[Simp]

Don't go West young man. (Advice to Columbus.) I. A Voyage to Asia would require three years. II. The western Ocean is infinite and perhaps unnavigable. III. If he reached the Antipodes he could not get back. IV There are no Antipodes because the greater part of the globe is covered with water, and because St. Augustine said so. V. Of the five zones, only three are habitable. VI. So many centuries after the Creation, it is unlikely that anyone could find hitherto unknown lands of any value. - Report of the committee organized in 1486 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to study Columbus' plans to find a shorter route to India.

Makes you wonder about widely derided projects such as Mars One.

[hga]

See the other comment by simonh in this discussion (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9261989): Columbus had a multiplicity of detractors because his estimate of the circumference of the Earth was off by a factor of 2, and to his dying day insisted he'd found the East Indies, not the very fortuitous West "Indies". If the Americas weren't there, he'd be at best a footnote in history, a crazy explorer who'd perished with his crews.

[brazzy]

Not really. Nobody is saying that the stated goals of Mars One are impossible to reach. People are saying that it's a scam without the means or even a viable plan to reach those goals.