The Mars One mission to the red planet will transform 24 earthlings into Martians, and after five years of selection of candidates, out of 4,200 applicants, there are now 100 left.
For those who have not yet heard of the Mars One project, we explain: Mars One is a project initiated by an independent Dutch company to send men and women to the red planet in 2023, reports Oregon Live.
Mars One is not affiliated with NASA's current mission to Mars, which landed an unmanned spacecraft there last year and intends to send astronauts to Mars in the future. Mars One also has nothing to do with Elon Musk's plan to send the Big Falcon to Mars by 2022.
Mary Roach, author of Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Void and one of the project's PR managers, says that if Mars One does happen, it could be one of the biggest reality TV shows ever. will have a huge global audience.
“The Mars One team is a professional aerospace industry with significant experience in the industry, so they can confidently tackle all the technical aspects of the mission,” Mary Roach said in a statement.
Potential Mars One astronauts also have high hopes for the project's success. Kay Radzik, one of the candidates under consideration, tells the newspaper's reporters that the thought of going to Mars helps him to cope with the "dullness of everyday life."
However, the project still needs a lot of funds before it can actually come to fruition. At the moment, only $ 1 million has been raised for the Mars One project, while the founders of the project plan to raise $ 6 billion required for the expedition.
But despite the lack of funds, the Mars One mission team continues to search for potential astronauts to fly the spacecraft, and to date thousands of applicants have expressed interest in joining the mission. For now, selection has reduced the number to one hundred based on five main criteria: stress tolerance, curiosity, adaptability, trust, and creativity / resourcefulness.
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Mars One candidates will receive a dedicated training course at a remote location, according to the New York Post. During this time, they will have to learn how to grow food on their own, repair equipment and undergo special psychological training. The latter is extremely important, since no astronaut will receive a "return ticket" to Earth.
Julia Ngou, the press representative of the Mars One project, when asked questions about this, says: "This mission is very important for humanity, it is much more important than someone's separate life."
