Thousands Trying For A Ticket To Mars

Ever dreamed of going into space? How about landing on Mars? Well the Mars One project which was setup in 2011 with the dream of setting up and starting a permanent colony on Mars, is getting closer to this dream. The way Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp plans to do this is by selecting just over 1,000 finalists short listed from over 200,00 people who applied for this one way mission to Mars. The 1,058 finalist will now go onto round two of the shortlist, with the final number of participants selected being only 24.

However before we all get excited, one has to think how is all this going to be paid for? Seeing as the Apollo mission to put a man on the moon costed around $25.4 billion in 1969 or around $135 billion as of 2005, Mars One will need a lot of funding to get this mission off the ground and into space. Well Bas Lansdorp hopes that the project will be funded by investors and rights to a documentary/reality TV broadcasting of tests, training and the final selection. A mixed group of finalists have so far been selected from around the world with the most of the 1,058 finalists coming from America (297), Canada (75) and India (62). These finalists will have to face rigorous tests, from experiencing G-forces, coping with stress, isolation and the biggest test being simulation of life on Mars. Would you be willing to try to be one of the first people on Mars? Do you think you have what it takes? Bas Lansdorp went on to explain Mars One’s selection criteria;

“The challenge with 200,000 applicants is separating those who we feel are physically and mentally adept to become human ambassadors on Mars from those who are obviously taking the mission less seriously.”

We’ll bring you more information on the finalists and status of the Mars One’s missions when it becomes available.

Thank you Nine MSN for the information provided

Image courtesy of GeoAwesomeness.com