hainan Province, Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Cai Yang/Xinhua/The Associated Press)
“I’m more optimistic than ever. That was one small instance of a project that wasn’t successful, but at least they tried,” he said. “Mars One probably was unrealistic and shot too high, but from all this optimism, so many really good and successful projects have continued to grow.”
His life has continued to grow, too, and he’s not sure if he would take the big trip to the sky if it was offered to him.
“I do have more ties to Earth now. I have a girlfriend, a partner that I’ve been with for 4½ years, varying goals here now and a lot of different things I’m passionate about here,” he said.
“Mars and space exploration are probably my greatest passion and I do feel so much desire to be involved in space exploration. It would be harder than ever to make a decision like that.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
