1058 hopefuls from over 200,000 applicants have been selected as candidates to begin human life on Mars in 2025.
The Dutch non-profit organisation Mars One hopes to build a community of human settlement on Mars using today’s existing technologies.
Mars One’s mission plan integrates components that are well tested and readily available from industry leaders worldwide.
They hopefuls have cleared two rounds of a rigorous four-stage clearance process, at the end of which 24 people will be sent to the planet. India has the largest number of applicants – 62 – after the US who have made it to the shortlist for the trip to the Red Planet.
Each potential settler will go through a seven-year training course – commencing in 2015 – which will help them adapt to the psychological and social aspects of living in a small society.
Details of the 2014 selection phases have not been agreed upon due to ongoing negotiations with media companies for the rights to televise the selection processes.
“We fully anticipate our remaining candidates to become celebrities in their towns, cities, and in many cases, countries. It’s about to get very interesting.” Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp said.
Mars’ atmosphere is very thin, extremely cold and what water remains is frozen or hidden underground. Radiation exposure is another concern. Then, there are questions about the funding and technology.
